Earth's Oldest Zircon Crystal Makes Rare Appearance

The oldest known piece of Earth was put on display Saturday in the midwestern U.S. state of Wisconsin in a day-long celebration capped off by a night of jazz music promoters called "The Rock Concert."

The tiny piece of zircon crystal scientists believe is 4.4 billion years old was the focus of attention the at event held at the University of Wisconsin Madison in a rare public appearance for the crystal.

The school's professor of geology and geophysics, John Valley, startled researchers in 2001 when he concluded the tiny zircon crystal proves that early Earth was cool enough to have oceans and continents, and was not a boiling ocean of magma as previously believed.

After the U.S. exhibition, the object will be returned to Australia where it was discovered in 1984.

Some information for this report provided by AP.