Oldest Oxygen-Breathing Life On Land = 2.48 billion years ago (100 million years earlier than suspected)

[웃 910]

I just have one question. Did our ancient oxygen breathing ancestors attend church?

Acidic waste water from a modern mining site supports the same oxygen using bacterial life that appeared on Earth 2.48 billion years ago. (Credit: Image courtesy of University of Alberta)

New University of Alberta research shows the first evidence that the first oxygen-breathing bacteria occupied and thrived on land 100 million years earlier than previously thought. The researchers show that the most primitive form of aerobic-respiring life on land came into existence 2.48 billion years ago.

The research team, led by U of A geomicrobiologist Kurt Konhauser, made their find by investigating a link between atmospheric oxygen levels and rising concentrations of chromium in the rock of ancient seabeds.

"We suggest that the jump in chromium levels was triggered by the oxidation of the mineral pyrite (fool's gold) on land," said Konhauser.

Pyrite oxidation is a simple chemical process driven by two things: bacteria and oxygen. The researchers say this proves that oxygen levels in Earth's atmosphere increased dramatically during that time.

"Aerobic bacteria broke down the pyrite, which released acid that dissolved rocks and soils into a cocktail of metals, including chromium," says Konhauser. "The minerals were then carried to the oceans by the run-off of rain water.

"Our examination of the ancient seabed data shows the chromium levels increased significantly 2.48 billion years ago," said Konhauser. "This gives us a new date for the Great Oxidation Event, the time when the atmosphere first had oxygen."

The rising levels of atmospheric oxygen fostered the development of new bacteria species, and Konhauser says that, following the evolutionary path back to that first oxygen-breathing life form on land, our ancestors started off in a pool of highly acidic water.

The researchers say the modern analogue for that first primitive oxygen-dependent life form on Earth is still with us.

"The same bacterial life forms are alive and well today, living off pyrite and settling in the highly acidic waste waters of mining sites the world over," said Konhauser.

The research by Konhauser and his team is published in the Oct. 20 edition of the journal Nature.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111019181210.htm

[Gary and Alla 3,696]

I have just one question

How could scientists be SO WRONG for SO LONG? Can we trust this fossilized and extrapolated "science" to make decisions affecting our way of life?

[luckytxn 2,265]

Why is this in P and R?

[Gary and Alla 3,696]

Why is this in P and R?

Because some scientists, bought and paid for by politicians looking to supress religion and control our lives, have promoted the idea that the US congress can have an affect on the world's climate by confiscating our earnings and and reducing our standard of living.

I am sure LI posted this to demonstrate that accepted science is often proven wrong and that we should never make political decisions based on flawed science.

This is now the perfect P&R topic which I wrote on a plane between Dallas and Austin and covers everything except Mom, prison, rain, trucks and trains.

[spookyturtle 9,466]

Still hung up on the creation issue? Does the fire worry you?

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

So 2.48 versus 2.38 billion years ago.

Did the SUV start causing global warming at the same time oxygen was created?

[웃 910]

Still hung up on the creation issue? Does the fire worry you?

No, not at all. Science has explained the creation issue. Crystal clearly and unanimously agreed upon consensus among every credible scientist in the world. Sorry. You lose again!

[spookyturtle 9,466]

No, not at all. Science has explained the creation issue. Crystal clearly and unanimously agreed upon consensus among every credible scientist in the world. Sorry. You lose again!

I lose nothing. You're the one who keeps trying to convince yourself.

[웃 910]

Did you know that humans (if you call those prehistoric superstition believing myth creators that) didn't know what a dinosaur was until the 19th century. A full 1800 years after the creation of Christianity. A full 18 decades later! Could you imagine the myths and superstitions that would have been created had Jesus and his disciples known what a dinosaur was? They had no clue! And by the way, even well into the 19th century it didn't fit well with their theories of a loving creator.

They started realizing that "He" wiped out extinct billions of different species. Why would He do this?

Even in the early 19th century - they thought the earth was an its infant stages. A couple thousand years old at best!

The most brilliant scientists of the time (truly geniuses) would make wildly underestimated guesses (20,000 to 400,000 years old).

Even Issac Newton (1642–1727) - easily the greatest scientist of the era - and EASILY top 10 scientists of all time - thought the earth was young (<10,000 years old).

Charles Darwin (1809–1882) - also easily top 10 scientists of all time - way ahead of his time - guessed about 300 million years old.

We now know that 98% of the 2 billion species that have existed since the dawn of time are now extinct! That the world is PRECISELY 4.54 billion years old (give/take 1% or 45 million years).

We now know what dinosaurs are. What era they existed in. When they became extinct (at the end of the Cretaceous Period) 65 million years ago PRECISELY!

The era of superstition, campfire myths, dragons, zombies, draculas, ghosts, goblins, demons, leprachauns, big foot, and loch ness monsters is over!

Edited October 23, 2011 by Lord Infamous

[Brother Hesekiel 2,236]

Lord Infamous,

You have my highest respect, but I hope you are not implying hat the Bible, the word of God, is a bunch of BS, or are you?

The majority of Reptilian voters believe that the Earth is only about 5,000 years old and there is even a theme park, The Holy Land Experience, and a museum, the Creation Museum, that shows how humans and dinosaurs lived happily together. Keep in mind that even the President of the United States belongs to this club, so either he's an idiot, or he's just a member because he's catering to those folks in order to get more votes. Whatever it is, it's scary.

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

Most left wing losers have no concept of math. Never mind science.