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Algae Terraformed Earth 650 Million Years Ago

posted by mrpg on Friday August 18 2017, @01:31PM   Printer-friendly
from the my-dna-test-says-im-5%-algae dept.

takyon writes:

A study of molecules in the fossil record has pinpointed the rise of algae on Earth:

A planetary takeover by ocean-dwelling algae 650 million years ago was the kick that transformed life on Earth. That's what geochemists argue in Nature this week [DOI: 10.1038/nature23457] [DX], on the basis of invisibly small traces of biomolecules dug up from beneath the Australian desert.

The molecules mark an explosion in the quantity of algae in the oceans. This in turn fuelled a change in the food web that allowed the first microscopic animals to evolve, the authors suggest. "This is one the most profound ecological and evolutionary transitions in Earth's history," lead researcher Jochen Brocks told the BBC's Science in Action programme.

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  • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Friday August 18 2017, @11:57PM

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Friday August 18 2017, @11:57PM (#556193) Journal

    Well, to be fair, with intelligent design and guidance, with definite goals in mind, terraforming can be speeded up by orders of magnitude. That is, there is no need to wait around for random genetic mutations to kick start specific terraforming goals.

    Still, even if (and that's a big if) we know what we have, and what we want, and how to get there, it's going to take thousands if not tens of thousands of years to make an almost-habitable planet habitable. And, that assumes almost unlimited resources to work with.

    When terraforming is used in a SciFi story, that alone indicates how much science the authors understands. That is one reason I like the 'Expanse' series. Terraforming Mars is a distant, generational goal. Later in the series, terraforming is again approached rationally. None of us has the knowledge to say that those authors got it "right", but they are more "right" than most authors.

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