Its evolution baby!

[MinusTheBear]

So the building blocks of life is carbon and liquid water...add to the equation climate change and time..


http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g_WHHFPrQjvdnQhVIvx5o9a-v66AD9BV10180

 

[Adam]

You got me wondering if the Moon ever had the right conditions to form the building blocks of life as we know it. Then I started thinking that just because we haven't found the evidence of that doesn't mean it didn't exist. That then led me to the thought that at some point, there will likely be no evidence that life ever existed on this planet - perhaps at the point that the planet ceases to exist, or perhaps before that. Either way, life here is a blip in this universe and will probably come to an end before any other life (if it exists) ever knows we're here.

 

[MinusTheBear]

Just taking into perspective that the universe is approx 15 billions old and the earth is 4.5 billions years old its safe to say a lot of crazy **** must have occured...i'm not really into philosphy about the past but I find these sort of findings quite interesting.

 

[JerryLove]

I don't know what we want to consider "time" to determine if life is a blip.

If I look "beginning of the universe to now", I know that life on Earth is about 4.2 billion years old in a universe about 16 billion. That's 25%, so not bad.

In all of time? I'd have to have an estimate how big time is because I don't know. Eventually, the entire baryonic universe may represent a small portion of time.

As to life on the moon: I cannot imagine it would be possible in any manner more complex than is in space. The moon formed as the result of a collision between two planetoids... it was "knocked off the Earth". Given the very low pressure I'd have trouble imagining that the conditions for life (as we know it to exist) really existed at any point... but anything is possible.

For what it's worth: there is life there now. Stephliococi on the equipment we brought to the moon survived and reproduced; at least in our equipment. )http://science.nasa.gov/newhome/headlines/ast01sep98_1.htm)

 

[Adam]

The moon formed as the result of a collision between two planetoids... it was "knocked off the Earth".

That's the latest theory that I've heard, but people used to be convinced that the Earth was flat. So, who knows - maybe that's what happened, but maybe not.

For what it's worth: there is life there now. Stephliococi on the equipment we brought to the moon survived and reproduced; at least in our equipment. )http://science.nasa.gov/newhome/headlines/ast01sep98_1.htm)

Very interesting! Thanks.

 

[CraigV]

Recent estimates put the age of the universe at 13.7 billion years. Many astronomers & scientists believe that in our early solar system, a planetoid the size of Mars smashed into the fledgling Earth, the resulting impact ejecting mass amounts of debris, which through accretion developed into our only natural satellite. There are also theories that one of the early impacters brought with it (or them) water, and bacteria that were some of the first forms of life on our planet. Perhaps this rogue planet brought with it the very stuff of life we all sprang from? This may explain where some of the water on the Moon came from. I also find it really interesting that it took this long to discover this ice. There certainly are many more mysteries to solve.

 

[JerryLove]

That's the latest theory that I've heard, but people used to be convinced that the Earth was flat. So, who knows - maybe that's what happened, but maybe not.

There's a current in the scientific community to redfine what science is. Specifically, to thinking of it as the creation of models which make accurate predictions.

A theory is therefore good as long as it remains accurate at making true predicions and bad if it makes a false prediction. Whether it's actually a true representation of what is happening is becoming considered philosophy. There are some very notable advocates of this position (Stephen Hawkings comes to mind: per "The Universe in a Nutshell").

That siad: the impact model is the only one we presently have which accurately predictions all of our current observations. I personally think it will remain so (I believe it's correct), but any time we stop believing something can be replaced by new knowledge, we move from science to religion.

That said: it's surprising how long ago we actually determined the earth to be round: The Greek astronomers determined it (and the approximate size) 2300 years ago (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spherical_Earth)

 

[JerryLove]

This may explain where some of the water on the Moon came from. I also find it really interesting that it took this long to discover this ice.

There are a couple of interesting notes here.

One is that water is downright plentiful in the solar system. Admittedly mostly as ice, and mostly in the outer solar system.

The Earth's own oceans are believed to be substantially the result of icy bodies impacting the Earth. Similar bodies would certainly have impacted the moon (I think the hit ratio is something like 1/20).

The reason we spent so long not even considering water on the moon, besides the fact that the regolith we found was dry, is the result of the very low pressure (meaning there's an extremely low sublimation temperature for water), and exposure to the sun.

It's important to note, that we determined water likely before we really found it. In essence, it was the process of determining that water could survive (in perpetual shadow for example) that made us really look.

(I'll stop crowding this thread for a bit now. Can you tell it's another passion of mine?)

 

[Adam]

Good post, Jerry.

That said: it's surprising how long ago we actually determined the earth to be round: The Greek astronomers determined it (and the approximate size) 2300 years ago (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spherical_Earth)

Thanks for that. Following some links, I read that the concept of medieval people believing that the Earth was flat was a myth. I did not know that.

 

[mperfct]

I thought this thread was going to be about Pearl Jam.

 

[MinusTheBear]

I thought this thread was going to be about Pearl Jam.

Yield is my favorite Pearl Jam Record

 

[mtrycrafts]

.. Can you tell it's another passion of mine?)

No, not really. But please tell us about your passion