Oldest evidence of life on Earth has been discovered in India in a 3.4 billion-year-old layered rock shows signs of microbial life

Evidence of the oldest life on Earth has been discovered in India. In recent scientific findings in eastern India, biological traces buried for almost 3.5 billion years were revealed. The revelation suggests a much more distant and organic origin for the planet.The samples were taken from the Singhbhum geological block, which preserves cellular remains trapped between layers of volcanic ash. Dark, carbon-rich bands alternate with pale silica, preserving a layered record of the environment in which the rock formed. The material survived almost intact through multiple terrestrial mechanical transformations. A team of international scientists conducted spectroscopic analyses to confirm the presence of photosynthetic processes and complex metabolic pathways. The primordial microorganisms thrived due to the heat from the ancient, silica-rich underwater hydrothermal vents, which make up a unique ecosystem.According to the findings, the discovery could be the oldest evidence of organic life ever dated in a rock: it would be biological matter from 3.497 billion years ago, corresponding to the paleoarcane. This geological era lasted 400 million years, from 3.6 billion years ago to 3.2 billi...