It appears that through a series of astronomical errors, we have misjudged the true age of the universe, and indeed our own planet. In hindsight it's almost obvious.
In most galaxies, including our own, new stars are constantly forming from contracting gas clouds. Usually the incoming gas needs a 'seed' to trigger the process, a slightly denser area.
It turns out the best seed is a brown dwarf, a small star that never developed nuclear fusion. Far more of them were formed in the first eon than we can explain.
The infalling gas gives the brown dwarf a second chance to shine.

Ten billion years ago, this was how our sun formed.
Several planets already orbited the original dwarf star at substantial distances. And there was life: not powered by starlight, but by internal heat flow. It evolved deep underwater or underground, around volcanic vents and fracture faults like the ones on Ganymede and Titan.
We now know that even 'simple' bacteria can be incredibly complex, and require more eons to evolve than previously imagined.
These early organisms were already quite advanced, but conditions were worsening as the infalling gas pushed the planets closer to the growing sun.
Life-bearing fragments were blown off by massive impacts, as our own solar system formed around the nuclei of much older worlds. This explains why life on Earth appeared so quickly after its formation.
A few original planets remain in the outer solar system, including Makemake and Porolop. Complex organisms probably exist deep inside every world, calling for extensive quarantines if we ever decide to visit them.
However, I'm not here to talk about other worlds.
We happen to inhabit the largest planet with a solid surface in the Solar System.
The original world around which Earth accreted remains 4000 kilometers under our feet, hidden under layers of assorted debris, but the core is still solid.
The real action has always been underground. Sometimes traces leak to the surface, and then everything changes.
Anything that can survive down there must be very tough.

How do I know all this?
Last year a team from the University of Utah found small spherical objects with geometric spikes floating in a lava chamber. They took their time publishing because they couldn't believe their eyes.
Then a Russian team found fossil evidence of fireproof bacteria the size of house cats. They kept quiet because the bugs are rich in platinum.
Tomorrow, EnergiaMetrix will start drilling its geothermal power shaft in Japan's inland sea. Thousands of small fusors will be set off in rapid succession to create the Steep Drop.
That rumble you feel may not be the micro-nukes.
Stop digging!!!



The best hard SF novel ever written: Infinite Thunder by Jack Arcalon.
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