Deep Beneath Earth's Surface, Clues to Life's Origins

Re:Deep Beneath Earth's Surface, Clues to Life's Origins by freedomben on Sunday January 07, 2024 @12:04PM (#38902898)

Yes this is definitely a theory already. The volcanic vents under the ocean particularly seem promising. I'm nowhere near qualified to even try to explain it without making certain errors, so I don't want to even try, rather I'll recommend someone who is qualified (and good at teaching).

If you're interested in this stuff, I can highly recommend Robert M. Hazen. He has an amazing Great Course called "The Origin and Evolution of Earth: From the Big Bang to the Future of Human Existence" that covers stuff in depth. There's a shorter one called "Origins of Life" as well but I haven't listened to that. My impression is that it's an abridged version of the former.

Hazen also wrote a book called "The Story of Earth: The First 4.5 Billion Years, from Stardust to Living Planet" which covers the same material as the course (but in book form, obviously) and is really good. I liked the lecture-style of the course better personally, but they're both excellent resources if you're interested in this stuff.

My only regret is that they're about 10 years old at this point. If anyone knows what has changed in the last decade in the field, I'd be fascinated to know.

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Re:Deep Beneath Earth's Surface, Clues to Life's Origins by olddustytrail on Sunday January 07, 2024 @12:12PM (#38902977)

Oh thanks! I have an Audible subscription so just spent a credit on the Hazen great course.

Mind you, I just started the Bach and the High Baroque so it might be a fair way into 2024 before I get to it. Maybe I can interleave them...

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Re:Deep Beneath Earth's Surface, Clues to Life's Origins by freedomben on Sunday January 07, 2024 @12:18PM (#38903033)

Nice! I wouldn't worry too much. Once you start Hazen's course it will be impossible for you to stop :-D

That Bach course does seem quite interesting though, I'll check it out!

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Re:Deep Beneath Earth's Surface, Clues to Life's Origins by tectonic on Sunday January 07, 2024 @12:07PM (#38902925)

Came here to post the same thing, The Story of Earth is excellent!

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Re:Deep Beneath Earth's Surface, Clues to Life's Origins by queuebert on Sunday January 07, 2024 @02:10PM (#38904167)

If you're interested in the origins and future of humanity, I'd recommend Isaac Arthur's YouTube channel as a complementary source as well.

https://www.youtube.com/@isaacarthurSFIA

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Re:Deep Beneath Earth's Surface, Clues to Life's Origins by edgyquant on Sunday January 07, 2024 @03:43PM (#38904957)

Isaac Arthur is an engineer, so not exactly an expert on biology or anthropology. He does to a lot of futurology, but thats unrelated to the origins of life on earth and any speculation he does there is just that.

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Re:Deep Beneath Earth's Surface, Clues to Life's Origins by queuebert on Sunday January 07, 2024 @06:08PM (#38906195)

As a former astrobiologist, I respectfully disagree. The future and past are intimately related, and our planet's future may be examined through other planets' pasts (e.g. Venus). Other than genetics, we have zero evidence about life 3.5 billion years ago, so everything is speculation, and an engineer can do that as well as a biologist.

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Re:Deep Beneath Earth's Surface, Clues to Life's Origins by olddustytrail on Sunday January 07, 2024 @02:36PM (#38904397)

Thanks, I'll check that out also!

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