00:00Plants create oxygen through photosynthesis. That's biology 101. However, scientists now say
00:09they have discovered another source of the life-sustaining element, and it could reshape
00:13our theories about how life began on Earth in the first place. The discovery was made in the
00:18Pacific Ocean at depths of more than 13,000 feet. At those depths, oxygen is normally only consumed,
00:25not created, but the research team noticed that the O2 levels continued to increase as the depths
00:30became greater. The researchers say they initially thought the instruments were malfunctioning,
00:34but over 10 years the readings remained the same, eventually finding that these were the source of
00:39the oxygen, black rocks that cover massive swathes of the ocean floor. They are made of rare earth
00:44metals, the same ones often utilized in batteries, and the researchers found that's probably how
00:50they are producing oxygen. They discovered that when these rocks were grouped together,
00:54they could produce currents upwards of 1.5 volts, or enough of a current to split oxygen from water
01:00through the process of electrolysis. With the researchers writing, that I think we therefore
01:04need to revisit questions like, where could aerobic life have begun?
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