Access
This article is part of Nature's premium content.
Published online 31 March 2001 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news010404-5
News
Hot flush over in a flash
The young Earth might not have been hot enough for long enough to account for life as we know it.
Evolutionary trees imply that, like the bacteria that today inhabit hot volcanic springs, our earliest ancestors liked being boiled alive. But new research reveals that the surface of the Earth might not have been hot enough for long enough to allow heat-loving bacteria to evolve from primal slime1.
To read this story in full you will need to login or make a payment (see right).
Comments
Reader comments are usually moderated after posting. If you find something offensive or inappropriate, you can speed this process by clicking 'Report this comment' (or, if that doesn't work for you, email redesign@nature.com). For more controversial topics, we reserve the right to moderate before comments are published.