the Earth you walk on today might not be the same planet that was born 4.5 billion years ago. A team from the University of Bern in Switzerland argues that, due to its proximity to the sun, the proto-Earth that existed before this potential collision lost the volatile elements essential to form complex molecules. And so if Earth had evolved without external inputs, they say, it would probably be a drier world, more hostile to the development of complex life. It can therefore be assumed that it was only the collision with Theia that brought volatile elements to Earth and ultimately made life possible there,” Pascal Kruttasch, first author of the report, said in a University of Bern press release. However, the arrival of water and other volatile elements does not equate to the immediate emergence of life.