https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/10/241003123543.htm
Pockets of microbes have been found living within
a sealed fracture in 2-billion-year-old rock. The
rock was excavated from the Bushveld Igneous
Complex in South Africa, an area known for its
rich ore deposits. This is the oldest example of
living microbes being found within ancient rock so
far discovered. The team involved in the study built
on its previous work to perfect a technique involving
three types of imaging -- infrared spectroscopy,
electron microscopy and fluorescent microscopy --
to confirm that the microbes were indigenous to the
ancient core sample and not caused by contamination
during the retrieval and study process. Research on
these microbes could help us better understand the
very early evolution of life, as well as the search
for extraterrestrial life in similarly aged rock
samples brought back from Mars.
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