Alex McColgan
๐ค SpeakerAppearances Over Time
Podcast Appearances
That's partly why a form of life evolving from scratch now is considered to be impossible because of the oxygen concentration.
Add oxygen to hydrogen, and instead of life, you've got rocket fuel.
We may never know for sure if a form of life existed before our central dogma ancestral line, but that's not to say life hasn't emerged elsewhere in our galaxy or even our solar system.
Planets have been found nearby in our galaxy that are similar to Earth and could replicate the conditions of the early Earth.
Our planet is not so special.
Given the thermodynamic pressure for the emergence of life, it seems as though life on another planet is an inevitability.
There is volcanic activity on moons orbiting Saturn and Jupiter, providing a similar environment beneath the surface to Earth too, which is why scientists are so interested in exploring the icy moons orbiting our nearby planets.
Hydrogen-rich volcanic plumes, just like those from our deep sea vents, have been observed erupting from the surface of Saturn's moon Enceladus.
Despite the extreme speed with which life appeared to emerge on Earth, the time to go from single-celled to multi-celled was 1.5 billion years.
It's clearly a hard jump in complexity to evolve communication and cooperation between cells, let alone interplanetary communication with alien lifeforms, so although we haven't found signs of life elsewhere yet, absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.
With all this, looking up to the stars, the way all these molecules work together, it's hard to feel alone in the universe.
The early Earth seemed ideal for life to emerge, but then, even if it was less hospitable, there is always a chance.
As Dr. Ian Malcolm said in Jurassic Park, life, uh, finds a way.
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