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Article: Is life as old as earth itself?
- Article from:
- Insight on the News
- Article date:
- December 30, 1996
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1996 News World Communications, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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New research suggests may be more ancient - and more common - than thought.
We never will know if life on Earth is unique, according to conventional wisdom, unless we come into contact with alien forms, sentient or not. Even the discovery earlier this year of minuscule structures that may be microorganisms from Mars is unlikely to challenge this notion. Not only do scientists remain skeptical, many also contend that Earth and Mars - close neighbors that they are - may have shared life's precursors.
The absence of little green people notwithstanding, there are other clues to this enduring mystery. New evidence suggests that life-forming processes are so ...