How did life appear on Earth? The answer remains uncertain. However, a study published on April 13 in Science Advances sheds new light on the appearance of complex microbial forms on our planet. This work led by researchers from University College London highlights, inside a piece of rock taken from Quebec, evidence of a diversified microbial life, at an earlier time than expected.
The first study – published in 2017 – of this Canadian rock whose age is estimated between 3.75 and 4.28 billion years, suggested that structures in the form of filaments, tubes and knobs were traces left behind by bacteria. But, point out Science Alert, “everyone [dans la communauté scientifique] was not convinced that these structures – which would regrow at least 300 million