3 ms·
> Carell’s team has shown how all nucleobases could form under one set of conditions: two separate ponds that cycle through the seasons, going from wet to dry,
by jonmc12 7y ago
> Carell’s team has shown how all nucleobases could form under one set of conditions: two separate ponds that cycle through the seasons, going from wet to dry, from hot to cold, and from acidic to basic, and with chemicals occasionally flowing from one pond to the other.
I've enjoyed Bruce Damer's explanation of related theory, "The Hot Spring Hypothesis for the Origin of Life". Search "goldilocks chemistry" for some helpful background and visualizations on this page - https://extendedevolutionarysynthesis.com/the-hot-spring-hypothesis-for-the-origin-of-life-and-the-extended-evolutionary-synthesis/ https://extendedevolutionarysynthesis.com/the-hot-spring-hyp...
- yarg 7y agoI was going to reply with "now do it accidentally", but that actually seems like it could be a tidally guided experiment that would occur coincidentally with a relatively high frequency.
- yarg 7y agoAnother nice thing here is that we are left with a fairly low complexity - perhaps even high accuracy super-computer simulable - mechanism by which we can draw out viable candidates for probable forms of life across a wide variety of initial environments. Which seems cool to me.
- salgernon 7y agoIs that the Brice Damer of “DigiBarn” fame (vintage computer restoration and archiving)? An illustration shows a MITS Altair reading a paper tape, presumably to illustrate interpreting dna instructions.
- tasty_freeze 7y agoYes, one and the same guy
- jamesakirk 7y agoYes, it is the same Bruce Damer! Here is a clip of Bruce giving Wozniack a tour of the DigiBarn: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsHM3MXnrNM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsHM3MXnrNM He's a fascinating individual who wears many hats. He's done a ton of interviews on podcasts (his own, Duncan Trussel Family Hour, Erik Davis's Expanding Mind, Future Fossils, and Rogan come to mind).
- dmix 7y agoBruce gave a good summary presentation on his research (if you prefer this format): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsfCIR_6K0Y https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsfCIR_6K0Y
- ExplainLikeIm5 7y agoJust came here to say, I found this book pretty informative and persuasive: The Vital Question: Energy, Evolution, and the Origins of Complex Life https://www.amazon.com/dp/0393352978/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_ZC-LDbSM1PQGJ https://www.amazon.com/dp/0393352978/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_... The book contains some counter arguments against the primordial soup theory I am not really qualified to comment though.