Are we alone? Thoughts about astrobiology
There is life all around the planet, even in extreme habitats. How it is possible for organisms to survive in such extreme conditions? It is possible to have life out of Earth? How this life could be? To try answering these questions, it is necessary to look back to Earth’s history and its current environments and conditions, as well other places in the solar system, searching for tips in the complexity of organisms adapted to the extreme conditions for life beyond Earth.
Earth as known today is just temporally. The planet is always changing and once it was far different than it is now, it was an extreme habitat when life first appeared. The first fossil confirming life existence dates from 3.5 billion years ago [8]. However, the characteristics of this fossil indicate it was an organism reasonably evolved, suggesting that life appeared much prior in time. Even at present days is still hard to determine when the first life form appeared on Earth, since rocks older than approximately 3.5 Ga have been
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For instance, it was suggested that temperature in early Earth was higher than today, with an average of ocean water temperature above 50°C, proposing that life forms of this time should be tolerated elevated temperatures [8].
Although high/low temperature can be considerate an extreme condition, this is not the only factor that defines an extreme environment. It includes parameters such physical parameters (e.g., pressure, temperature and radiation) and geochemical parameters (e.g., pH and salinity). The natural or virtual arrangements of maximum or minimum values of these parameters (pH lower than 3, hydrostatic pressure above 20 MPa, temperature above 80°C, etc.), are challenging on development and survival of most life forms, denominate an extreme environment
3. Thermal springs, such as Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park, have temperatures above 100°C. How does adaptation make it possible for living organisms to inhabit such an extreme environment?
Early earth was dominated with carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide. Hydrogen sulfide are invisble gas that were poisonous. We think this is when life first took hold. Penny Boston and Diana Northern investigate how life can survived here. They went to a cave, Cueva day Pl lose which was filled with hydrogen sulfide. Life is thriving inside the cave. Single cell bacterias snot tights were here. Bacteria are common organism, grow adapt and reproduce. Many bacteria were found and they survive from the hydrogen sulfide. If they can find life here, then life can be formed in early earth.
Evidence for life on early Earth (e.g. in the Pre Cambrian) has proved difficult to find because: SELECT ALL THAT APPLY Select one or more: A. rocks from these early times are rare due to the recycling of the Earth's crust through plate tectonics B. there was no oxygen in the Earth's atmosphere at this time C. life at this time lacked hard parts (such as shells or bones) that fossilise easily D. life had not yet emerged onto land E. life at this time was mostly microbial
The evolution of that formation created the world we live in today. The earth has been in existence for a little over four point five billion years to be exact. The earth shares a story that we are still exploring. From its colorful coral reefs in bright and vibrant
Australia has small crystals that enables scientist map out earths existence; they are called Zircons. The earth began as dust. The planet was extremely hot at first and without a certain collusion it would not be what it is today. A planet with four seasons and with tides in the ocean from the moon. At first, there were no continents they would come along later, so it was mostly water. Next, single cell organisms and photosynthesis would start creating oxygen. In fact, oxygen was so abundant it froze most the planet. Eventually, oxygen would lead the planet to multicellularity. Life would come and go many times over the course of time. This would be causes by catastrophic events, but life would always be resilient. All life evolved from the sea.
Compassion and Patience can help one understand the feelings and experiences of another in a positive light. We can see the positive spiritual and mental effects of being patient and compassionate in the novel We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo, which follows the life and experiences of Darling, a native Zimbabwean who moves to Detroit. Darling’s interactions with her Uncle Kojo and Tshaka Zulu in the last chapter show us that she can be patient and compassionate towards others. These characteristics showed up earlier in the book as well when Darling’s father came home from South Africa stricken with AIDs. Darling is at her best when she shows compassion and patience for those around
Did you know that, at one point, there was no life on Earth? There are many theories for how life began on our planet, Earth; no one knows which theory is true, and humans may never actually know for sure. There is a lot of evidence for each theory, each evidence only as legitimate as you believe it to be. These theories are greatly varied, spanning from life being created in deep sea vents in the oceans to lightning hitting the ground and sending off sparks that form new compounds.
Critics may argue that evolution, being blind and unguided, cannot produce its results - life as we know it - in such a timespan. However, with self-replicating chemicals (like DNA or RNA), a reliable source of energy (the sun), and a vast surface area and lots of water, organic chemicals and other substances, and a vast amount of time (a year alone has over half a million minutes), it is not difficult to imagine how life could have proliferated, diversified and evolved over aeons, after first appearing as a self-sustaining system supporting and supported by a series of chemical processes happening in tandem and interacting with the
Assumptions: “Life existed on earth for hundreds of millions of years before species evolved that
Fox-Skelly, Jasmin. “Earth - Some Lifeforms May Have Been Alive since the Dinosaur Era.” BBC News, BBC, 3 June 2016, www.bbc.com/earth/story/20160602-some-lifeforms-may-have-been-alive-since-the-dinosaur-era.
In the beginning of the Archean Eon, the atmosphere was full of nitrogen, hydrogen, and carbon. Water vapor was also heavy in the atmosphere because the oceans were beginning to form as well. Within these oceans, the water was about between 55 and 85 degrees celsius. The crust was cooling down enough to where the continental plates and rocks were beginning to form. The rocks that were formed in that time period contain the oldest fossils known (3.5 bya) but they have either been eroded or covered by younger sediments due to the fact that they were the first formed. In the oceans, single-celled organisms were beginning to form; we are what we are because of these organisms. Near the end of this Eon, some of the organisms began to photosynthesize
The fossil record provides a unique view into the history of life by showing the forms and features of life in the past. Fossils tell us how species have changed across long periods of the Earth’s history. For instance, in 1998, scientists found
According to scientists, they believe that the earth is 4.5 billion years old. They also believe that life,water,and oxygen got to Earth by meteorites. But the question is how did this happen ? Well let’s start with how they know how old the earth is. In 1897 Ernest rutherford came up with an idea that would change the world forever. The idea? Radioactive decay. Radioactive decay allows us to tell how old rocks are. So when people used this theory on rocks that were found in porpoise cove near hudson bay they were amazed at how
Oparin hypothesized that the origin of life arose from Earth in its primitive state, these conditions allowed the production of inorganic molecules, which slowly transitioned into organic substances (RF). The temperature of the earth would have also been several hundred degrees high to initiate changes in hydrocarbons, correlating with Paneth’s experiment (high temperatures to facilitate the breaking of hydrocarbons into free radicals) (RF) and Russell and Hall’s model. According to Russell and Hall’s model, life emerged in hot, reduced, basic and sulfuric waters opposed with colder, more oxidized, iron-bearing water. (Russell and Hall) They proposed the origin of life would have taken place in the deep Hadean ocean floor. The difference between acidity, temperatures and redox potential of the waters would have facilitated a gradient of pH, temperature and redox potential, becoming sustainable over geological time-scales, providing the continuity for conditions that were favourable to organic chemical reactions required for the origin of life.
The Earth was formed about 4.54 billion years ago in one in many galaxies. After many years have passed the Earth has evolved and land was created. Many species have formed also the life of nature. The land provides humans nutrients and resources for people to survive, such as nourishing foods and materials for building shelter.