Simple Life Form May Have Existed 700 Million Years Earlier Than Previously Thought

Science Daily ^ | July 8, 2008 | Curtin University

[SunkenCiv]

The accepted timeframe for the beginnings of life on Earth is now being questioned by a Curtin University of Technology led team of scientists, after finding a key indicator to the earliest life forms in diamonds from Jack Hills in Western Australia... The Curtin led team's discovery of very high concentrations of carbon 12, or "light carbon" within these crystals is remarkable as it is a feature usually associated with organic life... Evidence for ancient life stretches back in time to at least 3.5 billion years ago, in the form of single-celled organisms that did not require oxygen. The discovery of light carbon in the Jack Hills crystals raises the question – did a simple life form exist on Earth 700 million years earlier than previously thought? ...In 1983, a Curtin project team discovered extremely old zircon crystals in a collection of rocks located between Meekathara and Carnarvon. Twenty years later, the oldest diamonds were unexpectedly discovered in these rocks by many of the original team.

[jpsb]

4.5 billion years ago the Earth was a molten ball of iron and rock. Hard to believe that life could survive a few hundred million years later, prior to the great bombardment that brought water to Earth. So, while not calling BS I am very skeptical.