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bonic plague； ideasthat were easily disproved by biochemists。 hoyle—and it seems necessary to insert areminder here that he was one of the great scientific minds of the twentieth century—alsoonce suggested； as mentioned earlier； that our noses evolved with the nostrils underneath as away of keeping cosmic pathogens from falling into them as they drifted down from space。
whatever prompted life to begin； it happened just once。 that is the most extraordinary factin biology； perhaps the most extraordinary fact we know。 everything that has ever lived； plantor animal； dates its beginnings from the same primordial twitch。 at some point in anunimaginably distant past some little bag of chemicals fidgeted to life。 it absorbed somenutrients； gently pulsed； had a brief existence。 this much may have happened before； perhapsmany times。 but this ancestral packet did something additional and extraordinary： it cleaveditself and produced an heir。 a tiny bundle of genetic material passed from one living entity toanother； and has never stopped moving since。 it was the moment of creation for us all。
biologists sometimes call it the big birth。
“wherever you go in the world； whatever animal； plant； bug； or blob you look at； if it isalive； it will use the same dictionary and know the same code。 all life is one；” says mattridley。 we are all the result of a single genetic trick handed down from generation togeneration nearly four billion years； to such an extent that you can take a fragment of humangenetic instruction； patch it into a faulty yeast cell； and the yeast cell will put it to work as if itwere its own。 in a very real sense； it is its own。
the dawn of life—or something very like it—sits on a shelf in the office of a friendlyisotope geochemist named victoria bennett in the earth sciences building of the australiannational university in canberra。 an american； ms。 bennett came to the anu fromcalifornia on a two…year contract in 1989 and has been there ever since。 when i visited her； inlate 2001； she handed me a modestly hefty hunk of rock posed of thin alternating stripesof white quartz and a gray…green material called clinopyroxene。 the rock came from akiliaisland in greenland； where unusually ancient rocks were found in 1997。 the rocks are 3。85billion years old and represent the oldest marine sediments ever found。
“we can’t be certain that what you are holding once contained living organisms becauseyou’d have to pulverize it to find out；” bennett told me。 “but it es from the same depositwhere the oldest life was excavated； so it probably had life in it。” nor would you find actualfossilized microbes； however carefully you searched。 any simple organisms； alas； would havebeen baked away by the processes that turned ocean mud to stone。 instead what we would seeif we crunched up the rock and examined it microscopically would be the chemical residuesthat the organisms left behind—carbon isotopes and a type of phosphate called apatite； whichtogether provide strong evidence that the rock once contained colonies of living things。 “wecan only guess what the organism might have looked like；” bennett said。 “it was probablyabout as basic as life can get—but it was life nonetheless。 it lived。 it propagated。”
and eventually it led to us。
if you are into very old rocks； and bennett indubitably is； the anu has long been a primeplace to be。 this is largely thanks to the ingenuity of a man named bill pston； who isnow retired but in the 1970s built the world’s first sensitive high resolution ion microprobe—or shrimp； as it is more affectionately known from its initial letters。 this is amachine that measures the decay rate of uranium in tiny minerals called zircons。 zirconsappear in most rocks apart from basalts and are extremely durable； surviving every naturalprocess but subduction。 most of the earth’s crust has been slipped back into the oven at somepoint； but just occasionally—in western australia and greenland； for example—geologistshave found outcrops of rocks that have remained always at the surface。 pston’s machineallowed such rocks to be dated with unparalleled precision。 the prototype shrimp was built and machined in the earth science department’s own workshops； and looked like somethingthat had been built from spare parts on a budget； but it worked great。 on its first formal test； in1982； it dated the oldest thing ever found—a 4。3…billion…year…old rock from westernaustralia。
“it caused quite a stir at the time；” bennett told me； “to find something so important soquickly with brand…new technology。”
she took me down the hall to see the current model； shrimp ii。 it was a big heavy pieceof stainless…steel apparatus； perhaps twelve feet long and five feet high； and as solidly built asa deep…sea probe。 at a console in front of it； keeping an eye on ever…changing strings offigures on a screen； was a man named bob from canterbury university in new zealand。 hehad been there since 4 a。m。； he told me。 shrimp ii runs twenty…four hours a day； there’s thatmany rocks to date。 it was just after 9a。m。 and bob had the machine till noon。 ask a pair ofgeochemists how something like this works； and they will start talking about isotopicabundances and ionization levels with an enthusiasm that is more endearing than fathomable。
the upshot of it； however； was that the machine； by bombarding a sample of rock withstreams of charged atoms； is able to detect subtle differences in the amounts of lead anduranium in the zircon samples； by which means the age of rocks can be accurately adduced。
bob told me that it takes about seventeen minutes to read one zircon and it is necessary toread dozens from each rock to make the data reliable。 in practice； the process seemed toinvolve about the same level of scattered activity； and about as much stimulation； as a trip to alaundromat。 bob seemed very happy； however； but then people from new zealand verygenerally do。
the earth sciences pound was an odd bination of things—part offices； part labs；part machine shed。 “we used to build everything here；” bennett said。 “we even had our ownglassblower； but he’s retired。 but we still have two full…time rock crushers。” she caught mylook of mild surprise。 “we get through a lot of rocks。 and they have to be very carefullyprepared。 you have to make sure there is no contamination from previous samples—no dustor anything。 it’s quite a meticulous process。” she showed me the rock…crushing machines；which were indeed pristine； though the rock crushers had apparently gone for coffee。 besidethe machines were large boxes containing rocks of all shapes and sizes。 they do indeed getthrough a lot of rocks at the anu。
back in bennett’s office after our tour； i noticed hanging on her wall a poster giving anartist’s colorfully imaginative interpretation of earth as it might have looked 3。5 billion yearsago； just when life was getting going； in the ancient period known to earth science as thearchaean。 the poster showed an alien landscape of huge； very active volcanoes； and asteamy； copper…colored sea beneath a harsh red sky。 stromatolites； a kind of bacterial rock；filled the shallows in the foreground。 it didn’t look like a very promising pla