Download or read book Abiogenesis written by Paul F. Kisak and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2016-08-12 with total page 180 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Abiogenesis has become a maturing field of study as an alternative to the creationist or intelligent design theory of the origin of life on earth. Abiogenesis, Biopoiesis or OoL (Origins of Life), is the natural process of life arising from non-living matter, such as simple organic compounds. It is thought to have occurred on Earth between 3.8 and 4.1 billion years ago. Abiogenesis is studied through a combination of laboratory experiments and extrapolation from the characteristics of modern organisms, and aims to determine how pre-life chemical reactions gave rise to life on Earth. The study of abiogenesis involves geophysical, chemical, and biological considerations, with more recent approaches attempting a synthesis of all three. Many approaches investigate how self-replicating molecules, or their components, came into existence. It is generally thought that current life on Earth is descended from an RNA world, although RNA-based life may not have been the first life to have existed. The classic Miller-Urey experiment and similar research demonstrated that most amino acids, the basic chemical constituents of the proteins used in all living organisms, can be synthesized from inorganic compounds under conditions intended to replicate those of the early Earth. Various external sources of energy that may have triggered these reactions have been proposed, including lightning and radiation. Other approaches ("metabolism-first" hypotheses) focus on understanding how catalysis in chemical systems on the early Earth might have provided the precursor molecules necessary for self-replication. Complex organic molecules have been found in the Solar System and in interstellar space, and these molecules may have provided starting material for the development of life on Earth. The panspermia hypothesis alternatively suggests that microscopic life was distributed to the early Earth by meteoroids, asteroids and other small Solar System bodies and that life may exist throughout the Universe. Given the revised and more accurate models of "The Drake Equation" and the knowledge gained on the Tardigrade species, it is very probable that some simple form of life has been deposited on earth via asteroids, meteorites or some similar phenomena. It is speculated that the biochemistry of life may have begun shortly after the Big Bang, 13.8 billion years ago, during a habitable epoch when the age of the universe was only 10 to 17 million years. The panspermia hypothesis therefore answers questions of where, not how, life came to be; it only postulates that life may have originated in a locale outside the Earth. Currently, Earth remains the only place in the Universe observed to harbor life, and fossil evidence from the Earth supplies most studies of abiogenesis. Precambrian stromatolites were found in the Siyeh Formation of The Glacier National Park. A paper in the scientific journal "Nature" 2002 suggested that these 3.5 Ga (billion years) old geological formations contain fossilized cyanobacteriamicrobes. This suggests they are evidence of one of the earliest known life forms on Earth. The age of the Earth is about 4.54 billion years; the earliest undisputed evidence of life on Earth dates from at least 3.5 billion years ago, and possibly as early as the Eoarchean Era, after a geological crust started to solidify following the earlier molten Hadean Eon. Microbial mat fossils have been found in 3.48 billion-year-old sandstone in Western Australia. Other early physical evidence of biogenic substances includes graphite discovered in 3.7 billion-year-old metasedimentary rocks in southwestern Greenland, as well as "remains of biotic life" found in 4.1 billion-year-old rocks in Western Australia. According to one of the researchers, "If life arose relatively quickly on Earth ... then it could be common in the universe." This book discusses the various methods and Evidence for the development of life on Earth by natural means.
Download or read book The Stairway To Life written by Rob Stadler and published by . This book was released on 2020-03-13 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Spontaneous generation of living organisms-life arising without progenitor or seed-was a common belief in the time of Aristotle. Over the next two thousand years, support for spontaneous generation slowly retreated to its final stronghold: spontaneous formation of the first living organism. From recently acquired insights into the complexity of the simplest organisms, Tan and Stadler specify requirements for spontaneous formation of life and evaluate the prospects for natural processes to satisfy these requirements. The Stairway to Life is a thought-provoking inquiry that breaches the final stronghold of spontaneous generation.
Download or read book The Origin and Early Evolution of Life Prebiotic Chemistry of Biomolecules written by Michele Fiore and published by MDPI. This book was released on 2019-10-29 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Studying the origin of life is one of man’s greatest achievements over the last sixty years. The fields of interest encompassed by this quest are multiple and interdisciplinary: chemistry, physics, biology, biochemistry, mathematics, geology but also statistics, atmospheric science, meteorology, oceanography, and astrophysics. Recent scientific discoveries, such as water on Mars and the existence of super-Earths with atmospheres similar to primordial Earth, have pushed researchers to simulate prebiotic conditions in explaining the abiotic formation of molecules essential to life. This collection of articles offers an overview of recent discoveries in the field of prebiotic chemistry of biomolecules, their formation and selection, and the evolution of complex chemical systems.
Download or read book The Emergence of Life on Earth written by Iris Fry and published by Rutgers University Press. This book was released on 2000 with total page 348 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How did life emerge on Earth? Is there life on other worlds? These questions, until recently confined to the pages of speculative essays and tabloid headlines, are now the subject of legitimate scientific research. This book presents a unique perspective--a combined historical, scientific, and philosophical analysis, which does justice to the complex nature of the subject. The book's first part offers an overview of the main ideas on the origin of life as they developed from antiquity until the twentieth century. The second, more detailed part of the book examines contemporary theories and major debates within the origin-of-life scientific community. Topics include: Aristotle and the Greek atomists' conceptions of the organism Alexander Oparin and J.B.S. Haldane's 1920s breakthrough papers Possible life on Mars?
Download or read book Life in the Cosmos written by Manasvi Lingam and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2021-06-29 with total page 1089 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A rigorous and scientific analysis of the myriad possibilities of life beyond our planet. ÒAre we alone in the universe?Ó This tantalizing question has captivated humanity over millennia, but seldom has it been approached rigorously. Today the search for signatures of extraterrestrial life and intelligence has become a rapidly advancing scientific endeavor. Missions to Mars, Europa, and Titan seek evidence of life. Laboratory experiments have made great strides in creating synthetic life, deepening our understanding of conditions that give rise to living entities. And on the horizon are sophisticated telescopes to detect and characterize exoplanets most likely to harbor life. Life in the Cosmos offers a thorough overview of the burgeoning field of astrobiology, including the salient methods and paradigms involved in the search for extraterrestrial life and intelligence. Manasvi Lingam and Abraham Loeb tackle three areas of interest in hunting for life Òout thereÓ: first, the pathways by which life originates and evolves; second, planetary and stellar factors that affect the habitability of worlds, with an eye on the biomarkers that may reveal the presence of microbial life; and finally, the detection of technological signals that could be indicative of intelligence. Drawing on empirical data from observations and experiments, as well as the latest theoretical and computational developments, the authors make a compelling scientific case for the search for life beyond what we can currently see. Meticulous and comprehensive, Life in the Cosmos is a master class from top researchers in astrobiology, suggesting that the answer to our age-old question is closer than ever before.
Download or read book Abiogenesis and Life from Dirt written by Andrew Crosse and published by Book Shed. This book was released on 2015-04-22 with total page 60 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book contains the original experiment by Andrew Crosse in the 19th century, along with a successful replication of his experiment by the London Electrical Society: In the year of 1837 Andrew Crosse endeavored to create synthetic crystal formations with silicates, water, and electricity. A couple weeks into the experiment, Crosse saw tiny crystal nucleations. Success, he thought. But, in the weeks to come he would notice something revolutionary. These crystal formations were developing the exact anatomy of an insect from the genus acarus! Eventually, these insect mineralizations dislodged from their rocky birthplace and began moving around. They even responded to external stimulus, such as light, implying that they developed some sort of sensory ability. When Crosse shared his results with the local community, an outrage ensued. "Only God can create" yelled the angry community. Ironically, Crosse had given evidence that life could be created from dirt, thus supporting the notion of creationism. Even more interesting, the initial conditions in Crosse's experiment are similar to those in Genesis; earth, water, and electricity: 1. The earth (Genesis 1:1) is comprised of about 70% silicates in its crust. 2. Water (Genesis 1:2). 3. Electricity is implied when light becomes present (Genesis 1:3), because light is electromagnetic radiation. Electricity is a form of electromagnetic radiation. Crosse demonstrated that life can arise from ways we have yet to understand through modern science. Many laugh and say his experiment was simply infested with the ova of the described insect. Crosse discusses his various methods of aseptic technique which insist that this was not the case. Even more convincing, his experiment was successfully recreated by William H Weekes of the London Electrical Society. Both Crosse's and Weekes' full experiment are contained within this book. Weekes' recreation took further precautions in ensuring that there was no biological infestation occuring. Regardless of any implications regarding the creation of life, this is a truly amazing experiment that deserves to be known by every person seeking answers to life's grandest questions. Many will wonder why more people don't know about this. My best guess is because it is inexplicable. It is as if life is encoded in electricity, or rather, light.
Download or read book Biogenic Abiogenic Interactions in Natural and Anthropogenic Systems 2022 written by Olga V. Frank-Kamenetskaya and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2023-11-20 with total page 661 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The book represents a collection of papers presented at VII International Symposium "Biogenic-abiogenic interactions in natural and anthropogenic systems" that was held on 26-29 September 2022 in Saint Petersburg (Russia). Papers in this book cover a wide range of topics connecting with interactions between biogenic and abiogenic components in lithosphere, biosphere and technosphere. The main regarding topics are following: biomineralization in living organisms and nature-like materials; biomineralization in geosystems; geochemistry of biogenic-abiogenic systems; biomineral interactions in soil; interaction of microorganisms with natural and artificial materials; medical geology; philosophical aspects of interdisciplinary researchs
Download or read book Origins Abiogenesis and the Search for Life written by Michael Russell and published by Cosmology.com. This book was released on 2010-10 with total page 516 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What is the origin of life? How did life begin? The question of life's origins has been asked for thousands of years and a variety of theories have been proposed. Yet, perhaps the right question has never been asked, which is, what does life do? To understand life, we must understand what it is, what it does, how it evolved from simple chemicals to self-replicating molecule, and then the questions of origins can be properly addressed. Did life begin in a deep sea thermal vent, or in an alkaline world? What were the role of viruses in kick starting life? Did life emerge from disequilibrium? What is the source of pre-genetic information? Did vesicles come first, or only after life had begun? In this text, over 20 of the world's leading scientists ask, and answer the hard questions, and in so doing may have ushered in a paradigm shift, and a scientific revolution in our understanding of the nature of life and its origins.
Download or read book Abiogenesis Biogenesis written by John Macaulay and published by . This book was released on 2018-12-18 with total page 187 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Abiogenesis' Biogenesis is a work of Christian Faith, Apologetics, and basic Theology in Hellenistic religio-philosophical tradition that explains Science and Christian logic from an objective perspective in very simple terms. It is full of information on the history of scientific thought or methodology and Darwinian evolution ideology. This work opens with a simple definition of the Bible then proceeds to address: the recurrent creation-evolution controversy, popular misconceptions of the relationship between Religion and Science, and the conflict between atheist and religious views of scientists on the origins of the universe and life.The book presents the Judeo-Christian concept of God, Biblical Cosmology, and important basic concepts of Physics, Chemistry, and Genetics in a simple easy-to-read format with several quotations and citations from Scripture, prominent scientists, philosophers, and Theologians. It is a good handbook for the practicing Christian, lover of wisdom, and any Truth-seeking agnostic.
Download or read book The Encyclopaedia Britannica written by Thomas Spencer Baynes and published by . This book was released on 1875 with total page 892 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book In Search of Cell History written by Franklin M. Harold and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2014-10-29 with total page 318 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This comprehensive history of cell evolution “deftly discusses the definition of life” as well as cellular organization, classification and more (San Francisco Book Review). The origin of cells remains one of the most fundamental mysteries in biology, one that has spawned a large body of research and debate over the past two decades. With In Search of Cell History, Franklin M. Harold offers a comprehensive, impartial take on that research and the controversies that keep the field in turmoil. Written in accessible language and complemented by a glossary for easy reference, this book examines the relationship between cells and genes; the central role of bioenergetics in the origin of life; the status of the universal tree of life with its three stems and viral outliers; and the controversies surrounding the last universal common ancestor. Harold also discusses the evolution of cellular organization, the origin of complex cells, and the incorporation of symbiotic organelles. In Search of Cell History shows us just how far we have come in understanding cell evolution—and the evolution of life in general—and how far we still have to go. “Wonderful…A loving distillation of connections within the incredible diversity of life in the biosphere, framing one of biology’s most important remaining questions: how did life begin?”—Nature
Download or read book Prebiotic Chemistry written by Peter Walde and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2005-10-13 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Abiogenesis from Molecules to Cells written by Paul D. Thompson and published by . This book was released on 1969 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Describes the series of biochemical discoveries about the chemical makeup of protoplasm and how these relate to theories about the origins of life.
Download or read book The Origin and Nature of Life on Earth written by Eric Smith and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2016-03-31 with total page 703 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Uniting the foundations of physics and biology, this groundbreaking multidisciplinary and integrative book explores life as a planetary process.
Download or read book The Emergence of Life written by Pier Luigi Luisi and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2006-07-13 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The origin of life from inanimate matter has been the focus of much research for decades, both experimentally and philosophically. Luisi takes the reader through the consecutive stages from prebiotic chemistry to synthetic biology, uniquely combining both approaches. This book presents a systematic course discussing the successive stages of self-organisation, emergence, self-replication, autopoiesis, synthetic compartments and construction of cellular models, in order to demonstrate the spontaneous increase in complexity from inanimate matter to the first cellular life forms. A chapter is dedicated to each of these steps, using a number of synthetic and biological examples. With end-of-chapter review questions to aid reader comprehension, this book will appeal to graduate students and academics researching the origin of life and related areas such as evolutionary biology, biochemistry, molecular biology, biophysics and natural sciences.
Download or read book Consilience Truth and the Mind of God written by Richard J. Di Rocco and published by Springer. This book was released on 2018-12-17 with total page 153 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book argues that God can be found within the edifice of the scientific understanding of physics, cosmology, biology and philosophy. It is a rewarding read that asks the Big Questions which humans have pondered since the dawn of the modern human mind, including: Why and how does the universe exist? From where do the laws of physics come? How did life and mind arise from inanimate matter on Earth? Science and religion have a common interest in the answers to such questions, yet many scientists and believers have been at odds for centuries. The author and contributors present a program for moving beyond the vastly different perspectives of reality offered by science and religion. Historical proofs for the existence of God are considered in light of the possibility that the universe may be only one in an eternal multiverse that contains an infinite number of other universes. Readers will find a modification of St. Augustine’s Argument from Truth for the existence of the necessary, self-sufficient being commonly referred to as God. This book is suited to all with an interest in the crossing points of science and religion, providing much food for thought and reflection. If in the end, you cannot accede to philosophy’s proofs, or theism’s invitation to faith, perhaps you will nevertheless say ‘yes’ to the amazing universe in which we live.
Download or read book The Quest for a Universal Theory of Life written by Carol E. Cleland and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2019-09-12 with total page 261 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Explores fundamental philosophical and scientific questions about the nature of life, particularly in relation to the search for extraterrestrial life.
