Suggestions or feedback?

Browse By

Topics

View All →

Explore:

Departments

View All →

Explore:

Centers, Labs, & Programs

View All →

Explore:

Schools

View all news coverage of MIT in the media →

Close

Topic

Snowball Earth

Download RSS feed: News Articles / In the Media

MIT researchers have found hundreds of tiny fossils of the first known ciliates. The ciliates, named tintinnids, resided in hard, flask-shaped shells with bubbled exteriors that likely help them float.

The first hairy microbes

New fossils reveal oldest known ciliates.

November 16, 2011

Scanning electron microscopy images reveal a microscopic, oval-shaped shell with tapered ends, from which an organism’s feet may have extended. The surface of the shell is made up of tiny bits of silica, aluminum and potassium, which the organism likely collected from the environment and glued to form armor.

Life after Snowball Earth

New fossils suggest rapid recovery of life after global freeze.

June 15, 2011