3 ms·

Eureka First Life In The Universe

3 points by joshbaptiste 13y ago

pixl97 13y ago
The chances any 'complex' life came to form in the early universe are vastly improbable. First, there were no heavy elements yet. They are formed in the cores of exploding stars (Metallicity). We know from our studies in to the ancient universe that early stars are metal poor. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metallicity https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metallicity Hammering that fact in that the first stars are not though to have formed for 100 Million years after the big bang, at which time the CMB would be rather cool. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-first-stars-in-the-un/ http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-first-stars-in... After this point things get kind of hazy as there are still many questions about early galaxy formation and dark matter interactions. That said it is likely that star formation was occurring in dense clouds of hydrogen gas like we see today. Most of the star formation areas would be dominated by huge stars with short lifespans, ending in short violent lives. While seeding the galaxy with the building blocks for future life, the amount of these catastrophes would make survival very difficult in the glow of gamma radiation. Very little is known about the long term stability of these galaxies either. http://sciencenordic.com/collisions-made-early-galaxies-grow-huge http://sciencenordic.com/collisions-made-early-galaxies-grow...
- gus_massa 13y ago
  (I’m internally classifying this idea as interesting but extremely implausible. Neverhteles, just a technical question.) How long was the period between the 100°C (212°F) and 0°C (32°F)? Or to be generous between 200°C (392°F) and -100°C (-148°F)?
  - pixl97 13y ago
    In the first 380,000 years it expanded 1000 times its size and dropped to 4000K, much too hot for life. Reionization occurred from 150M to 1B years after the big bang, by the time that was done the universe was around 50K (-233C). During reionization it is likely the universe would have had too much ionizing radiation for life.

3 points by joshbaptiste 13y ago

The chances any 'complex' life came to form in the early universe are vastly improbable. First, there were no heavy elements yet. They are formed in the cores of exploding stars (Metallicity). We know from our studies in to the ancient universe that early stars are metal poor. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metallicity https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metallicity Hammering that fact in that the first stars are not though to have formed for 100 Million years after the big bang, at which time the CMB would be rather cool. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-first-stars-in-the-un/ http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-first-stars-in... After this point things get kind of hazy as there are still many questions about early galaxy formation and dark matter interactions. That said it is likely that star formation was occurring in dense clouds of hydrogen gas like we see today. Most of the star formation areas would be dominated by huge stars with short lifespans, ending in short violent lives. While seeding the galaxy with the building blocks for future life, the amount of these catastrophes would make survival very difficult in the glow of gamma radiation. Very little is known about the long term stability of these galaxies either. http://sciencenordic.com/collisions-made-early-galaxies-grow-huge http://sciencenordic.com/collisions-made-early-galaxies-grow...

gus_massa 13y ago
(I’m internally classifying this idea as interesting but extremely implausible. Neverhteles, just a technical question.) How long was the period between the 100°C (212°F) and 0°C (32°F)? Or to be generous between 200°C (392°F) and -100°C (-148°F)?
- pixl97 13y ago
  In the first 380,000 years it expanded 1000 times its size and dropped to 4000K, much too hot for life. Reionization occurred from 150M to 1B years after the big bang, by the time that was done the universe was around 50K (-233C). During reionization it is likely the universe would have had too much ionizing radiation for life.