Did Life Begin Before the Earth Existed?

Start with an unproven (but plausible) hypothesis: that the complexity of life grows at a constant exponential rate, just as so many other natural processes do.  Or, if you will, just like Moore's Law of integrated circuit complexity.  Then extrapolate backwards – given the complexity of life today, and an observed rate of growth, when did life have a complexity of 1 (that is, when did life begin)?

Two scientists have done this math, and have arrived at a date of roughly 9.5 billion years ago.  That's well before the Earth (or the Sun, for that matter) existed.

What does this mean?

One very real possibility is that the scientists are mistaken for some reason.  After all, they don't have any direct observational evidence for this date, just the extrapolation of a hypothesis – very weak ground to rest a theory on. 

The other possibility is that they are correct, and that would mean that life originated before the Earth did – and that the Earth was “seeded” with life through some mechanism (comet collisions are a frequently cited candidate).

It's an interesting ponder...

Disinhibition...

A couple weeks ago, I didn't know this word.  Now, thanks to some recent family events, I do.  And it got me to thinking...

Inhibitions are actually really important; some kinds, anyway.  Most of us have inhibitions about murdering random strangers, sexually attacking people, stealing, etc.  These inhibitions make human societies work – without them we would live short, nasty lives under constant threat. 

Mostly I think we take these inhibitions for granted.  I know I do.  I expect people to behave in an inhibited way.  Whenever someone behaves in an uninhibited way, we find that shocking. 

What is especially shocking is when someone you know, possibly even someone you love, exhibits uninhibited behavior after a lifetime of normal inhibited behavior.  This is the essence of “disinhibition” – when someone loses the inhibitions they once had.  There are several causes for this, but the most common is dementia or Alzheimer's.  These patients aren't really aware of what's happening to them, but those around them certainly are.

Anyway, this just got me to thinking about how absolutely essential these “normal” inhibitions are.  I never really thought about inhibitions as a positive thing before...

Curiosity: Life-Friendly Environment on Mars...

Curiosity has finished analyzing the rock powder its drill produced a few weeks ago.  The results show that ancient Mars had all the right attributes to sustain life.  They're not claiming (not yet, anyway) proof that life actually did exist there; just that it could have...

Life Found Deep Below the Antarctic Ice...

Most Antarctic biologists were expecting this, and now it's confirmed.  An underwater lake deep under the Antarctic ice has been cut off from the rest of the world for at least 100,000 years.  Nonetheless, life still thrives there.  It will be interesting to see how the life forms discovered obtain their energy in that cold, lightless environment...

Giant Gamma Ray Burst...

In 774 or 775 AD.  Researchers figured this out by examining some ancient cedar trees in Japan.  A new theory is that colliding black holes in the Milky Way galaxy caused it.

What interests me most are the effects of this irradiation on life.  Did the number of radiation-induced mutations jump?  Did this irradiation have any observable consequences?  I've read of several studies that are underway trying to figure this out, but it will be tough – in general, one can't determine what caused a mutation.  Probably the closest anyone will come to actual proof is if they can demonstrate that a statistically significant increase in the number of mutations occurred at the time of this large radiation dose...

Life in the Universe...

Stephen Hawking has some thoughts about it...

Are You a Democrat, a Republican, or a Southerner?

By this test, I'm somewhere between a Republican and a Southerner.  By most other tests, I'm a long way from either :-).  Via reader Jim M.:

You're walking down a deserted street with your wife and two small children.  Suddenly, a Terrorist with a huge knife comes around the corner, locks eyes with you, screams obscenities, raises the knife, and charges straight at you...

You are carrying a Kimber 1911 cal. 45 ACP with a 7 bullet magazine, and you are an expert shot.  You have mere seconds before he reaches you and your family.  What do you do?

Democrat's Answer:

• Well, that's not enough information to answer the question!
• What is a Kimber 1911 cal. 45 ACP?
• Does the man look poor or oppressed?
• Is he really a terrorist? Am I guilty of profiling?
• Have I ever done anything to him that would inspire him to attack?
• Could we run away?
• What does my wife think?
• What about the kids?
• Were the bullets made by unionized labor being paid a living wage?
• Could I possibly swing the gun like a club and knock the knife out of his hand?
• What does the law say about this situation?
• Does the pistol have appropriate safety built into it?
• Why am I carrying a loaded gun anyway, and what kind of message does this send to society and to my children?
• Is it possible he'd be happy with just killing me?
• Does he definitely want to kill me, or would he be content just to wound me?
• If I were to grab his knees and hold on, could my family get away while he was stabbing me?
• Should I call 9-1-1?
• Why is this street so deserted?
• We need to raise taxes, have paint & weed day.
• Can we make this a happier, healthier street that would discourage such behavior.
• I need to debate this with some friends for a few days and try to come to a consensus.
• This is all so confusing!

Republican's Answer:

• BANG!

Southerner's Answer:

• BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
• Click..... (Sounds of reloading)
• BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
• Click
• Daughter: 'Nice grouping, Daddy!  Were those the Winchester Silver Tips or Hollow Points?!
• Son: 'Can I shoot the next one?!'
• Wife: 'You ain't taking that to the Taxidermist!

The Tire Iron and the Tamale...

Here's a story that will make you feel better about humanity, though not necessarily about your fellow Americans.

We live out in the sticks, far away from the bustling city (though I commute to work there most days).  One of the things we cherish about living out here is precisely that if you are in need of help, chances are good that your neighbors (and folks that pass you on the roads) will stop and lend you a hand.  But we're all too familiar with the feelings of the author about how that would work out “down the hill” in the city.

Debbie and I make a regular practice of stopping to help people or animals in need.  Because I commute to work quite early in the morning, I'm fairly often the first to happen upon some unfortunate situation, and many is the time that I've stopped to assist.  Similarly, when I've stopped for whatever reason, I've had my people stop to see if I was ok.  When Debbie and I are on one of our road trips, we're off in some fairly remote areas, and again are sometimes the first to pass by someone in need of help.  Most of the time when we stop to ask someone if they're ok, they're perfectly fine – they may have simply stopped to eat lunch or to enjoy the scenery.  Often these people are quite surprised that anyone would bother stopping to check on them.  Pleased, but surprised.

Personally I think this is one of cultural consequences of cities, those vast accumulation of nameless strangers in whom you cannot afford to trust.  Outside the cities, that simply isn't so – we all lean on each other when we need some help, and we're all looking out for each other as well.  Of course it's not quite so absolute – there are certainly untrustworthy people living outside the cities, and not everyone out here is going to be neighborly.  But the proportions are definitely skewed out in the country, skewed in the direction that I am much more comfortable with.

I suspect that's what the author ran into.  His benefactor, I'll guess, wasn't willing to help because he was a poor Mexican.  He was willing to help because he came from the culture of the countryside, not the city...

To Realize...

Via my mom:

To realize
the value of a sister/brother
ask someone
who doesn't have one.

To realize
the value of ten years:
ask a newly
divorced couple.

To realize
the value of four years:
ask a graduate.

To realize
the value of one year:
ask a student who
has failed a final exam.

To realize
the value of nine months:
ask a mother who gave birth to a stillborn.

To realize
the value of one month:
ask a mother
who has given birth to a premature baby..

To realize
the value of one minute:
ask a person
who has missed the train, bus or plane.

To realize
the value of one-second:
ask a person
who has survived an accident.

Time waits for no one.
treasure every moment you have.

You will treasure it even more when
you can share it with someone special.

To realize the value of a friend or family member:
LOSE ONE.

Batteries, Dogs, and Other Nighttime Terrors...

So last night I stayed up late finishing an excellent book (more on that in a moment), knowing that on Saturday morning I could sleep in 'till 6 am or so.  Debbie is away at a dog agility event with Miki and Race (our two rambunctious younger dogs), leaving me with Lea (12 years old) and Mo'i (9 years old).  Both dogs stretched out luxuriously on the bed.  By 10 pm or so we were all snoring.

Until about 4:05 am, that is.  At that moment, in the hallway just outside our bedroom door, the fire alarm decided that its battery had reached the end of its lifetime.  I'm sure you know what that meant: at precisely 60 second intervals, an ear-splitting “chirp!” erupted. 

This had three immediate effects: I woke up, Mo'i leapt straight up and then ran out looking for the source of the evil noise, and Lea started shivering with an energy that must be experienced to be believed.  Lea is absolutely terrified by loud, sudden noises (thunder, gun shots, fireworks, and fire alarms all qualify).  Her reaction is to instantly start shivering violently – if you hold her tightly, it feels like she's wiggling back and forth with all the power she can muster, several times per second.  It's so powerful a motion that it's actually a little frightening – you wonder how her flesh can hold up.

So of course, half asleep, half blind without my glasses and in the pitch dark, I have to get up and fix the danged fire alarm.  I don't dare simply pull out the old battery, because it might be months before I remember to replace it.  So I stumble out to the kitchen to find a new battery (bashing two toes and an elbow in the process), then into the livingroom to find a stool to stand on (bashing my face into the wall in the process), then triumphantly carry the stool and battery into the hallway.  Somehow in the darkness I managed to tangle my legs around the stool and I tripped – hurtling the battery a few miles as I fell, and making a satisfying “thud” with the side of my head as I acquainted myself intimately with the floor.

After a couple of minutes I could see the darkness again (after the flashing stars disappeared).  Back into the kitchen.  Found another battery.  Back to the hall, on my hands and knees to reduce the amount of potential energy should I stumble again.  Found the stool, astonishingly still in one piece.  Put the stool in the proper place, clambered onto it, and successfully removed the old battery.  Dropped the new battery.  Carefully descended the stool and searched until I found the new battery.  Back onto the stool, replaced the battery, and slithered back down and back into bed.

A couple hours later, sunshine streaming into the window woke me up.  The first thing I did was to gingerly touch the various parts of my body that had been rudely smashed a couple hours earlier – everything seemed to be in the right place, and at least approximately of normal size, so apparently the injuries weren't as bad as the associated pain would indicate.  A quick check in the mirror: no blood, no bruises.  Amazing!  Then out to the hallway where I located the stool and the old, used battery – but I still haven't found the first new battery that went flying as I fell.  I'm not at all certain it's still on my property, much less inside my house.  I looked for telltale holes in the furniture and walls, but found nothing.  Maybe it vaporized upon impact, or maybe it's in orbit...

Ain't Life Amazing?

Under 600 feet of ice in Antarctica, researchers have found something most unexpected: life.  Not just algae and amoeba, but higher organisms like shrimp.  The first thought I had on reading this was “If here, why not Enceladus?”...

Life on Mars?

NASA scientists are back with a new analysis of the meteorite originally from Mars discovered back in 1996 that they believed showed evidence of fossilized bacteria-like life.  The new analysis, using newly-available technology, shows that alternative explanations involving chemical processes are not likely explanations.  This leaves fossilized living creatures as the only explanation still standing.

This won't close the case for science.  There will have to be much more evidence for living creatures on Mars before it becomes a generally accepted notion.  But if life did in fact exist on Mars (and possibly still does today), then this leads naturally to a couple of very intriguing lines of thought.  First, that possibly life is far more common than we have heretofore believed (if it arose independently on two planets in a single star system, then surely it will have arisen commonly in other star systems).  Second, that possibly life has been “seeded” by something completely outside our star system – perhaps something as simple as chirally-sorted amino acids being distributed by junk floating around in space, or cosmic rays turning out to be the key to amino acid formation.  And of course that latter line of thought will lead some to immediately assume intervention by alien civilizations or deities...

Five Lessons...

From Mike D.:

1. The Cleaning Lady

During my second month of college, our professor gave us a pop quiz. I was a conscientious student and had breezed through the questions until I read the last one:

"What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?"

Surely this was some kind of joke. I had seen the cleaning woman several times. She was tall, dark-haired and in her 50's, but how would I know her name?

I handed in my paper, leaving the last question blank. Just before class ended, one student asked if the last question would count toward our quiz grade.

"Absolutely, " said the professor. "In your careers, you will meet many people. All are significant. They deserve your attention and care, even if all you do is smile and say "hello."

I've never forgotten that lesson. I also learned her name was Dorothy.

2. Pickup in the Rain

(Editor's note: Snopes says this story is false, but the lesson is still relevant.)

One night, at 11:30 p.m., an older African American woman was standing on the side of an Alabama highway trying to endure a lashing rain storm. Her car had broken down and she desperately needed a ride. Soaking wet, she decided to flag down the next car. A young white man stopped to help her, generally unheard of in those conflict-filled 1960's. The man took her to safety, helped her get assistance and put her into a taxicab.

She seemed to be in a big hurry, but wrote down his address and thanked him. Seven days went by and a knock came on the man's door. To his surprise, a giant console color TV was delivered to his home. A special note was attached.

It read:

"Thank you so much for assisting me on the highway the other night. The rain drenched not only my clothes, but also my spirits. Then you came along. Because of you, I was able to make it to my dying husband's bedside just before he passed away... God bless you for helping me and unselfishly serving others."

Sincerely,
Mrs. Nat King Cole.

3. Always remember those who serve.

In the days when an ice cream sundae cost much less, a 10-year-old boy entered a hotel coffee shop and sat at a table. A waitress put a glass of water in front of him.

"How much is an ice cream sundae?" he asked.

"Fifty cents," replied the waitress.

The little boy pulled is hand out of his pocket and studied the coins in it.

"Well, how much is a plain dish of ice cream?" he inquired.

By now more people were waiting for a table and the waitress was growing impatient.

" Thirty-five cents," she brusquely replied.

The little boy again counted his coins.

"I'll have the plain ice cream," he said.

The waitress brought the ice cream, put the bill on the table and walked away The boy finished the ice cream, paid the cashier and left. When the waitress came back, she began to cry as she wiped down the table. There, placed neatly beside the empty dish, were two nickels and five pennies..

You see, he couldn't have the sundae, because he had to have enough left to leave her a tip.

4. The obstacle in Our Path

In ancient times, a King had a boulder placed on a roadway. Then he hid himself and watched to see if anyone would remove the huge rock. Some of the king's wealthiest merchants and courtiers came by and simply walked around it. Many loudly blamed the King for not keeping the roads clear, but none did anything about getting the stone out of the way.

Then a peasant came along carrying a load of vegetables. Upon approaching the boulder, the peasant laid down his burden and tried to move the stone to the side of the road. After much pushing and straining, he finally succeeded. After the peasant picked up his load of vegetables, he noticed a purse lying in the road where the boulder had been. The purse contained many gold coins and a note from the King indicating that the gold was for the person who removed the boulder from the roadway. The peasant learned what many of us never understand!

Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve our condition.

5. Giving When it Counts

Many years ago, when I worked as a volunteer at a hospital, I got to know a little girl named Liz who was suffering from a rare & serious disease. Her only chance of recovery appeared to be a blood transfusion from her 5-year old brother, who had miraculously survived the same disease and had developed the antibodies needed to combat the illness. The doctor explained the situation to her little brother, and asked the little boy if he would be willing to give his blood to his sister.

I saw him hesitate for only a moment before taking a deep breath and saying, "Yes I'll do it if it will save her." As the transfusion progressed, he lay in bed next to his sister and smiled, as we all did, seeing the color returning to her cheek. Then his face grew pale and his smile faded.

He looked up at the doctor and asked with a trembling voice, "Will I start to die right away?"

Being young, the little boy had misunderstood the doctor; he thought he was going to have to give his sister all of his blood in order to save her.

Some Wednesday morning ponders for you... Thanks, Mike.