PLANET EARTH
LIFE LOCKED INSIDE A RUBY
WORDS YASEMIN SAPLAKOGLU
Traces of ancient life have been found inside a 2.5-billion-year-old ruby from Greenland. The planet’s oldest rubies, gemstones made up of a transparent red mineral called corundum, are found in Greenland. While searching for rubies in the North Atlantic Craton, researchers discovered a hidden surprise in one of them: graphite, a pure form of carbon, which may be the remains of ancient microbial life.