[RightWhale]

Yes, the moon is leaving the earth. In a sense it has already left, being in an independent orbit around the sun, but at the same time being resonantly locked with the earth for the time being. The tidal pool hypothesis--a condition that might enhance life-forming conditions--seems like an interesting idea, but probably not a necessary condition.

[anobjectivist]

Yes, the moon is leaving the earth. In a sense it has already left, being in an independent orbit around the sun Um..the moon orbits the earth, it is not in an independent orbit of the sun and it is not "resonantly locked." Examples of resonance are the four largest moons of jupiter, Callisto, Galileo, Europa, and Ganymede. The tidal pool hypothesis is just that. There are more ideas to life creation but until we are able to recreate it all or at least discover the mechanism for genesis. For all we know life could have arrived from a planetesimal striking the earth that was created in the vaccuum of space.