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Earth science

Life battered but unbowed

Nature volume 459, pages 335–336 (2009)Cite this article

Early in its history, Earth experienced a pounding from extraterrestrial impacts. But instead of sterilizing the planet, it allowed microbial life to persist, according to numerical models of Earth's crust.

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Figure 1: Impact evidence on the pock-marked face of the Moon.

NASA/JPL/USGS

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  1. Lynn J. Rothschild is at the NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California 94035-1000, USA. lynn.j.rothschild@nasa.gov ,

    Lynn J. Rothschild

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  1. Lynn J. Rothschild
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Rothschild, L. Life battered but unbowed. Nature 459, 335–336 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/459335a

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