She separated thousands of zircon crystals from the samples, which cover the island's regional diversity and represent its 18 million year history. (sciencedaily.com)
In as much as humanity's entire experience on Earth is only during the last 10,000, it's sort of anticlimatic to talk about a grain of zircon in Australia that is over 4 billion years old. (judithcurry.com)
For example, scientists have found signs of liquid water and even faint hints of possible life in zircon crystals dating back 4.1 billion years (SN: 11/28/15, p. 16). (sciencenews.org)