origin of life

[chuck kottke]

Just a rambling thread to discuss the origin of life.

:)

Was it the clay particle's molecular structure that provided a template for DNA? Or did it all start between the sheets of mica, where water molecules and Nucleic Acid precursors collected and linked up?? Is it truly of hydrothermal origin, deep within the earth in some fissure with hot water and minerals, or was it more of a near-surface phenomenon, which spread to the depths, the origin being lost to time??

And if it's a common device that can lead to life "happening", does this mean it happens all the time on "M class" planets like Earth?? If it's hydrothermal, why not then on Mars (when Mars had more volcanism)? If it can take the heat, perhaps Earth isn't necessarily "ideal" after all - maybe an orbit closer to the sun would be fine, as long as the water doesn't boil away, so-to-speak??

This intrigues me, because if life isn't so rare, given the right circumstances, then it can happen elsewhere. And if the template is set with the clay or mica particles and enough sparks of lightening, or vocanism and mineral chemical reactions, perhaps the universe really is the ultimate machine, for it has spawned all the life we know, us, and are knowledge of it - quite a twist, for the life thus created to unravel how it all works, using the tools of science and reason to discover the mechanisms. Anyhow, just me rambling!:laugh3:

If we are alone, then it seems logical to be an ultimate goal of us to colonize the universe (us as in all the life we can spread, especially the essential microbial world).. But to do that, we must first maintain the viability of the mother ship - Earth itself. For the poverty of the inhabitants and the carelessness of our actions may endanger our success in future endeavors. One cannot build a ship with a bridge to the future, and neglect the ship's hull, risking the sinking of that essential vessel (of life).

[Saffire]

There are so many strange things about life. I mean for starters there are different categories of life that just baffle me. How would Fungus and Viruses just spring up independently of one another? I know viruses aren't considered living, but why not?

 

Are we to assume there are other "types" of life in the universe that might not be carbon based? Life is just too damn strange. God must be like Dr. Seuss.

 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJnn-wMPU9w]YouTube - pygmy jerboa?????[/ame]

[mc_squared]

I wondered why the Chuckster had been a bit quiet recently....................... :P