[BioSystems via PubMed] The emergence of life represents a fundamental geometric phase transition in the state space of complex systems, rather than a mere sequence of chemical syntheses. Building upon […]
Origin & Evolution of Life
Posted inUncategorized
Hydrothermal Origin Of Metabolic Phosphorylation
Phosphate is central to modern bioenergetics and to all theories for the origin of life. How phosphate entered metabolism is unknown, though microbial physiology and geochemical environments can provide important […]
Posted inOrigin & Evolution of Life
Directing Open-Ended Evolution in Artificial Life via Multi-Scale Path Divergence
Open-ended evolution (OEE) in artificial life is typically driven by uninterpretable, black-box neural-network complexity metrics, leaving life-like systems disconnected from physical theories of complexity.
Posted inOrigin & Evolution of Life
Abiotic Sources Of Fixed Nitrogen Sustained Early Ecosystems For Several Hundred Million Years After The Origin Of Life
Nitrogen (N) plays a crucial role in controlling biological productivity. However, it remains unknown how Earth’s earliest ecosystems accessed bioavailable forms of nitrogen.
Posted inEuropa, Meteorites & Asteroids, Origin & Evolution of Life, Panspermia, Planetary Protection & Biosafety, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Earth As A Potential Source Of Llife For Europa’s Subsurface Ocean
The paper discusses the possibility of dust particles containing living bacteria ejected from Earth reaching Europa and landing on its surface.
Posted inBiochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report
Metal-catalyzed Phosphorylation By Phosphite At The Origin Of Bioenergetics
How did phosphate become the universal energetic currency of life? Traditional approaches to phosphorylation in early evolution studies entail oven drying, non-aqueous solvents, dangerously reactive forms of phosphorus, or other […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Cryobiology, Europa, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Microbiology & Virology, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release
Probing The Habitability Of Potential Sulfuric Acid Rich Subsurface Lakes In Europa’s Ice Shell Via Saci/STIV Integrated Models
Experimentally modeling the habitability of extreme ocean world conditions, such as those on Jupiter’s moon: Europa, would benefit from integrated microbe-virus model studies to provide both a microbial model and […]
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology, Fossils & Paleontology, Habitable Zones, Mars, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release, Tricorders & Sensors
Mars Mission: A Stress Test For The Search For Life
Billions of years ago, environmental conditions on Mars were significantly more hospitable than they are today. Our neighbouring planet was likely warm, humid, and surrounded by a dense atmosphere.
Posted inAstrochemistry, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report
Terrestrial Abiotic Synthesis of Simple Precursor Molecules Starting from Two Approaches: The Universality of Carbon Reduction
To address the chemistry responsible for life’s emergence, we examine the simple chemicals accessible on early Earth and the processes that could have transformed them. We focus on carbon reduction […]
Posted inAstrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Mars, Meteorites & Asteroids, Origin & Evolution of Life, Panspermia, Sample Return, Status Report
Mars Organic Geochemistry-Are We Alone, and Where Did We Come From?
This review of martian organic geochemistry aims to contextualize recent findings of organic molecules in martian meteorites and from Mars missions within the broader study of origins of life on […]