We are starting off the New Year with something old- really, really old, 3.49 BILLION years old. Scientists in Australia have found a fossil record of bacteria dating back that far. It is so old that the earth itself was only 1 billion years old at the time they were formed.

Not only do finds like this help scientists understand the Earth and how it came to be the way it is, it also aids those looking for extraterrestrial life. It is one more item that fossil hunters on Mars (and some day other planets) now know to look for.