Loretta Chin

Unfortunately, most early life forms are too small to be preserved in the fossil record. And too old — there are only really a few places on the planet with rocks ancient enough to carry that kind of fossil evidence.

As a result, some of the earliest traces of life we have detected on our planet are so faint that the fossil evidence that remains only reveals the movements of these microscopic organisms.

“It is a real detective story,” says William Schopf, a paleobiologist with the University of California, Los Angeles.

Life is believed to date back several billion years at least — and in that time, the geological cycle of our planet has changed a lot, even for rocks. Rocks and the fossils they carry are often buried in sediment. Over time, tectonic movement pushes these rocks back up to the surface, where tides, winds and other processes erode them away. As a result, most of the fossils that were once preserved of the earliest life would have disappeared due to erosion over time. The older the rock is, the greater the chance the fossil no longer exists, Schopf says.

Furthermore, geological cycles often pressure cook rocks, wiping out the fossils preserved inside in the process. There are only a few places on Earth where rocks older than 3.5 billion years can be found that still carry fossil evidence. Parts of western Australia, Greenland and South Africa have ancient rocks like these, exposed.

Schopf and his colleagues found worm-like patterns preserved in the Apex Chert — a rock formation in Australia dating back to about 3.465 billion years ago. They first discovered these supposed organisms in 1993, but the idea that these patterns represented ancient life was controversial. In 2018, Schopf published a follow-up study in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that used secondary ion mass spectroscopy technology to reveal the ratio of carbon-12 and carbon-13 isotopes. This ratio revealed that the shapes preserved in the chert were characteristic of biological matter.

During this time, the planet did not yet have oxygen, Schopf says. Ancient iron doesn’t start to show traces of rust — a telltale sign of oxygen in the atmosphere — until about 3 billion years ago. It becomes more abundant about 2.8 billion years ago and common roughly 2.3 billion to 2.5 billion years ago.

“I don’t think oxygen-producing organisms developed until about 3 billion years ago,” Schopf says.

As a result, microorganisms older than 3 billion years may have used simplified photosynthesis that produced methane rather than oxygen.

Still, the microorganisms Schopf discovered in the chert in Western Australia may not be the oldest fossil evidence of life on the planet. That honor goes to stromatolites, which are sometimes mushroom-looking formations. Some of these may date back hundreds of millions of years earlier than the Apex Chert fossils Schopf discovered.

Stromatolites aren’t exactly fossilized remains of ancient life forms themselves. Researchers believe that cyanobacteria often erroneously called blue-green algae (it’s not actually algae), would have acted like the organisms do today, spreading across the surface of water to absorb sunlight.  Researchers believe the strange shapes of stromatolites were formed by cyanobacteria moving above the surface of sediment.

“It looks just like a rug, but it’s only 1-2 millimeters thick,” Schopf says.

Sediment would sometimes fall on top of these cyanobacteria mats, which would then push up above the sediment. As these processes repeated over and over again, it formed these strange hummocks or mushroom-like shapes that remain on the landscape today in places like Shark Bay in Australia.

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Nelson Mandela is a name that is synonymous with peace, justice, and equality.

The South African anti-apartheid revolutionary and statesman is best known for his role in the struggle to end racial segregation and discrimination in South Africa and for his efforts to promote reconciliation and social justice in the country.

In 1993, Mandela was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of his tireless work to bring about a peaceful resolution to the conflicts that had plagued South Africa for decades.

In this blog post, we’ll explore the key events and accomplishments that led to Mandela winning the Nobel Peace Prize, and we’ll consider the lasting impact that he has had on the world.

So, how did Nelson Mandela win the Nobel Peace Prize? Let’s find out.

Nelson Mandela was born on July 18, 1918, in the village of Mvezo, South Africa. He was the son of a chief of the Thembu people and was given the name Rolihlahla, which means “troublemaker” in the Xhosa language.

Mandela’s early life was shaped by the political and social upheaval of South Africa in the early 20th century. As a young man, he witnessed firsthand the brutality of the white minority government and the deep-seated racial inequality that characterized South African society.

Mandela was educated at the University of Fort Hare, where he studied law, and later at the University of Witwatersrand.

It was during his time at university that Mandela became involved in the anti-apartheid movement, and he quickly rose through the ranks to become one of the leaders of the African National Congress (ANC), a political party that was dedicated to ending racial segregation and discrimination in South Africa.

Despite facing numerous challenges and setbacks, Mandela remained steadfast in his commitment to social justice and equality. He was willing to take bold action in order to bring about change, and his tireless efforts eventually paid off when he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993.

Mandela’s involvement in the anti-apartheid movement began in earnest in the 1940s, when he joined the Youth League of the ANC. At the time, the ANC was a small, largely ineffective organization that was struggling to gain support among the black population of South Africa.

However, under Mandela’s leadership, the Youth League began to take a more militant stance against the white minority government, and Mandela quickly emerged as one of the most prominent figures in the movement.

In the 1950s, Mandela and other ANC leaders were arrested and charged with treason for their role in the organization. Although the charges were eventually dropped, the ANC was banned by the government, and Mandela and other leaders were forced to go underground in order to continue their work.

Despite these challenges, Mandela remained committed to the cause, and he worked tirelessly to organize strikes, boycotts, and other forms of civil disobedience in order to bring attention to the plight of black South Africans.

In the 1980s, the international community began to take notice of the situation in South Africa, and Mandela’s name became synonymous with the struggle against apartheid. Despite being imprisoned on Robben Island, Mandela remained a powerful and inspiring figure, and he used his time in prison to continue working for change.

In 1990, after more than 27 years in prison, Mandela was finally released, and he played a key role in negotiating a peaceful resolution to the conflict that had plagued South Africa for decades.

In 1993, Nelson Mandela was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of his tireless efforts to bring about a peaceful resolution to the conflicts that had plagued South Africa for decades.

The Nobel Committee cited Mandela’s “role as a unifying leader figure in the campaign to resolve the problem of apartheid in South Africa” as the reason for the award, and praised his “commitment to the promotion of democracy, human rights, and reconciliation through non-violent means.”

Upon receiving the award, Mandela declared that it was not just a personal honor, but a “tribute to the struggle of millions of our people, and a tribute to the countless human beings throughout the world who have fought against all forms of repression and exploitation.”

He went on to use the platform provided by the Nobel Peace Prize to continue his work for peace and reconciliation, and he worked tirelessly to promote social justice and equality in South Africa and around the world.

Today, Nelson Mandela is remembered as one of the greatest figures in modern history, and his legacy continues to inspire people around the world.

His tireless efforts to bring about a peaceful resolution to the conflicts that plagued South Africa are an enduring testament to his commitment to justice, equality, and human rights, and his efforts to promote reconciliation and social justice have had a lasting impact on the world.

Nelson Mandela’s tireless efforts to bring about a peaceful resolution to the conflicts that plagued South Africa, and his commitment to the promotion of democracy, human rights, and reconciliation through non-violent means, earned him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993.

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