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Scientists at MIT and collaborating institutions have made a groundbreaking discovery that rewrites our understanding of Earth's earliest history. They've identified rare chemical signatures preserved in ancient rocks that originate from the "proto-Earth," the primordial version of our planet that existed 4.5 billion years ago before a catastrophic collision with a Mars-sized object fundamentally altered its composition reports MIT News. This represents the first direct evidence that materials from Earth's original formation survived the Moon-forming giant impact event. The discovery, published in Nature Geoscience, provides unprecedented insight into the chemical building blocks that formed our planet and challenges long-held assumptions about the complete transformation of Earth's early composition. Oldest Material On Earth Discovered To Be Older Than The Sun Ancient