Scientists using two different age-determining techniques have shown that a tiny zircon crystal found on a sheep ranch in western Australia is the oldest known piece of our planet, dating to 4.4 billion years ago.4.4 BILLION years old. Damn. That's even older than the next GOP candidate for president. And no, I don't think the earth is six thousand years old, or whatever ridiculously short period of time some narrow-minded folks think the earth has been around. This s**t be old, folks.
Writing in the journal Nature Geoscience on Sunday, the researchers said the discovery indicates that Earth's crust formed relatively soon after the planet formed and that the little gem was a remnant of it.
Of course, given that the crystal was found in Australia, the big question is how many deadly creatures the scientists had to fend off in order to collect it...
That is all.