Comments on: Life Thrived After More Than 100 Meteorites Struck the Earth

By: Roberto Verzola

Roberto Verzola — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 01:26:05 +0000

I was just wondering if anybody else made the connection: the story said, "amino acids in meteorites". Is it possible the new amino acids from meteorites themselves caused the "explosion of life" after the impacts?

By: Andreas Johansson

Andreas Johansson — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 23:11:48 +0000

Sweden must have been attached to some huge landmass back then, probably Eurasia & closer to tropics.

Eurasia didn't exist during the Ordovician. What's now Sweden along with the rest of northern, central, and eastern Europe made up the smallish continent Baltica, which towards the end of the Ordovician collided with Laurentia, a continent consisting of what's now the core of North America. Baltica was in the low southern latitudes during this time.

By: Michael Paine

Michael Paine — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 03:45:30 +0000

If most of these "meteorites " (asteroid/comets or my preference microplanets) were around 1km in size then many microscopic lifeforms would be unrattled – at least on a global scale:
http://users.tpg.com.au/horsts/climate.htm

One such impact every 10,000 years gives plenty of time for recovery.

It is "higher" organisms that build dwellings on coastal flats and rely on just-in-time food supplies that are vulnerable to these minor impacts.

By: Jim

Jim — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 10:35:19 +0000

Why is 'explosion of life' a pun that requires to be pardoned?
explode=ex+plaudere='to drive out by clapping or (the opposite of) applauding'

By: Ciencia Kanija » Blog Archive » La vida prosperÃ³ despuÃ©s de que mÃ¡s de 100 meteoritos golpeasen la Tierra

Sat, 15 Mar 2008 14:21:07 +0000

[...] con mariposas y jirafas tambiÃ©n. Autor: Fraser Cain Fecha Original: 14 de marzo de 2008 Enlace Original Articulos RelacionadosLos meteoritos fueron una fuente rica para la sopa primordial La sopa [...]

By: Colin P H

Colin P H — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 12:53:21 +0000

Why do Paleontologists seem so surprised. When life is established it is difficult for new life to get started a disaster such as this gives new life an opportunity to develop which it can not do. Remember when a major disaster of this type happens other changes take place giving other life forms opportunities.

By: Yael Dragwyla

Yael Dragwyla — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 07:22:43 +0000

Erm, as to that "meteor impacts from Central America too, incl Chicxiulub in Yucatan which contributed to Permian/Triassic 250mya extinction," the impactor that made the crater at Chicxulub is associated with the End-Cretaceous Event, 65 myr ago, not 250 myr. Anyway, I'm curious about the causes that period of 100 bolide strikes during the Ordovician. This was *wat* after the Late Heavy Bombardment. So where did all those bolides come from, and could that ever happen again?

By: Laszlo

Laszlo — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 06:38:12 +0000

Hopefully, the wayward meteorites have cleared their course & we won't get bashed again. Sweden must have been attached to some huge landmass back then, probably Eurasia & closer to tropics.
Shocked minerals & quartzes characterize meteor impacts from Central America too, incl Chicxiulub in Yucatan which contributed to Permian/Triassic 250mya extinction. Some theories claim this Dinosaur extinction began before & continued after(by millions) the impact, so it may have occured gradually, including other factors. The great Flowering began here w diploid Angiosperms outcompeting haploid reproducing ferns & mosses. Soon birds, bats & bees pollinated them.
The survivors of the Ordovician shocks inhabited the deeper oceans. Bivalves(sim to clams), coelenterates (jellies, squid, nautilus, oct), echinoderms(sponges), & mollusks were buffered from climate change. No back bones here. Biodiversification would have filled the vacated or newly-formed biological niches w/o much competition. The other major phyla probably developed terrestially after the smoke cleared, esp vertebrates.
Yes, amino acids pooled together tend to aggregate. Peptide bonds are favorable, exothermic, they give off
energy. UV, heat or chem energy could break bonds & stir up the primordial soup. Then the proteins form manipulable hydrogen bonds & stronger sulphur bonds as they fold upon themselves. Quaternary structures can then form between proteins. Proteins perform life's functions, not nucleic acids, whose only role is regulating proteins, fats, carbs & metabolic byproducts. Conceivably proteins could perform perfunctory life functions & die wholesale w/o replicating, patiently awaiting the day when nucleic acids develop & they form a partnership with this nucleic virus. From there you conjecture bacterium or protozoan's swallowing organs they need (mitochondria, ribosomes, lysosomes, etc).
Since they claim to find amino acids in meteorites, then the Panspermia theory gets a big boost. Is there life in space? Well, I hope there's life out there. And you know what they say "Where there's Hope, there's Life".
Kingdom: Animalia Class: skipped class Phylum: Dischordata Order: hor d'ouvre Family: Hominidae
Genus: Vulcan Species: Spockian