Oldest living microbes discovered within a 2-billion-year-old rock

Oldest living microbes discovered within a 2-billion-year-old rock

Microbes have been discovered alive inside 2-billion-year-old rock, offering a rare window into Earth’s deep past. Found in the Bushveld Igneous Complex (BIC) of South Africa, these microscopic organisms have endured in isolation, buried far beneath the surface. The find suggests life can survive in extreme, untouched environments for unimaginable stretches of time. The BIC, which covers nearly 66,000 square kilometers—about the size of Ireland—…