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It is fascinating, and I don't think most people appreciate, just how early life formed on earth. Basically as soon as the lava cooled down and earth wasn't abs
by TrispusAttucks 5y ago
It is fascinating, and I don't think most people appreciate, just how early life formed on earth. Basically as soon as the lava cooled down and earth wasn't absolutely hostile life popped up.
- hetspookjee 5y agoI believe the current understanding is that life even formed while lava was still around. I think the earliest dating is around 4.1B where the Hadean epoch ended 4B year ago.
- drran 5y agoIMHO, the key element were 1) foam, 2) warmth. When large bodies of water are formed, wind and earthquakes started to generate waves, waves started to generate foam from floating organic compounds, and warmth start to generate complex reactions, like in a lava tube. We can see similar things at a shore after a tanker spill. Water-organic foam cells are similar to life cells. In a few cubic km of organic foam, short samples of RNA can be formed just by chance. RNA + RNA transferase can produce copies of itself, forming a primitive virus.