“Professor Jochen Brocks inspecting the 1.6-billion-year-old rocks in Australia’s Northern Territory. The rocks contained a primordial chemical structure that hinted at the existence of the Protosterol Biota.”

Not sure where this sentiment is coming from… Considering it’s fat traces of a primordial species that is a common ancestor of all complex life on earth, which went extinct over 800 million years ago, and is found in ancient rocks around waterways literally all over the world; I think we are fine to touch it.

Finds like this are great because they can possibly shed light on the problem of abiogenesis. Many people, including myself, think there were possibly several generations of life that preceded the RNA/DNA driven stuff we have today. It was probably much simpler and simply consumed by later generations, and lost. If and when we send probes to water bearing places in our solar system, we may find these structures. This, in turn, will support the hypothesis that life is common in the universe. Which will, in turn, support the hypothesis that civs that can muster enough energy to expand beyond the initial star will instead use that power to destroy itself. Which will, in turn, help shape human civilization, if we choose to heed the warning.

I'm not sure you know Austrlaia too well. Rio Tinto's probably laid explosives on in already and is ready to go!

LOL, wanted to say the same: DO NOT TOUCH!