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3.7 billion-year-old bacteria may hold key to finding life on other planets
Scientists have found traces of bacteria living more than 3.7 billion years ago, an age that would make them - if confirmed - the oldest-known fossils and bolster the idea that life got off to a running start on Earth, and perhaps elsewhere. The bacteria lived near hydrothermal vents, cracks in the seafloor that gush hot, mineral-laden water into the open ocean, say the scientists who identified the fossils in a study in this week's "Nature" journal. Verification of the finding could make ocean vents on other planets in the solar system a key target in the search for extraterrestrial life. Ref. USAToday.
Yes anytime you add in the warmth and the nutrients to support life in one spot you have a good chance of life coming together and then expand from there. I hope the research they are learning helps us understand the root of all life as we know it.