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Scientists Challenge Long-Held Theory on Origin of Life
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In Short: A group of scientists is challenging the long-held theory that comets played a crucial role in the origin of life on Earth.
A group of scientists is challenging the long-held theory that comets played a crucial role in the origin of life on Earth. According to new computer simulations, the fragile organic molecules supposedly carried by comets would have been destroyed upon impact, upending an established origin of life theory that dates back to at least 1961.
The popular theory that comets were crucial in kick-starting life on Earth billions of years ago may not hold up, according to new research. Comets, often referred to as 'dirty snowballs,' were thought to have deposited water and organic molecules on Earth’s surface, but recent simulations suggest that the high temperatures and pressures during impact would have destroyed these molecules.
Professor Ernest Chi Fru at Cardiff University and his colleagues have also proposed a new theory suggesting that complex life on Earth may have begun 1.5 billion years earlier than previously thought. They analyzed sediment cores drilled from the rock in Gabon and found evidence that a 'laboratory' for life was created just before the formation of fossils that could 'wiggle' and move of their own accord.
The chemistry of the rock showed evidence that a nutrient-rich shallow marine inland sea was created by the collision of two continental plates under water, which could have supported early life. However, the ideas are a big departure from conventional thinking and not all scientists agree with these findings.
The new research challenges the conventional understanding of how life began on Earth and could lead to a reevaluation of the conditions necessary for life to emerge. While the findings are significant, they do not definitively rule out the possibility of successful comet impacts, but they do suggest that comets may not have been as useful for prebiotic chemistry as previously thought.
What's confirmed
- A group of scientists is challenging the long-held theory that comets played a crucial role in the origin of life on Earth. According to new computer simulations, the fragile organic molecules supposedly carried by comets would have been destroyed upon impact, upending an established origin of life theory that dates back to at least 1961.
- The popular theory that comets were crucial in kick-starting life on Earth billions of years ago may not hold up, according to new research. Comets, often referred to as 'dirty snowballs,' were thought to have deposited water and organic molecules on Earth’s surface, but recent simulations suggest that the high temperatures and pressures during impact would have destroyed these molecules.
- Professor Ernest Chi Fru at Cardiff University and his colleagues have also proposed a new theory suggesting that complex life on Earth may have begun 1.5 billion years earlier than previously thought. They analyzed sediment cores drilled from the rock in Gabon and found evidence that a 'laboratory' for life was created just before the formation of fossils that could 'wiggle' and move of their own accord.
- The chemistry of the rock showed evidence that a nutrient-rich shallow marine inland sea was created by the collision of two continental plates under water, which could have supported early life. However, the ideas are a big departure from conventional thinking and not all scientists agree with these findings.
- The new research challenges the conventional understanding of how life began on Earth and could lead to a reevaluation of the conditions necessary for life to emerge. While the findings are significant, they do not definitively rule out the possibility of successful comet impacts, but they do suggest that comets may not have been as useful for prebiotic chemistry as previously thought.
What's still developing
- The new species of trapdoor spider is discovered by scientists from Durrell working in Mauritius.
- Here’s what you’ll learn when you read this story: Scientists are making a case for adjusting one very old piece of biology: the order in which amino acids became part of the genetic code.
- Scientists are making a case for adjusting our understanding of how exactly genes first emerged.
- Two new studies are giving planetary scientists hope While we still don’t know if there’s extraterrestrial life out there, we do know the conditions for it exist, even in our own solar system.
- As scientists searched for intelligent extraterrestrial life — i.e., aliens — they’ve focused on a short list of standard possibilities.
- Samples from Phobos will provide useful data for scientists to consider using a Martian moon as a base for a future manned mission to the planet, said MMX project manager Yasuhiro Kawakatsu.
- The discovery might pave the way for answering one of the biggest unresolved questions about our universe The discovery might pave the way for answering one of the biggest unresolved questions about our universe Scientists may have found the most significant indication of dark matter ever.
- When designing drugs to treat diseases, scientists want to select which mirror-image they are getting.
- In the growing field of “ecoacoustics,” scientists use the ocean’s natural sounds to monitor the health of marine ecosystems — and even restore them.
- University of New Mexico scientists had identified its Martian origin through oxygen isotopes, which provide a chemical fingerprint of the planet.
- The answer, many scientists have proposed, is space.