Re: David Deamer's Ideas


"Tim Tyler" <seemysig@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:fqpb7m$u4o$1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Tom Hendricks wrote:

Life is that reaction to the sun heat
cycle (you call it hydrological) that is the most stable.

The sun is the energy source for most life on earth,
directly or indirectly.

The other main possibility for an energy source is
geothermal energy - mosly resudual energy from the
earth's formation - which fuels most of the rest
of life on earth via subterranean vents.

Some OOL enthusiasts do think geothermal energy was
important at the origin - but IMO, the idea doesn't
fit in terribly well with the other clues we have.

No one (except maybe Antonie Muller) thinks that it is
the 'thermal' part of geothermal that supplies the energy.
Instead the hypothesis is the proximate cause of the
energy is chemical deviations from equilibrium. Of course,
the ultimate cause of these deviations (and the source of the
continuing replenishment of the deviations) is geothermal,
but the causation is very indirect.

As to why we have life - and not, say only wind
and rain, dissipating energy gradients on earth,
IMO, that has to do with how benign the environment is:

If life can arise and persist at all, it tends to
spread into every nook and cranny, eventually feeding
off every energy gradient it can find - putting up
hydro-electric dams to catch the rain and turbines to
catch the wind - and so on. If not, we have a
situation like the one on Venus: just wind and rain.

In the Wachtershauser theory, the analogy of the
hydro-electric dam is particularly appropriate. W_
thinks that the relevant chemical potentials might well
dissipate on their own if life didn't get involved in
erecting barriers against the 'natural' (i.e. non-biological)
dissipation of the potentials - thus establishing monopolistic
control over that resource.

For example, life coats chemically active minerals with
a layer of hydrocarbon - thus keeping the mineral surface
from contact with the ocean's water and ions. And then life
itself taps the potential in the form of a trans-membrane
potential discharged by ion transport across the membrane.

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Lunar Space Elevator simply isnt for everyone
    ... Earth life would already have rad-tolerant DNA/RNA/ life mechanisms, ... The mostly iron core of Earth via friction and geothermal cooling is ... and more often it has been taking more of that energy in order ... Of your mass driver assisting in getting 100t payloads to LL-1, ...
    (sci.space.policy)
  • Re: Travoltas aid
    ... But concerns over their sudden demand on energy (and therefore about China's increasing impact on global pollution and warming) is, as far as I know, relatively recent. ... Yet it is the biggest energy consumer of the planet (because of it's way of life, because of mass-consumption), and that, in turn, has a major effect on global pollution. ...
    (soc.culture.french)
  • Re: Apple II: Second Best Tech Product of All Time!
    ... If life can occur on some chemical platform other than the carbon ... The only biology that we currently know is based on organic chemistry. ... If such an organism would ever become ... Today we use perhaps some 10 times more energy than our ancestors some ...
    (comp.sys.apple2)
  • Re: (rev 1.2.1) The CORRECT Definition of Scientologist - (plus history and some Fine Particle P
    ... does, when inflicting harm, ... 'Someone who admires and so gives his own Life ... Energy to the Demon, and incites others to do the ... ron hubbard. ...
    (soc.culture.polish)
  • Psychotronics is a Czech term for parapsychology.
    ... biological rhythm - the means for getting the biological energy into ... companies involved are Life Technology™ ... is charged utilising The Solis ... and programmed with the ancient and powerful Kabbalah formula ...
    (soc.culture.iraq)
Loading