Scientists have identified what may be the first direct evidence of material left over from the "proto-Earth," a primordial version of our planet that existed before a colossal moon-forming impact reshaped it forever.

The study, published Tuesday (Oct. 14) in the journal Nature Geoscience, suggests that tiny chemical clues of this proto-Earth have survived deep within Earth's rocks, essentially unaltered, for billions of years. The findings provide a rare window into the planet's original building blocks and could offer scientists clues about what Earth and its neighboring worlds were like in their earliest eras.

"This is maybe the first direct evidence that we've preserved the proto-Earth materials," Nicole Nie, an assistant professor of Earth and planetary sciences at MIT who co-led th

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