"Uncovering Life's Origins: Ancient Seafloor Vents and Nanoparticles Hold Clues"
Nanoparticles hidden in 3.5-billion-year-old rocks from the Pilbara region of Australia provide clues about the emergence of life. These nanocrystals, including greenalite and fluorapatite, suggest that hydrothermal vents might have been an early source of accessible phosphorus, explaining its prevalence in biological structures. The unique structure of greenalite particles could have facilitated the formation of primitive RNA, while the rocks also indicate that phosphorus was more abundant in the ocean billions of years ago.