A recent discovery made by scientists confirmed that life originated on Earth about 300 million years, which is earlier than previously thought. The researchers have found evidence of ancient microorganisms that lived in what is now called Western Australia, at least 4.1 billion years ago.

Mark Harrison, one of the lead researchers and a geochemist from the California University, Los Angeles, said, “With the right ingredients, life seems to form very quickly.”

Further, the new research suggests that life existed on Earth prior to the massive bombardment of the inner solar system. This happened around 3.9 billion years ago at a period of intense asteroid activity that formed the Moon’s large craters.

The growing body of research, including this latest discovery, also suggests that "the early Earth certainly wasn't a hellish, dry, boiling planet; we see absolutely no evidence for that," said Harrison. According to a report published in pressherald.com, more than 10,000 of the zircons were analysed by Harrison and his team that can be dated back to 4.1 billion years. The analysis revealed that these minerals contained strange dark specks and on further closer inspection, it was discovered that these specks had the molecular as well as chemical structure of ancient microorganisms.

These early microorganisms were found trapped inside zircons which were formed from magma in Western Australia. Just like tiny time capsules, zircons are durable minerals that are heavy in terms of weight and can capture as well as preserve traces of their immediate environment.

To confirm that life was found, the researchers needed to find traces of carbon that is fundamental for life. They found that one of the zircons contained graphite, that is, pure carbon in two locations in Western Australia.

Further, they were also able to confirm that this graphite hadn’t been exposed at all in the past 4.1 billion years after the zircon formed and trapped it. The result was published in the “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences” and is yet to be verified.

The confirmation of the research will not only change the understanding of life on Earth but will also change the perspective regarding extraterrestrial life. If life has originated quicker than previously thought, it might mean that the younger exoplanets might already be habitable, and therefore, there are more places to look for alien lifeforms, said the techinsider.io report.

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