karl 12 Posted November 16, 2008 #1 Share Posted November 16, 2008 (edited) Scientists pinpoint how animal and plant life began. It appears it wasn't in a poof of smoke but a seemingly random chance meeting 1.9 billion years ago between an amoeba-like organism and a bacterium that had developed the power to use sunlight to break down water and liberate oxygen. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/s...icle5114489.ece "Scientists have identified the single chance encounter about 1.9 billion years ago to which almost all life on Earth owes its existence. It saw an amoeba-like organism engulf a bacterium that had developed the power to use sunlight to break down water and liberate oxygen. The bacterium was probably intended as prey but instead it became incorporated into its attacker’s body – turning it into the ancestor of every tree, flowering plant and seaweed on Earth. The encounter meant life on the planet could evolve from bacterial slime into the more complex forms we see today. “That single event transformed the evolution of life on Earth,” said Paul Falkowski, professor of biogeochemistry and bio-physics at Rutgers University in New Jersey. “The descendants of that tiny organism transformed our atmosphere, filling it with the oxygen needed for animals and, eventually, humans to evolve.” Edited November 16, 2008 by karl 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lt_Ripley Posted November 17, 2008 #2 Share Posted November 17, 2008 (edited) excellent ! one comment read - This is a load of rubbish. The oxygen that created life came from dust which is one part silicon and 2 parts oxygen. The oxygen has always been there. It was the acoustical compression of the dust from the waves in the solar system that created the planets and it is the same that created the oxygen I've never heard such a thing. I have heard , and excuse me because I can't remember the name of the structure , a rock of sorts comprised of the first plant material from the ocean which converted over millions of years the abundant 02 levels we have now ? I found it - photosynthetic prokaryotes and analogous eukaryotic microalgae ( living fossils ) I wouldn't mind someone more versed in the area to explain it all. I know barely a thing really. Just what I can find off the Science channel on National Geo. Edited November 17, 2008 by Lt_Ripley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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