Posted on 12/29/2021 5:57:37 AM PST by Red Badger
A summary of decades of research on a rather 'out-there' idea involving viruses from space raises questions on just how scientific we can be when it comes to speculating on the history of life on Earth.
It's easy to throw around words like crackpot, rogue, and maverick in describing the scientific fringe, but then papers like this one, from 2018, come along and leave us blinking owlishly, unsure of where to even begin.
A total of 33 names were listed as authors on this review, which was published by Progress in Biophysics and Molecular Biology back in August 2018. The journal is peer reviewed and fairly well cited. So it's not exactly small, or a niche pay-for-publish source.
Science writer Stephen Fleischfresser goes into depth on the background of two of the better known scientists involved: Edward Steele and Chandra Wickramasinghe. It's well worth a read.
For a tl;dr version, Steele is an immunologist who has a fringe reputation for his views on evolution that relies on acquiring gene changes determined by the influence of the environment rather than random mutations, in what he calls meta-Lamarckism.
Wickramasinghe, on the other hand, has had a somewhat less controversial career, recognized for empirically confirming Sir Fred Hoyle's hypothesis describing the production of complex carbon molecules on interstellar dust.
Wickramasinghe and Hoyle also happened to be responsible for another space biology thesis. Only this one is based on more than just the origins of organic chemistry.
The Hoyle Wickramasinghe (H-W) thesis of Cometary (Cosmic) Biology makes the rather simple claim that the direction of evolution has been significantly affected by biochemistry that didn't start on our planet.
In Wickramasinghe's own words, "Comets are the carriers and distributors of life in the cosmos, and life on Earth arose and developed as a result of cometary inputs."
Those inputs, Wickramasinghe argued, aren't limited to a generous sprinkling of space-baked amino acids, either.
Rather, they include viruses that insert themselves into organisms, pushing their evolution into whole new directions.
The report, titled "Cause of Cambrian Explosion – Terrestrial or Cosmic?", pulls on existing research to conclude that a rain of extra-terrestrial retroviruses played a key role in the diversification of life in our oceans roughly half a billion years ago.
"Thus retroviruses and other viruses hypothesized to be liberated in cometary debris trails both can potentially add new DNA sequences to terrestrial genomes and drive further mutagenic change within somatic and germline genomes," the authors wrote.
Let that sink in for a moment. And take a deep breath before continuing, because that was the tame part.
It was during this period that a group of mollusks known as cephalopods first stretched out their tentacles from beneath their shells, branching into a stunning array of sizes and shapes in what seemed like a remarkably short time frame.
The genetics of these organisms, which today include octopuses, squid, and cuttlefish, are as weird as the animals themselves, due in part to their ability to edit their DNA on the fly.
The authors of the paper make the rather audacious claim that these genetic oddities might be a sign of life from space.
Not of space viruses this time, but the arrival of whole genomes frozen in stasis before thawing out in our tepid waters.
"Thus the possibility that cryopreserved squid and/or octopus eggs, arrived in icy bolides several hundred million years ago should not be discounted," they wrote.
In his review of the paper, medical researcher Keith Baverstock from the University of Eastern Finland conceded that there's a lot of evidence that plausibly aligns with the H-W thesis, such as the curious timeline of the appearance of viruses.
But that's just not how science advances.
"I believe this paper justifies skepticism of the scientific value of stand alone theories of the origin of life," Baverstock argued at the time.
"The weight of plausible, but non-definitive, evidence, great though that might be, is not the point."
While the idea is as novel and exciting as it is provocative, nothing in the summary helps us better understand the history of life on Earth any better than existing conjectures, adding little of value to our model of evolution.
Still, with solid caveats in place, maybe science can cope with a generous dose of crazy every now and then.
Journal editor Denis Noble concedes that 'further research is needed', which is a bit of an understatement.
But given the developments regarding space-based organic chemistry in recent years, there's room for discussion.
"As space chemistry and biology grows in importance it is appropriate for a journal devoted to the interface between physics and biology to encourage the debates," said Noble.
"In the future, the ideas will surely become testable."
Just in case those tests confirm speculations, we recommend being well prepared for the return of our cephalopod overlords. Who knows when they'll want those eggs back?
This research was published in Progress in Biophysics and Molecular Biology.
A version of this article was first published in August 2018.
This may be useful information for me some day.
I redrilled the door frames for 6” grade 8 lag bolts. I have 1 1/2” angle aluminum re-enforcing the hinges and lock plates. Dead bolts are not the little 1” throw bolts, but Grade 1 commercial security bolts. Both front and rear doors are wood cored steel security doors.
Not paranoid... There was literally a sale at the local hardware/builders store so I went for the upgrades.
The Master Suite downstairs has a solid Red Oak door, steel hinges and an upgraded door lock. Still working on getting some of the others replaced... but other things have come up as priority. My upstairs office though has a tempered glass lattice work door with a Middle Earth map/poster taped over the glass.
Still need to demo and redo the upstairs bathroom. Should be fun. Yes, really. I enjoy doing that kind of thing...
If ever a door should need replacing, for certain.
https://www.homedepot.com/b/Doors-Windows-Interior-Doors-Prehung-Doors/N-5yc1vZc5ij
For any of the doors listed at the above link, the options are pretty standard. Including how the door is hung.
They clearly evolved on a different path. Copper based blood? 8fold symmetry.
Different...
You’re awake! Now that I got over the excitement, I’ll read your post.
I bet you can't remember when you've had that much fun. Pfeh
We have some interior doors that are pretty wrecked, but there’s no point in replacing them while we have boys in the house.
There is truth in this. That is why my carpets are still in such a sad state. I try to clean them, but with 2 cats, a 14 year old male, and a 10 year old female still living here... It seems a fools errand to try to keep the flooring pristine.
I settle for “somewhat sanitary” and consider it a win.
Yes, actually, I can! It wasn’t that long ago! Like, living here and running two HEPA filters during the day and an ozone machine at night, trying to get the cigarette/tobacco smell out...then washing down the walls with vinegar, dish detergent and water...two months ago.
Yeah. LOTS of fun!
;o])
Crikey. The left-hand screen/storm door has a price tag on it of $500. Don’t know where they got it, but the seller sure saw them coming. It needs to be retired until someone else needs one because I sure don’t want it on here!
Yep. We still have our original carpet (and vinyl, and formica) from 2003.
Yeah, I’m keeping later hours now, thinking I’d be spending more time with family, but that hasn’t happened, so...
Anyway, nothing’s going to change any time soon, so I’ll just stick to the hours I have. Strange as they seem to me. Monday is the only exception because I don’t like having to wait for machines in the laundry room. It’s just a lot easier to get up super early and get the wash done, then take a nap for an hour when I get done.
I don’t know who installed the counter tops, but there is a beveled edge in front of the sink — that goes right past the edge of the stove and traps everything that’s dropped. I have to be super careful and super clean, using a knife edge if necessary.
I hate cleaning the mess that several other people (strangers to each other and to me) leave behind just because they don’t think about it.
Do you feel compelled to stay in the laundry room for the entire wash and dry cycles?
Yes, actually. I’ve had some bad experiences with clothing, towels and bedding being stolen, and since then, no matter where I am, I stay with my clothes. I work crossword or other puzzles to keep me from going nuts while I sit there and wait.
Every other week, I use the dryer, but the week I don’t, I’m usually only gone about 40 minutes.
“Handedness” for doors only matters if the “slab,” as it’s called, is pre-drilled and mortised for knob and latch, as those are the parts that are installed at a distance relative to the floor, not the slab, itself.
If you get a slab machined for hinges only, you can flip it right for left at will.
Entirely depends on your use case: old houses might even require custom-sized, non-standard door slab where you’d need to specify the location and size of everything. IOW, decide whether to pay a manufacturer’s premium to do it custom, or make it yourself from scratch.
I would LOVE to redo the doors in my house with some old-school oil-rubbed bronze hardware... though I can’t decide about the knobs — whether to do a bold color accent, or go with a stately black:
https://www.belmonthardware.com/nostalgic-warehouse-studio-plate-passage-waldorf-cobalt-door-knob-in-oil-rubbed-bronze/sku-40L8U5E
— OR —
https://www.belmonthardware.com/nostalgic-warehouse-studio-plate-passage-black-porcelain-door-knob-in-oil-rubbed-bronze/sku-409XUU6
...on classic 2-panel mahogany doors:
https://www.doornmore.com/mahogany-two-panel-square-ovalo-sticking-interior-single-door.html
Get some smooth black, ball-bearing hinges to match...
...and we’re gonna push $4000 by the time tax & shipping gets figured in. And that’s not including cleaning, truing, and repainting the jambs.
And, of course the baseboards will need to be repainted to match, and then it won’t look nice to have awesome doors and walls that’re showing some wear ‘n’ tear, so... more painting — bedrooms, hallway, bathroom, entry...
One piece at a time and we’ll top $10,000 before it’s done.
OH, but it’d look SSSSOOOOO nice!
Probably bump the overall appeal of the place by $30,000; I mean — how much does the value of a place lose in your mind if the doors don’t open and close Just So, the brush strokes of the last three paint jobs are showing?
Yeah. I wanna take this place from “good” to “SPEC”!
RESOURCES:
https://www.doornmore.com/
https://www.belmonthardware.com/
https://www.nostalgicwarehouse.com/
Good morning all.
The kitteh looks like the feral marmalade that stalks squirrels in my immediate area. Which might be from one of various litters of the Feral Female Feline Birthing Center aka my old potting shed and lumber depository.
A small structure really, not enough room to swing a cat but with some useful nooks out of the weather for the unwed mothers and the occassional confused Angora bunny.
The other day the Marmalade Marauder made quick work of one the annoying squirrel gang intruding on the said shed. Leaving the nearly decapitated gang member as warning to others. The Duke de Marmelade must have gone for chalk to outline the corpse in aid of any police investigation when I came to the scene. Noticeable lack of squirrel gang activity since then.
Good morning! Orange tabbies are the Ur-cat to which Felis catus reverts in the state of nature.
Our kittehs have failed to catch squirrels many times, but we’ve had deposits of headless rabbits.
Good morning. Happy Friday Eve! We’ve almost made it (again).
We had -7 fs when I went out this morning. Those of you who live in colder climes - how? Why? The dog was even moving a tad more quickly outside.
Today’s Wordle results:
Wordle 222 3/6
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