The Primordial Scoop – Page 6 – Critical thinking about life in the cosmos, how it started, how to find it, and how to re-create it

Stamp collecting, mineralogy and prebiotic chemistry

Although derided as "stamp collecting", observing and cataloging minerals that occur in nature can guide us to good hypotheses about how life might have arisen from prebiotic chemistry.

By Steven A. Benner February 5, 2021Origin of Life2 Comments

Origin of Life

Did life arise from mixtures of DNA and RNA? What do Quine and Duhem say?

DNA-RNA mixtures probably don't have the properties we think they'd need to support Darwinian evolution, making them poor candidates for life-- unless our premises are incorrect!

By Steven A. Benner January 28, 2021Origin of LifeNo Comments

Astrobiology

Aristotle and the search for life on Venus

Last fall, lots of people were speculating about the possibility of life on Venus because phosphine was thought to be detected in its atmosphere. However in the Venusian environment, phosphine is unlikely to be created by Darwinian processes.

By Steven A. Benner January 26, 2021Astrobiology1 Comment

Life on Mars Origin of Life

Minerals, Mars, and 3.48 Billion Year Old Australian Fossils

A fossil with Earth's most ancient life on earth was analyzed for its elemental content, showing that it had several of the elements necessary for life to originate from prebiotic chemistry.

By Steven A. Benner January 24, 2021Life on Mars, Origin of LifeNo Comments

Synthetic Biology

The DNA of Alien Life

Synthetic biology can inform the search for alien life by exploring alternatives to normal terrestrial biochemistry. Here's how...

By Steven A. Benner January 24, 2021Synthetic Biology1 Comment

Life on Mars

Cooking Lasagna Glaciers on Mars

The mid latitude Martian subsurface layered ice, the Martian Lasagna, could be the best place to look for life on Mars. Here, layers of ice, few inches thick are separated by thin layers of dust - creating chemical gradients and bringing nutrients, water and life together. Here is how the Martian Lasagna is made.

By Jan Spacek January 20, 2021Life on Mars1 Comment