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mindblowingscience · 1 year

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The current study provides strong evidence that this crucial step for the emergence of life can indeed occur even in the very inhospitable conditions of space.

The origin of life is one of the great questions of mankind. One of the prerequisites for the emergence of life is the abiotic—not by living beings caused chemical—production and polymerization of amino acids, the building blocks of life.

"Two scenarios are being discussed for the emergence of life on Earth: On the one hand, the first-time creation of such amino acid chains on Earth, and on the other hand, the influx from space," explains Tilmann Märk from the Department of Ion Physics and Applied Physics. of the University of Innsbruck. "For the latter, such amino acid chains would have to be generated in the very unfavorable and inhospitable conditions in space."

A team of researchers led by Michel Farizon from the University of Lyon and Tilmann Märk has now made a significant discovery in the field of abiotic peptide chain formation from amino acids for the smallest occurring amino acid, glycine, a molecule that has been observed several times extraterrestrially in recent years.

#science #stem #biology #chemistry #biochemisty #life #amino acids #origins of life

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gillianthecat · 8 months

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#sorry. no 'other' option #according to my professor these are the three currently most accepted hypotheses so you have to choose one #prebiotic earth #origins of life #warm little ponds #hydrothermal vents #it was aliens bro #biology #gillianthecat goes back to school #hw lb #my polls #tumblr polls

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uapcatalog · 2 years

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Scientists announce a breakthrough in determining life's origin on Earth—and maybe Mars

Scientists at the Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution announced today that ribonucleic acid (RNA), an analog of DNA that was likely the first genetic material for life, spontaneously forms on basalt lava glass. Such glass was abundant on Earth 4.35 billion years ago. Similar basalts of this antiquity survive on Mars today.

"Communities studying the origins of life have diverged in recent years," remarked Steven Benner, a co-author of the study appearing online in the journal Astrobiology.

"One community re-visits classical questions with complex chemical schemes that require difficult chemistry performed by skilled chemists," Benner explained. "Their beautiful craftwork appears in brand-name journals such as Nature and Science." However, precisely because of the complexity of this chemistry, it cannot possibly account for how life actually originated on Earth.

"If life emerged on Earth via this simple path, then it also likely emerged on Mars,"

In contrast, the Foundation study takes a simpler approach. Led by Elisa Biondi, the study shows that long RNA molecules, 100-200 nucleotides in length, form when nucleoside triphosphates do nothing more than percolate through basaltic glass.

"Basaltic glass was everywhere on Earth at the time," remarked Stephen Mojzsis, an Earth scientist who also participated in the study. "For several hundred million years after the Moon formed, frequent impacts coupled with abundant volcanism on the young planet formed molten basaltic lava, the source of the basalt glass. Impacts also evaporated water to give dry land, providing aquifers where RNA could have formed."

The same impacts also delivered nickel, which the team showed gives nucleoside triphosphates from nucleosides and activated phosphate, also found in lava glass. Borate (as in borax), also from the basalt, controls the formation of those triphosphates.

The beauty of this model is its simplicity. It can be tested by highschoolers in chemistry class

The same impactors that formed the glass also transiently reduced the atmosphere with their metal iron-nickel cores. RNA bases, whose sequences store genetic information, are formed in such atmospheres. The team had previously showed that nucleosides are formed by a simple reaction between ribose phosphate and RNA bases.

"The beauty of this model is its simplicity. It can be tested by highschoolers in chemistry class," said Jan Špaček, who was not involved in this study but who develops instrument to detect alien genetic polymers on Mars. "Mix the ingredients, wait for a few days and detect the RNA."

The same rocks resolve the other paradoxes in making RNA in a path that moves all of the way from simple organic molecules to the first RNA. "For example, borate manages the formation of ribose, the 'R' in RNA," Benner added. This path starts from simple carbohydrates that could "not not" have formed in the atmosphere above primitive Earth. These were stabilized by volcanic sulfur dioxide, and then rained to the surface to create reservoirs of organic minerals.

Thus, this work completes a path that creates RNA from small organic molecules that were almost certainly present on the early Earth. A single geological model moves from one and two carbon molecules to give RNA molecules long enough to support Darwinian evolution.

"Important questions remain," cautions Benner. "We still do not know how all of the RNA building blocks came to have the same general shape, a relationship known as homochirality." Likewise, the linkages between the nucleotides can be variable in the material synthesized on basaltic glass. The import of this is not known.

Mars is relevant to this announcement because the same minerals, glasses, and impacts were also present on Mars of that antiquity. However, Mars has not suffered continental drift and plate tectonics that buried most rocks from Earth older than 4 billion years. Thus, rocks from the relevant time remain on the surface of Mars. Recent missions to Mars have found all of the needed rocks, including borate.

"If life emerged on Earth via this simple path, then it also likely emerged on Mars," said Benner. "This makes it even more important to seek life on Mars as soon as we can."

https://phys.org/news/2022-06-scientists-breakthrough-life-earthand-mars.html

More detailed information can be found here, here and here.

#life #where we come from #Origins #how life emerged #how life starts from nothing #it’s science #goodbye God #Origins of life #Earth #Mars #Space #Galaxy #The galaxy

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butchfalin · 6 months

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the funniest meltdown ive ever had was in college when i got so overstimulated that i could Not speak, including over text. one of my friends was trying to talk me through it but i was solely using emojis because they were easier than trying to come up with words so he started using primarily emojis as well just to make things feel balanced. this was not the Most effective strategy... until. he tried to ask me "you okay?" but the way he chose to do that was by sending "👉🏼👌🏼❓" and i was so shocked by suddenly being asked if i was dtf that i was like WHAT???? WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY TO ME?????????? and thus was verbal again

#yeehaw #1k #5k #10k #posts that got cursed. blasted. im making these tag updates after... 19 hours?#also i have been told it should say speech loss bc nonverbal specifically refers to the permanent state. did not know that!#unfortunately i fear it is so far past containment that even if i edited it now it would do very little. but noted for future reference #edit 2: nvm enough ppl have come to rb it from me directly that i changed the wording a bit. hopefully this makes sense #also. in case anyone is curious. though i doubt anyone who is commenting these things will check the original tags #1) my friend did not do this on purpose in any way. it was not intended to distract me or to hit on me. im a lesbian hes a gay man. cmon now #he felt very bad about it afterwards. i thought it was hilarious but it was very embarrassed and apologetic #2) “why didn't he use 🫵🏼?” didn't exist yet. “why didn't he use 🆗?” dunno! we'd been using a lot of hand emojis. 👌🏼 is an ok sign #like it makes sense. it was just a silly mixup. also No i did not invent 👉🏼👌🏼 as a gesture meaning sex. do you live under a rock #3) nonspeaking episodes are a recurring thing in my life and have been since i was born. this is not a quirky one-time thing #it is a pervasive issue that is very frustrating to both myself and the people i am trying to communicate with. in which trying to speak is #extremely distressing and causes very genuine anguish. this post is not me making light of it it's just a funny thing that happened once #it's no different than if i post about a funny thing that happened in conjunction w a physical disability. it's just me talking abt my life #i don't mind character tags tho. those can be entertaining. i don't know what any of you are talking about #Except the ppl who have said this is pego/ryu or wang/xian. those people i understand and respect #if you use it as a writing prompt that's fine but send it to me. i want to see it #aaaand i think that's it. everyday im tempted to turn off rbs on it. it hasn't even been a week

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thoughtcascades · 1 month

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idk how to flirt but i can make things awkward if you're into that

#own #text #thoughtcascades #showerthoughts #shower thoughts #quote #quotes #writing #original words #poetry #literature #inspiring #quoteoftheday #poem #aesthetic #prose #inspiring quote #life #spilled ink

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bloodybellycomb · 6 months

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One massive, legitimate way to improve as a writer or artist or in any creative endeavor really, is to become absolutely obsessed with something and to allow yourself to be weird about it. Genuinely mean this btw.

#dc comics #disco elysium #shakespeare #hamlet #scott pilgrim #<- all this things have made me a better #writer and artist for both fan creation #and for my own original work #literal life hack #allow yourself to become obsessive and cringe to a certain degree #birdy chirps

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trudlejack · 3 months

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(+part 2)