ROCK from the Earth’s infancy has been found in Australia. Radiometric dating
suggests a tiny crystal of zircon is a record 4.4 billion years old. Much to the
surprise of geologists, the ratio of oxygen isotopes shows that the zircon
formed in contact with liquid water (Nature, vol 409, p 175 and 178).
The conventional view is that the Earth was then too hot for liquid water to
exist, says John Valley of the University of Wisconsin in Madison.
To continue reading, today with our introductory offers
Advertisement
More from New Scientist
Explore the latest news, articles and features
ÎçÒ¹¸£Àû1000¼¯ºÏ
You should turn off fans when it's too hot – but how hot is too hot?
News
Humans
Elite Maya people had teeth placed in a cave far from their tombs
News
Mind
Parenting may permanently improve brain health for mums and dads
Features
Space
SpaceX's secretive plans to deliver cargo to Earth from space
News
Popular articles
Trending New Scientist articles
1
Woman with Alzheimer's starts conversing again after taking psilocybin
2
Unapproved gene therapy for boosting longevity is set to go on sale
3
New-to-science spider builds trap that flings ants into the air
4
SpaceX's secretive plans to deliver cargo to Earth from space
5
The secrets to keeping your brain sharp in old age
6
How some people's brains make an extraordinary recovery from stroke
7
We've found a mysterious substance on Titan and Pluto
8
How menopause radically changes the brain – and what happens after
9
Can prebiotics, probiotics or postbiotics help your ageing microbiome?
10
Fully autonomous drones have killed human soldiers for the first time
