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posted by mrpg on Thursday October 05 2017, @05:55AM   Printer-friendly
from the yes dept.

Life on Earth began somewhere between 3.7 and 4.5 billion years ago, after meteorites splashed down and leached essential elements into warm little ponds, say scientists at McMaster University and the Max Planck Institute in Germany. Their calculations suggest that wet and dry cycles bonded basic molecular building blocks in the ponds' nutrient-rich broth into self-replicating RNA molecules that constituted the first genetic code for life on the planet.

The researchers base their conclusion on exhaustive research and calculations drawing in aspects of astrophysics, geology, chemistry, biology and other disciplines. Though the "warm little ponds" concept has been around since Darwin, the researchers have now proven its plausibility through numerous evidence-based calculations.

[...] The spark of life, the authors say, was the creation of RNA polymers: the essential components of nucleotides, delivered by meteorites, reaching sufficient concentrations in pond water and bonding together as water levels fell and rose through cycles of precipitation, evaporation and drainage. The combination of wet and dry conditions was necessary for bonding, the paper says.

Original URL: Did life on Earth start due to meteorites splashing into warm little ponds?

Origin of the RNA world: The fate of nucleobases in warm little ponds (DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1710339114) (DX)

-- submitted from IRC


Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 2, Insightful) by aristarchus on Thursday October 05 2017, @07:10AM (9 children)

    by aristarchus (2645) on Thursday October 05 2017, @07:10AM (#577333) Journal

    Drip, drip, drip. And, No Comment? Just a question, for the three Soylents left.

    Starting Score:    1  point
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  • (Score: -1, Spam) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 05 2017, @07:20AM (8 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 05 2017, @07:20AM (#577336)

    And, No Comment? Just a question, for the three Soylents left.

    The D¡¢κ n¡99ers are busy with young pussy, not interested in dealing with the 3 old cunts here.

    • (Score: -1, Troll) by aristarchus on Thursday October 05 2017, @07:24AM (4 children)

      by aristarchus (2645) on Thursday October 05 2017, @07:24AM (#577337) Journal

      Just as I thought. If only I had an iota to refudiate this going rouge by Young Refuglicans!

      • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Thursday October 05 2017, @04:26PM (3 children)

        by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Thursday October 05 2017, @04:26PM (#577499) Journal

        Going red? Nahhh, you ain't got it in you.

        • (Score: 3, Insightful) by aristarchus on Thursday October 05 2017, @07:18PM (2 children)

          by aristarchus (2645) on Thursday October 05 2017, @07:18PM (#577584) Journal

          Once again, Runaway, read it again. It does not say what you think it says.

          • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Friday October 06 2017, @01:17AM (1 child)

            by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Friday October 06 2017, @01:17AM (#577741) Journal

            Rouge, as in Baton Rouge, which is French for Red Stick. Republicans are red, right? Democrats are blue, right? You're going rouge? Come on, you made a spelling mistake when you typed rogue.

            • (Score: 3, Informative) by aristarchus on Friday October 06 2017, @01:30AM

              by aristarchus (2645) on Friday October 06 2017, @01:30AM (#577743) Journal

              Red is for Commie! A relic of the Cold War such as yourself should know this! And you did not catch the double-Palin? "Refudiate" and "Rouge" in the same sentence? Republicans want to break teacher unions and un-fund education, because they cannot spell, and resent people who can. Darn liberal snobs!

    • (Score: 2) by MostCynical on Thursday October 05 2017, @07:48AM (2 children)

      by MostCynical (2589) on Thursday October 05 2017, @07:48AM (#577346) Journal

      Unlikely.. Apart from his ability to type, DN is more likely a leftover sample of the original pond slime (spontaneous local generation, or interplantary hitchhiker).

      Wasn't there an article in the last few months about spontaneous amino acid/RNA creation in lab-version early Earth water?

      --
      "I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
      • (Score: 4, Funny) by c0lo on Thursday October 05 2017, @09:46AM

        by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Thursday October 05 2017, @09:46AM (#577375) Journal

        Wasn't there an article in the last few months about spontaneous amino acid/RNA creation in lab-version early Earth water?

        And you reckon DN were spontaneous generated? in lab-version early Earth water?
        I tend to favour more the "stupid creation" hypothesis.

        --
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
      • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 05 2017, @08:22PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 05 2017, @08:22PM (#577617)

        You'll need to be more specific about what was new in that.

        spontaneous amino acid/RNA creation in lab-version early Earth water

        On this topic, the thing that comes to my mind is the The Miller-Urey experiment[1], published in 1953. [wikipedia.org]

        That used an aqueous solution with lots of volatiles in the mix and a spark in the "atmosphere" to simulate lightning.

        [1] I really hate it when folks needlessly/improperly use em dashes in page titles/URLs.

        -- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]