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3.46-Billion-Year-Old 'Fossils' Were Not Created By Life Forms

Posted by Soulskill on from the stupid-tricksy-fossilses dept.

sciencehabit writes: What are the oldest fossils on Earth? For a long time, a 3.46-billion-year-old rock from Western Australia seemed to hold the record. A 1993 Science paper (abstract) suggested that the Apex chert contained tiny, wormy structures that could have been fossilized cell walls of some of the world's first cyanobacteria. But now there is more evidence that these structures have nothing to do with life. The elongated filaments were instead created by minerals forming in hydrothermal systems, researchers report (abstract). After the minerals were formed, carbon glommed on to the edges, leaving behind an organic signature that looked suspiciously like cell walls.

3 of 69 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Baptists are already writing this week's sermon by quenda · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Nothing has been overturned here. Just a question settled, perhaps.

    Full disclosure: the lead author is Martin Brasier, who just happens to be the guy who discovered slightly younger 3.4 billion year old fossils just 20km away.

    http://news.sciencemag.org/201...

  2. Re:Baptists are already writing this week's sermon by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Nothing has been overturned here. Just a question settled, perhaps.

    And this is the difference between science and religion. Since its science, we say, "we were wrong - but its cool, now we can move on to find out the truth..

    If this were religion, we'd be fighting tooth and nail, and there would be smear jobs about the scientists liberal tendencies, and stories going around on "How the lord said life was 3.46 billion years old, so it damn well WAS 3.46 million year old fossils.

    Teach the controversy brothers!

    --
    The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
  3. Re:Do you think that some distant.... by VirginMary · · Score: 3, Interesting

    maybe... just 1% from being the great apes

    If you meant that humans are 1% different from other Great Apes you would be wrong. Humans are classified as Great Apes. If not you'd have some other Great Apes (bonobos and chimps) actually being closer to us than to the rest of the Great Apes. It was only ignorance or possibly human arrogance that in the past led to humans not being included with the other Great Apes.

    --
    When 1person suffers from a delusion,it is called insanity.When many people suffer from a delusion,it is called religion