Turns out, all life on Earth traces back to a single ancestor, LUCA, and this little microbe is way older than we thought—like, 4.2 billion years old! LUCA lived when Earth was basically a volcanic hellscape, dodging meteors and fighting off ancient viruses. Scientists now think life started way earlier and was tougher than we ever imagined. If LUCA could survive that chaos, maybe life really can pop up anywhere! #Science #ScienceNews #OriginsOfLife