The origin of life and the origin of the universe are similar in that scientists have many theories but no provable answers for either origin.
What is life?It is carbon and water based, has a capacity to grow and reproduce.The great mystery in science is the process by which life originated on Earth from non-living matter.
The earliest evidence for life on Earth are fossilized mats of bacteria, that have been analyzed to be about 3.4 billion years old.This type of bacteria is still around now and have survived and thrived for 3.4 billion years and have the same basic structure and chemistry.Even though this bacteria are single cell, while we have billions, their structure,chemistry and reproductive process are so complex,scientist say they could not be possibly be first life.Scientist theorize an intermittent process between non-living matter and bacteria. So far, none have been found.
There are many theories for the origin of life.One of the oldest and since discredited is Spontaneous generation. Their premise was that life could be produced from decaying organic matter. For example:maggots would magically appear on dead meat. This was disproven when it was demonstrated that flies laid eggs in the meat which gave birth to maggots.Scientists have tried everything to produce life from non-living matter. They have tried to duplicate the chemistry that may have existed in pools of water billions of years ago. When that didn't work, they shot electricity through it, they shot micro waves through it. Nothing, during all recorded history, there has never been a case of a living thing produced by anything other than another living thing.
A current theory is organic molecules raining down from outer space, but the one that interest me the most is the quantum theory of life.This theory suggests that quantum mechanics enabled life to emerge directly from the atomic world, without the need for complex chemistry. We have looked at the crazy, magical quantum world,(see"A Smoking Gun).and the answer may lay there in some way.
Next , we will look at DNA,that blueprint for all life and direct evidence of design.
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Showing posts with label life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label life. Show all posts
Monday, November 29, 2010
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Building the Nest part 2
What have we examined so far?After a few billion years of the elements smashing into each other and being tugged by gravity, we have the Earth ready for life to arrive on the scene.
Mindless elements with no will of their own, somehow gain a will.What am I saying?Think of a rock. It is made up of many elements, it will stay in the same spot for eternity unless a external force moves it. That rock will sit there unless wind or some other collection of elements hits it.
Life has a will of it's own. It will change direction according to it's needs. But somehow made of the same elements as the rock.Where is the connection between physics and biology?
Next we will examine the origin of life.
Mindless elements with no will of their own, somehow gain a will.What am I saying?Think of a rock. It is made up of many elements, it will stay in the same spot for eternity unless a external force moves it. That rock will sit there unless wind or some other collection of elements hits it.
Life has a will of it's own. It will change direction according to it's needs. But somehow made of the same elements as the rock.Where is the connection between physics and biology?
Next we will examine the origin of life.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Building the Nest
I have been itching to get into the origin of life but first I want to elaborate on the environment that allowed life to flourish.
10 billion years after the Big bang, our Solar System,which is our sun and the other planets, began to form from the collapse of a giant molecular cloud made up of mostly hydrogen. See " A Smoking Gun).This happened in the outer reaches of our galaxy, The Milky Way.
http://www.godandscience.org/images/spiralgalaxym81.jpg
Lucky for us, our Solar System's location,within the galaxy,is a factor in the origin of life on Earth. Our Solar System rotates at the same speed of the spiral arms of the galaxy and rarely passes thru them.This means our solar system is not too close to the other stars and not affected by the intense radiation from supernovas, stars blowing up.
Of the planets in our Solar System, only Earth has the proper environment for life to thrive. The Earth is the 3rd planet from the sun and Venus,the 2nd planet from the sun, has been called our sister planet.This is because the mass, density and volume are similar.The similarity ends there.
Venus has no surface water and a toxic heavy atmosphere made up of almost entirely of carbon dioxide and clouds of sulphuric acid. This causes a catastrophic greenhouse affect as sunlight is trapped and cannot radiate back into space.Yet,this deadly hell is the most beautiful object when looking up at the early evening sky.
Mars,although smaller in size and mass, is the only other planet in the Solar System that could support life but it lacks a magnetic field like Earth has, that stops it's atmosphere from being stripped away by the solar wind. Recent observations have indicated that Mars may have frozen water.It is also the best bet for eventual colonization, which may become necessary in the future , to preserve life if a cosmic catastrophe would make the Earth uninhabitable.
The other planet I want to mention is Jupiter. It is a massive gas giant dwarfing the Earth and revolves around the sun at the outer reaches of the Solar System. I want to point out that recent observations of other solar systems, show massive gas giants similar to Jupiter BUT revolve close to the star.This is important because Jupiter's tremendous gravity protects the Earth by capturing comets and asteroids from entering the inner Solar System ,inhabited by Earth,Mars,Venus and Mercury, and flings them back out into space. This action spares us from being bombarded by comets traveling through out the galaxy. Without Jupiter comets and asteroids would collide with our planet 1000 times more frequently.
For the first 100 million years , the Earth was totally inhospitable to life. Rain was a corrosive acid and the atmosphere of sulphurous fumes were very similar to conditions on Venus.
Lucky for us, after about 15 million years of Earth's existence, a large object the size of a planet, smashed into the Earth throwing large pieces into near space.After 100 million years these pieces coalesced and formed our moon.This event enabled the Earth to stop wobbling and settled into a stable rotation. The moon also helped create our weather and tides. Scientist have concluded that without the moon, there would be no life on Earth. None of the other inner planets,Mars,Venus and Mercury, have a satellite.
Now we come to water,H2O,this most essential molecule made op of elements of hydrogen and oxygen.While water may exist, according to recent scientific observations,on Mars and Venus and even the Moon, the amount is minuscule compared to the amount of water on Earth.Over 70% of the Earth's surface is covered by water.The current scientific theory is that life originated in water.It is essential for life as our bodies are made of 70% water.
Where did it come from?Why is it so plentiful on Earth but rare as diamonds in the rest of the Solar System. Currently there are Two scientific theories: 1(Water rich asteroids and comets raining down on the early Earth). 2 There was a thick blanket of hydrogen reacting with oxides in the Earth's mantle to form lakes and seas.
To be continued in the next post.
Origin of water
10 billion years after the Big bang, our Solar System,which is our sun and the other planets, began to form from the collapse of a giant molecular cloud made up of mostly hydrogen. See " A Smoking Gun).This happened in the outer reaches of our galaxy, The Milky Way.
http://www.godandscience.org/images/spiralgalaxym81.jpg
Lucky for us, our Solar System's location,within the galaxy,is a factor in the origin of life on Earth. Our Solar System rotates at the same speed of the spiral arms of the galaxy and rarely passes thru them.This means our solar system is not too close to the other stars and not affected by the intense radiation from supernovas, stars blowing up.
Of the planets in our Solar System, only Earth has the proper environment for life to thrive. The Earth is the 3rd planet from the sun and Venus,the 2nd planet from the sun, has been called our sister planet.This is because the mass, density and volume are similar.The similarity ends there.
Venus has no surface water and a toxic heavy atmosphere made up of almost entirely of carbon dioxide and clouds of sulphuric acid. This causes a catastrophic greenhouse affect as sunlight is trapped and cannot radiate back into space.Yet,this deadly hell is the most beautiful object when looking up at the early evening sky.
Mars,although smaller in size and mass, is the only other planet in the Solar System that could support life but it lacks a magnetic field like Earth has, that stops it's atmosphere from being stripped away by the solar wind. Recent observations have indicated that Mars may have frozen water.It is also the best bet for eventual colonization, which may become necessary in the future , to preserve life if a cosmic catastrophe would make the Earth uninhabitable.
The other planet I want to mention is Jupiter. It is a massive gas giant dwarfing the Earth and revolves around the sun at the outer reaches of the Solar System. I want to point out that recent observations of other solar systems, show massive gas giants similar to Jupiter BUT revolve close to the star.This is important because Jupiter's tremendous gravity protects the Earth by capturing comets and asteroids from entering the inner Solar System ,inhabited by Earth,Mars,Venus and Mercury, and flings them back out into space. This action spares us from being bombarded by comets traveling through out the galaxy. Without Jupiter comets and asteroids would collide with our planet 1000 times more frequently.
For the first 100 million years , the Earth was totally inhospitable to life. Rain was a corrosive acid and the atmosphere of sulphurous fumes were very similar to conditions on Venus.
Lucky for us, after about 15 million years of Earth's existence, a large object the size of a planet, smashed into the Earth throwing large pieces into near space.After 100 million years these pieces coalesced and formed our moon.This event enabled the Earth to stop wobbling and settled into a stable rotation. The moon also helped create our weather and tides. Scientist have concluded that without the moon, there would be no life on Earth. None of the other inner planets,Mars,Venus and Mercury, have a satellite.
Now we come to water,H2O,this most essential molecule made op of elements of hydrogen and oxygen.While water may exist, according to recent scientific observations,on Mars and Venus and even the Moon, the amount is minuscule compared to the amount of water on Earth.Over 70% of the Earth's surface is covered by water.The current scientific theory is that life originated in water.It is essential for life as our bodies are made of 70% water.
Where did it come from?Why is it so plentiful on Earth but rare as diamonds in the rest of the Solar System. Currently there are Two scientific theories: 1(Water rich asteroids and comets raining down on the early Earth). 2 There was a thick blanket of hydrogen reacting with oxides in the Earth's mantle to form lakes and seas.
To be continued in the next post.
Origin of water
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