Life appeared on Earth very early on, at a time when our planet was just a hot world bombarded by ultraviolet radiation. These conditions, which were undoubtedly common to other rocky planets such as Mars, may have favored the emergence of simple life forms: microbes that fed on and drew their energy solely from the oxidation of mineral matter. With this in mind, a team from the Center for Molecular Biophysics in Orleans (CNRS), in collaboration with Newcastle University, revisited an iconic and well-preserved site in northwestern Australia, Kitty's Gap Chert, formed in 3.45-billion-year-old coastal volcanic sediments.

Read more on the CNRS Chemistry website.

Article reference:
Insights from early life in the 3.45-Ga Kitty's Gap Chert for the search for elusive life in the Universe
Frances Westall, Graham Purvis, Naoko Sano, Jake Sheriff, Laura Clodoré, Frédéric Foucher & Tetyana Milojevic
Nature Astronomy 2025
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-025-02661-0