LIFE: DID LIFE BEGIN ON PLANET EARTH OR SOMEWHERE ELSE? (last update: 02/17/2017)
( see: Dr. Dennis Bogdan, Master Editor III, Wikipedia => https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Drbogdan )
( copy: http://www.webcitation.org/6EKvv6QYE )
To All,
If interested --
IN THE EYES OF THE UNIVERSE, ARE LIFE-FORMS, INCLUDING HUMANS, SPECIAL? IS THE PLANET EARTH SPECIAL?
At the moment I think that Life-forms - basically, a chemical that can reproduce itself - began somewhere in the universe but not necessarily on planet Earth.
It seems possible to me that a single chemical molecule (perhaps some type of molecule presently detected in the universe like a glycoaldehyde, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon, fullerenes (or "buckyballs"), "amorphous organic solids with a mixed aromatic-aliphatic structure (1, 2), some protein component, some DNA component, some prebiotic RNA component or related material) chanced on reproducing itself (in a kind of abiogenic process [3], perhaps involving the PAH world hypothesis) making itself "immortal" - much like, in a sense, other matter in the universe. This single chemical event evolved over time to more elaborate molecular forms - eventually seeding the entire universe (via comets, asteroids and the like), including planet Earth, with Life-forms where-ever possible. There sure seems to have been a lot of time for all of this to have happened - after all, the present universe is estimated to be nearly 14 Billion years old - that's really, really a whole lot of Time I would think.
Interestingly, all known Life-forms are composed of the very same chemical (basically, a very particular form of phospho-sugar-nucleic acid - capable of astronomical variation - with only variants suitable to the environment surviving from one generation to the next).
Although it might be possible that Life-forms began uniquely on planet Earth, I think it unlikely - especially since there may be innumerable Life-friendly areas in the universe-at-large. Hey, the universe is very, very large - my understanding is that there is estimated to be more stars in the known universe than there are grains of sands on the planet Earth - that's really, really a whole lot of Stars (and StarStuff) I would think.
-
In any case --
Comments Welcome.
Enjoy,
Dennis
http://home.comcast.net/~drbogdan/publications.html
PS --
UPDATE (02/10/2013):
Evidence seems to suggest that "Life" may have begun 5 billion years *before* the "Earth" existed - more precisely, the "Universe" seems to have been created 13.77 billion years ago (Wikipedia - Universe); "Life", 9.7 billion years ago (NIH Publication and Wikipedia - Panspermia); and the "Earth", 4.54 billion years ago (Wikipedia - Earth).
UPDATE (06/23/2008):
Published a related Comment (New York Times - "Darwinmania," Comment 341 - June 17, 2008) to a science news article (written by Dr. Olivia Judson, an evolutionary biologist) as follows:
"Thanks for another *Excellent* article - just wondering - seems many may regard man as the very best result of evolution ever (or, at least, so far) - more advanced, more superior, more excellent, more special even - than any other life-form to have ever lived on the planet (or perhaps anywhere else in the universe in the view of some) - but doesn't this notion rest on the idea that "human cleverness" is being used as the benchmark for the determination? Is this seeming anthropocentricism a human conceit (and/or arrogance) of sorts? Not surprisingly, other life-forms would hardly measure up to the standards of "human cleverness" that humans are in fact so well able to do. Afterall, being human is very easy for humans to do but not so easy for other life-forms I would think.
"But if the benchmark for being an advanced species were "bird-like" flying or "fish-like" swimming instead, how would humans then measure up? - perhaps not as well I would think.
"Have humans biased the notion of life (and/or existence) via "human cleverness" to favor only the human lot in life so-to-speak? Perhaps there's other (maybe even better?) ways to view man's role in the overall scheme of things - maybe humans (and even other life-forms perhaps) aren't quite as special in the eyes of the universe as some may think?
"If interested, related notions can be found at the following:
http://drbogdan.livejournal.com
http://drbogdan.livejournal.com/#item5861 "
- Actual Comment Published By Dr. Dennis Bogdan (Publications Page).
UPDATE (06/04/2008):
Published a related Comment (New York Times - "Weird Sisters," Comment 74 - June 4, 2008) to a science news article (written by Dr. Olivia Judson, an evolutionary biologist) as follows:
"Excellent Article - fascinating subject - just wondering - if these asexual bdelloid rotifer life-forms are really able to be thoroughly dried-up (“desiccated” as noted), and survive successfully in a completely waterless state (“suspended animation” as noted), and then later be fully reconstituted with water or the like, could they also be sufficiently resilient (and hardy), as a dried-up (dust-like?) life-form, to be worthy space-travelers of sorts and travel among the stars, via comets and meteorites perhaps, seeding the universe? Can the life-forms presently on our planet be the evolved descendants of these, or similar, space-traveling dust-like, waterless life-forms, settling on our planet billions of years ago? Afterall, the earliest evidences of life on our planet are apparently the fossilized remains of very, very simple life-forms. Maybe life on our planet, rather than having a very special (and exclusive?) beginning here on our planet, was the result of dust-like, waterless life-forms falling from the stars instead?
"On a somewhat related matter - could the search for water (as a way of discovering life-forms) on the Planet Mars with the Phoenix Lander be too limiting since there may be life-forms that can, apparently, survive quite successfully without any water whatsoever?
"In any case, just a few thoughts.
"Incidently, and if interested, a similar discussion, with somewhat different hardy (and resilient?) simple life-forms, may be found at the following: http://drbogdan.livejournal.com/7419.html.
- Dr. Dennis Bogdan"
- Actual Comment Published By Dr. Dennis Bogdan (Publications Page).
UPDATE (06/11/2009):
Published a related Comment (New York Times - "Exo-Planets," Comment 20 - June 11, 2009) to a science news article (written by Dr. Oliver Morton, a science writer and editor) as follows:
"Excellent Essay about a fascinating subject.
"Since there may be more stars than there are grains of sand on planet earth (http://tinyurl.com/drb-stars) and since some of the relatively few stars studied so far seem to be associated with exo-planets of one sort or another, it seems reasonable to me (at least at the moment) that a certain number of stars may be associated with earth-like exo-planets in fact - of these, a certain number may even occupy a “habitable zone” and support life-forms of some sort - of these, a certain number may even contain clever life-forms, much like ourselves, perhaps. A possibility - very, very remote perhaps - but a possibility nonetheless.
"That said -
"Actually “connecting-up” with such life-forms, if any, might be quite a challenge - after all, the distances between worlds is really, really enormous. According to my calculations (http://tinyurl.com/drb-calc), a space ship traveling 60,000 mph, considerably faster than any human endeavor at the moment, would take about 50,000 years to reach the nearest star beyond our solar system. [Note: A Project Orion-type propulsion system (http://tinyurl.com/drb-orion) might make the interstellar journey somewhat shorter - but considerable journey times might be expected to be involved in any regards.]
"All in all, a quixotic quest of sorts?
"Dr. Dennis Bogdan, Pittsburgh, PA
http://drbogdan.livejournal.com
- Dr. Dennis Bogdan"
- Actual Comment Published By Dr. Dennis Bogdan (Publications Page).
UPDATE (02/16/2009):
According to a recent BBC news story, scientists have determined that there may be Billions of Earth-like Planets with simple life-forms, and Thousands with intelligent life-forms (and civilizations), in our own Galaxy alone. However, none of these Earth-like Planets are likely to be within actual Human reach since they are all much too far away - according to my calculations, a space ship traveling 60,000 mph, considerably faster than presently possible, would take nearly 50,000 years to travel to the nearest star - with no known place to land!
UPDATE (06/08/2010):
Methane Was Recently Detected In The Atmosphere Of The Planet Mars (http://j.mp/Drb-Lj-Mars) - There May Be As-Yet-Unknown Explanations For The Methane; But Life As We Know It May Be The Best One At The Moment. Even More Recently, Living (Methane-Based) Organisms May Have Been Found On Planet Saturn's Moon Titan According To Several NASA-Related Studies (http://j.mp/News-Titan) - In Either Case, Life (A Self-Reproducing Chemical?) May Be More Natural To The Universe Than Some (Or Many?) May Have Thought. Wikipedia (http://j.mp/Wiki-Mars), (http://j.mp/Wiki-Titan).
UPDATE (11/28/2012):
Published a related Comment (New York Times - "Can a Jellyfish Unlock the Secret of Immortality?," Comment 105 - November 28, 2012) to a science news article (written by Nathaniel Rich) as follows (but without noted supporting references):
"Dr. Dennis and Joanne Bogdan - Pittsburgh, PA
"Excellent Article - My Present Thinking (some supported in the responsible scientific literature) About Life-Forms:
"01. Life, At Its Most Basic Level, Is A Chemical That Can Reproduce Itself (http://j.mp/Wiki-LifeDef) (http://j.mp/WikiTalk4-Life).
"02. The Starting Materials Related To Reproducible Chemicals Seem To Be *Everywhere* In The Universe (http://j.mp/DrB-LJNote) (http://j.mp/CosmicDust).
"03. Some Of These Materials May Begin Reproducing (Naturally? Spontaneously?) And Settle Wherever Possible In The Universe (http://j.mp/Panspermia).
"04. On Planet Earth At Least, All Known Life-Forms Came From *One Single* Ancestor About 3.7 Billion Years Ago (http://j.mp/NGS-1stLife) (http://j.mp/Nature-1stLife) (http://j.mp/Wiki-1stLife) (http://j.mp/Wiki-FirstLife) (http://j.mp/Wiki-FirstLife2).
"05. All Known Life-Forms Are The *Very Same* Reproducible Chemical, With Astronomical Variation (http://j.mp/Abiogenesis).
"06. The "Purpose Of Life" Is The Same For *All* Life Forms: To Transfer Genetic Information Into The "Next Generation."
"07. All Life-Forms May Have "Intelligence" (http://j.mp/Wiki-IQ), A Possible Measure Of Cleverness In Successfully Adapting To A Host Environment, But To Varying Degrees (And In Varying Forms?).
"08. There May Be Many Technically Clever Life-Forms In The Universe - Many Such Life-Forms May Be Present In The Universe At The Moment - Or - In Times Past - But Since Space Is So Widespread And Time Is So Wideranging - Such Technically Clever Life-Forms May Not Ever Know Of Each Other.
"09. Overall - Life-Forms Are "Star Stuff" Emerging From The Midst Of Time And Space At The Very Beginning - And Then - A Return At The Very End? - Or - In The Case Of The "Immortal Jellyfish" - A Return To The Very Beginning?
"- Dr. Dennis Bogdan
http://drbogdan.livejournal.com/5861.html
Nov. 28, 2012 at 5:12 p.m."
- Actual Comment Published By Dr. Dennis Bogdan (Publications Page).
See Also --
http://drbogdan.livejournal.com/11144.html
http://www.facebook.com/notes/dennis-bogdan/science-life-origins-and-human-space-adventures/74260331257
http://home.comcast.net/~drbogdan/publications.html
---
--
| Dr Dennis Bogdan * Computer DataPro Consulting
| drbogdan at comcast.net * drbogdan at yahoo.com
| http://www.facebook.com/drbogdan
--
( copy: http://www.webcitation.org/6EKvv6QYE )
To All,
If interested --
IN THE EYES OF THE UNIVERSE, ARE LIFE-FORMS, INCLUDING HUMANS, SPECIAL? IS THE PLANET EARTH SPECIAL?
At the moment I think that Life-forms - basically, a chemical that can reproduce itself - began somewhere in the universe but not necessarily on planet Earth.
It seems possible to me that a single chemical molecule (perhaps some type of molecule presently detected in the universe like a glycoaldehyde, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon, fullerenes (or "buckyballs"), "amorphous organic solids with a mixed aromatic-aliphatic structure (1, 2), some protein component, some DNA component, some prebiotic RNA component or related material) chanced on reproducing itself (in a kind of abiogenic process [3], perhaps involving the PAH world hypothesis) making itself "immortal" - much like, in a sense, other matter in the universe. This single chemical event evolved over time to more elaborate molecular forms - eventually seeding the entire universe (via comets, asteroids and the like), including planet Earth, with Life-forms where-ever possible. There sure seems to have been a lot of time for all of this to have happened - after all, the present universe is estimated to be nearly 14 Billion years old - that's really, really a whole lot of Time I would think.
Interestingly, all known Life-forms are composed of the very same chemical (basically, a very particular form of phospho-sugar-nucleic acid - capable of astronomical variation - with only variants suitable to the environment surviving from one generation to the next).
Although it might be possible that Life-forms began uniquely on planet Earth, I think it unlikely - especially since there may be innumerable Life-friendly areas in the universe-at-large. Hey, the universe is very, very large - my understanding is that there is estimated to be more stars in the known universe than there are grains of sands on the planet Earth - that's really, really a whole lot of Stars (and StarStuff) I would think.
-
In any case --
Comments Welcome.
Enjoy,
Dennis
http://home.comcast.net/~drbogdan/publications.html
PS --
UPDATE (02/10/2013):
Evidence seems to suggest that "Life" may have begun 5 billion years *before* the "Earth" existed - more precisely, the "Universe" seems to have been created 13.77 billion years ago (Wikipedia - Universe); "Life", 9.7 billion years ago (NIH Publication and Wikipedia - Panspermia); and the "Earth", 4.54 billion years ago (Wikipedia - Earth).
UPDATE (06/23/2008):
Published a related Comment (New York Times - "Darwinmania," Comment 341 - June 17, 2008) to a science news article (written by Dr. Olivia Judson, an evolutionary biologist) as follows:
"Thanks for another *Excellent* article - just wondering - seems many may regard man as the very best result of evolution ever (or, at least, so far) - more advanced, more superior, more excellent, more special even - than any other life-form to have ever lived on the planet (or perhaps anywhere else in the universe in the view of some) - but doesn't this notion rest on the idea that "human cleverness" is being used as the benchmark for the determination? Is this seeming anthropocentricism a human conceit (and/or arrogance) of sorts? Not surprisingly, other life-forms would hardly measure up to the standards of "human cleverness" that humans are in fact so well able to do. Afterall, being human is very easy for humans to do but not so easy for other life-forms I would think.
"But if the benchmark for being an advanced species were "bird-like" flying or "fish-like" swimming instead, how would humans then measure up? - perhaps not as well I would think.
"Have humans biased the notion of life (and/or existence) via "human cleverness" to favor only the human lot in life so-to-speak? Perhaps there's other (maybe even better?) ways to view man's role in the overall scheme of things - maybe humans (and even other life-forms perhaps) aren't quite as special in the eyes of the universe as some may think?
"If interested, related notions can be found at the following:
http://drbogdan.livejournal.com
http://drbogdan.livejournal.com/#item5861 "
- Actual Comment Published By Dr. Dennis Bogdan (Publications Page).
UPDATE (06/04/2008):
Published a related Comment (New York Times - "Weird Sisters," Comment 74 - June 4, 2008) to a science news article (written by Dr. Olivia Judson, an evolutionary biologist) as follows:
"Excellent Article - fascinating subject - just wondering - if these asexual bdelloid rotifer life-forms are really able to be thoroughly dried-up (“desiccated” as noted), and survive successfully in a completely waterless state (“suspended animation” as noted), and then later be fully reconstituted with water or the like, could they also be sufficiently resilient (and hardy), as a dried-up (dust-like?) life-form, to be worthy space-travelers of sorts and travel among the stars, via comets and meteorites perhaps, seeding the universe? Can the life-forms presently on our planet be the evolved descendants of these, or similar, space-traveling dust-like, waterless life-forms, settling on our planet billions of years ago? Afterall, the earliest evidences of life on our planet are apparently the fossilized remains of very, very simple life-forms. Maybe life on our planet, rather than having a very special (and exclusive?) beginning here on our planet, was the result of dust-like, waterless life-forms falling from the stars instead?
"On a somewhat related matter - could the search for water (as a way of discovering life-forms) on the Planet Mars with the Phoenix Lander be too limiting since there may be life-forms that can, apparently, survive quite successfully without any water whatsoever?
"In any case, just a few thoughts.
"Incidently, and if interested, a similar discussion, with somewhat different hardy (and resilient?) simple life-forms, may be found at the following: http://drbogdan.livejournal.com/7419.html.
- Dr. Dennis Bogdan"
- Actual Comment Published By Dr. Dennis Bogdan (Publications Page).
UPDATE (06/11/2009):
Published a related Comment (New York Times - "Exo-Planets," Comment 20 - June 11, 2009) to a science news article (written by Dr. Oliver Morton, a science writer and editor) as follows:
"Excellent Essay about a fascinating subject.
"Since there may be more stars than there are grains of sand on planet earth (http://tinyurl.com/drb-stars) and since some of the relatively few stars studied so far seem to be associated with exo-planets of one sort or another, it seems reasonable to me (at least at the moment) that a certain number of stars may be associated with earth-like exo-planets in fact - of these, a certain number may even occupy a “habitable zone” and support life-forms of some sort - of these, a certain number may even contain clever life-forms, much like ourselves, perhaps. A possibility - very, very remote perhaps - but a possibility nonetheless.
"That said -
"Actually “connecting-up” with such life-forms, if any, might be quite a challenge - after all, the distances between worlds is really, really enormous. According to my calculations (http://tinyurl.com/drb-calc), a space ship traveling 60,000 mph, considerably faster than any human endeavor at the moment, would take about 50,000 years to reach the nearest star beyond our solar system. [Note: A Project Orion-type propulsion system (http://tinyurl.com/drb-orion) might make the interstellar journey somewhat shorter - but considerable journey times might be expected to be involved in any regards.]
"All in all, a quixotic quest of sorts?
"Dr. Dennis Bogdan, Pittsburgh, PA
http://drbogdan.livejournal.com
- Dr. Dennis Bogdan"
- Actual Comment Published By Dr. Dennis Bogdan (Publications Page).
UPDATE (02/16/2009):
According to a recent BBC news story, scientists have determined that there may be Billions of Earth-like Planets with simple life-forms, and Thousands with intelligent life-forms (and civilizations), in our own Galaxy alone. However, none of these Earth-like Planets are likely to be within actual Human reach since they are all much too far away - according to my calculations, a space ship traveling 60,000 mph, considerably faster than presently possible, would take nearly 50,000 years to travel to the nearest star - with no known place to land!
UPDATE (06/08/2010):
Methane Was Recently Detected In The Atmosphere Of The Planet Mars (http://j.mp/Drb-Lj-Mars) - There May Be As-Yet-Unknown Explanations For The Methane; But Life As We Know It May Be The Best One At The Moment. Even More Recently, Living (Methane-Based) Organisms May Have Been Found On Planet Saturn's Moon Titan According To Several NASA-Related Studies (http://j.mp/News-Titan) - In Either Case, Life (A Self-Reproducing Chemical?) May Be More Natural To The Universe Than Some (Or Many?) May Have Thought. Wikipedia (http://j.mp/Wiki-Mars), (http://j.mp/Wiki-Titan).
UPDATE (11/28/2012):
Published a related Comment (New York Times - "Can a Jellyfish Unlock the Secret of Immortality?," Comment 105 - November 28, 2012) to a science news article (written by Nathaniel Rich) as follows (but without noted supporting references):
"Dr. Dennis and Joanne Bogdan - Pittsburgh, PA
"Excellent Article - My Present Thinking (some supported in the responsible scientific literature) About Life-Forms:
"01. Life, At Its Most Basic Level, Is A Chemical That Can Reproduce Itself (http://j.mp/Wiki-LifeDef) (http://j.mp/WikiTalk4-Life).
"02. The Starting Materials Related To Reproducible Chemicals Seem To Be *Everywhere* In The Universe (http://j.mp/DrB-LJNote) (http://j.mp/CosmicDust).
"03. Some Of These Materials May Begin Reproducing (Naturally? Spontaneously?) And Settle Wherever Possible In The Universe (http://j.mp/Panspermia).
"04. On Planet Earth At Least, All Known Life-Forms Came From *One Single* Ancestor About 3.7 Billion Years Ago (http://j.mp/NGS-1stLife) (http://j.mp/Nature-1stLife) (http://j.mp/Wiki-1stLife) (http://j.mp/Wiki-FirstLife) (http://j.mp/Wiki-FirstLife2).
"05. All Known Life-Forms Are The *Very Same* Reproducible Chemical, With Astronomical Variation (http://j.mp/Abiogenesis).
"06. The "Purpose Of Life" Is The Same For *All* Life Forms: To Transfer Genetic Information Into The "Next Generation."
"07. All Life-Forms May Have "Intelligence" (http://j.mp/Wiki-IQ), A Possible Measure Of Cleverness In Successfully Adapting To A Host Environment, But To Varying Degrees (And In Varying Forms?).
"08. There May Be Many Technically Clever Life-Forms In The Universe - Many Such Life-Forms May Be Present In The Universe At The Moment - Or - In Times Past - But Since Space Is So Widespread And Time Is So Wideranging - Such Technically Clever Life-Forms May Not Ever Know Of Each Other.
"09. Overall - Life-Forms Are "Star Stuff" Emerging From The Midst Of Time And Space At The Very Beginning - And Then - A Return At The Very End? - Or - In The Case Of The "Immortal Jellyfish" - A Return To The Very Beginning?
"- Dr. Dennis Bogdan
http://drbogdan.livejournal.com/5861.html
Nov. 28, 2012 at 5:12 p.m."
- Actual Comment Published By Dr. Dennis Bogdan (Publications Page).
See Also --
http://drbogdan.livejournal.com/11144.html
http://www.facebook.com/notes/dennis-bogdan/science-life-origins-and-human-space-adventures/74260331257
http://home.comcast.net/~drbogdan/publications.html
---
--
| Dr Dennis Bogdan * Computer DataPro Consulting
| drbogdan at comcast.net * drbogdan at yahoo.com
| http://www.facebook.com/drbogdan
--