News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on Observable Universe contains 10x more galaxies than previously thought (2016). Parent comment

Re:Observable Universe contains 10x more galaxies than previ... by e40 on Thursday January 04, 2018 @01:04PM (#16072484)
See how quickly life appeared once the earth had cooled down?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panspermia

I find this a compelling possibility.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Observable Universe contains 10x more galaxies than previ... by Balgair on Thursday January 04, 2018 @06:00PM (#16074920)
Highly unlikely.

DNA's 'half-life' is about 500 years. Meaning that each nucleotide-bond has a 50% chance of breaking every 500 years.[0] At the time scales of interstellar travel, DNA based life is very unlikely to survive.

EDIT: This then means that DNA based life was likely a local phenomenon. This also means that other planets may have done the same and that a 'interstellar seed' is not required.

[0] https://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/32799...

[ Parent | on HN ]