There will always be a measured search for the beginnings of life on our planet. The very nature of our existence and what came before us is a question that has eluded scientists, theologians, and philosophers alike since time began. Now, a new study is underway that suggests meteorites might have played a huge role in the advent of life. In fact, the study is bold enough to say that humanity, life on earth, essentially may have come from the stars — in a round about the way. The deep and exhaustive study, though destined to be controversial, was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The study that we are speaking of today was developed by Ben K.D. Pearce, an astrobiologist from McMaster University in Canada. The complete study was developed between Canada’s McMaster University and the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy which is located in Germany. The collaboration sought to look into where life came from and whether life actually came from our home planet. Essentially what the massive study presents is that a meteorite slammed into the Earth almost 4 billion years ago. On the meteorite there were the essential building blocks to life that humanity would need to eventually come to be. Meteorites specifically hitting these warm and small ponds presented the perfect atmosphere for all of the different elements to work together to grow into ribonucleic acid — according to Ben K.D. Pearce. Pearce believes that, at the time, oceans were far too harsh for this material to survive in anywhere but the specific environment of a small and warm lake.
For those not in the know, ribonucleic acid is also known as RNA. RNA is something that can evolve and reproduce itself. Pearce goes on to say of RNA, “At one time, it was the dominant life form on Earth and likely the first life form on Earth.” Pearce goes on to say, specific to the origins of life, of RNA, “But it’s made up of a family of molecules known as nucleobases, which stem from a reactive type of nitrogent hat wouldn’t have formed on a lifeless early Earth.”
The study goes through an exhaustive list of data “from all facets of science” but the researchers kept coming back to meteorites as the vehicles to deliver the special elements needed for life to begin. The next step for the study group is to focus on bringing a laboratory test together at McMaster University.
