DID life on Earth begin on a radioactive beach? That's the claim of one astrobiologist, who says that life's ingredients could have emerged from the radioactive sand grains of a primordial beach laced with heavy metals and pounded by powerful tides.
Any origin of life theory needs to explain how the building blocks of cells - such as amino acids and sugars - assembled into complex molecules, and how certain elements came to be incorporated. Though radiation might seem an unlikely source to kick-start such processes because it breaks chemical bonds and shatters large molecules, including DNA, it can provide the chemical energy needed to produce life's building blocks.
Natural "nuclear reactors" were active in the past, such as the uranium ore seam in Oklo, Gabon, which regulated the fission of uranium in a similar way to nuclear-powered submarines (New Scientist, 6 November 2004, p 12). However, conditions at ...
Subscribe today at only USD $5.95 for your first 4 issues and get New Scientist, the world's leading science & technology news magazine delivered direct to your door every week
As a magazine subscriber you will benefit from instant access to:
