Scientists have discovered a unique find

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Ученые обнаружили уникальную находкуFound the oldest traces of life on Earth.

U.S. scientists discovered fossils, the age of which is estimated at 3.5 billion years. As noted EurekAlert!, fossils are the oldest known traces of life on the planet.

In the study, scientists found microscopic fossils, invisible to the naked eye in the rock samples of shale deposits apex in the Western part of Australia. The researchers described 11 specimens found in five separated taxa. The first microfossils were discovered in 1993, but some scientists believed them to minerals, and not biological species.

Some fossils belonged to the archaea, whereas others – like the microbes that exist at the moment. Scientists have studied fossils using the method of mass spectrometry and found that the detected ratio of carbon isotopes typical for phototrophic bacteria that use photosynthesis for energy, the methane-forming archaea and gamma-proteobacteria, consuming this gas.

Previously, scientists have stated that life on Earth could arise as a result of influence of the comet. In experiments, the researchers used a propellant gun to generate similar to cometary influence on a frozen blend of amino acids, water ice and silicates (forsterite). As a result it was determined that amino acids were able to develop more complex peptides – molecules that form proteins.

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