Re: Panspermia Catch 22
- From: Tom Hendricks <tom-hendricks@xxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 16 Apr 2008 13:25:07 -0400 (EDT)
On Apr 15, 6:46 pm, Lorentz <drosen0...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Apr 14, 1:17 pm, Tom Hendricks <tom-hendri...@xxxxxxx> wrote:
On the one hand, a planet needs enough gravity to hold
in the necessary gases to have the atmosphere that
leads to life.
On the other, 'there is probably not enough energy in
the most violent volcano eruption to eject gravel size
or larger rocks out of the gravity well of a
terrestrial planet and into space." 'Life As We Do Not
know It.'
Therefore it is highly unlikely for a planet with the
necessary gravity to begin life, to also eject that
life into space.
Comment?
Although I am not a believer in universal panspermia, the
probability of life propagating within this solar system to other
planets does not seem impossible. Your argument has a lot of flaws. I
will give you my version of the theory proposed by scientists in the
Jet Propulsion Laboratory of NASA. If anyone at JPL sees this and
thinks I got it wrong, he should protest.
A bolide collision can produce the necessary energy to project
small objects into space. We know this is true because of tekatites
from the moon and Martian rocks found on earth. The heat and shock
would be distributed unevenly, so there may be part of the ejected
material with living microorganisms. We know this again because of
Martian rocks with gaseous residues. Some microorganisms have a
dormant state which will allow a few of them to survive the millions
of years to fall to a new planet. Bacterial endospores are common
microorganisms on earth. If the organisms are deep in the material
that falls, some microorganisms may survive. Basic physics. Small
bodies can't burn up due to air friction since they reach terminal
velocity too fast.
I think the individual microorganism has a small if not
astronomically small chance of surviving all this. However, a small
amount of material can contain a lot of microorganisms. The
probability of one or two microorganisms surviving all this out of all
the microorganisms in a livable planet may not be so improbable.
I think NASA has a plausible program for investigating this
possibility. And I don't think a few manned space missions will do it.
Hundreds of tiny robotic missions is the way to go.
The Hoyle panspermia idea is nonsense.
But note your two examples small objects from the Moon or Mars -
both with less gravity than the earth. I suggest that neither had the
necessary atmosphere needed to start life. Thus you need bigger
planets
to start life, and bigger planets have more gravity and even less
chance
to eject life to space.
Perhaps it is possible - for instance if life had begun before the
bombardment phase - but I still think it is highly unlikely.
.
- References:
- Panspermia Catch 22
- From: Tom Hendricks
- Re: Panspermia Catch 22
- From: Lorentz
- Panspermia Catch 22
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