The cover of this week’s Nature belongs to Abigail Allwood of the Australian Centre for Astrobiology, one of NAI’s International Partners. She and her colleagues put forward the latest research on the ancient rocks of the Pilbara Craton in Western Australia, which points to evidence of life on Earth 3.43 billion years ago. Their description of a shallow marine environment, and identification of seven stromatolite morphotypes makes a strong argument for early life. NAI supported Allwood’s work with a 2005 NAI Research Scholarship.