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The planet’s surface could be described as a sci-fi film; rough, desolate. Asteroid explosions and volcanic eruptions made life on Earth unsustainable for even the most basic life forms. That is, until, a strike of lightning transformed everything. Well, that’s the theory, at least.
Curious to know more? Read on.
What is the origin of life? This is one of the greatest questions that humans have been trying to answer. Well, scientists have a striking theory.
A team of Harvard scientists published a study in the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. They argue that lightning strikes could be the catalyst for life on Earth.
Before life on Earth, its atmosphere was primarily comprised of inert gases. This means that the atmosphere’s components didn’t engage to form the chemical reactions integral to the “building blocks of life.”
Scientists sought to identify the chemical interactions that gave rise to complex organic molecules, which not only formed but also sustained life on Earth.
Research shows that the “vital spark” could be lightning strikes, which transformed “early Earth” into a prime hotbed of chemical activity.
Scientists argue that “lightning-induced plasma electrochemistry” was perhaps the spark that brought together the reactive carbon and nitrogen compounds that made life on Earth survivable.
How “nucleic acids, proteins, and metabolites” appeared nearly spontaneously remains unclear to scientists. This knowledge would help us confirm how life on Earth came to be.
The idea that “water, soluble electrolytes, and common gases formed the first biomolecules,” is part of what’s called the RNA World hypothesis.
Scientists found that what made biomolecules survivable was “accessible forms of nitrogen and carbon” that came from lightning.
Researchers designed a plasma electrochemical experiment that replicated what conditions on early Earth may have been.
They used this simulation to study how lightning strikes may have impacted the chemistry on early Earth.
Through this experiment, scientists generated “high-energy sparks between gas and liquid phases” that could be akin to what occurred billions of years ago.
This experiment led scientists to observe that stable gases, such as carbon dioxide and nitrogen, could then be transformed into highly reactive compounds.
What does this mean? Carbon dioxide could transform into carbon monoxide, and formic acid and nitrogen could become nitrate, nitrite, and ammonium ions.
What scientists observed is that these reactions occurred best where there could be a concentration between gas, liquid, and solid phases of these chemicals.
This concentration naturally occurs where lightning strikes take place, making the interaction between these interfaces most efficient.
Lightning strikes, therefore, could then provide the “raw materials” that are necessary for early life to not only survive but develop.
It is through these lightning strikes that “different subsets of molecules” at “different concentrations” provide a possible path to examining how the origin of life came to be.
Lightning, according to scientists, is just one plausible option that gave rise to life on Earth. There is also previous research that coincides with other energy sources.
There are arguments that point to how ultraviolet radiation, deep-sea vents, volcanoes, and asteroid impacts, also contributed to the formation of biomolecules.
The unique aspect of lightning is that it's able to travel “across different interfaces,” in which “the atmosphere, oceans, and land” become connected.
Therefore, researchers observed how lightning could have given the path for chemical pathways that provided the conditions for life on Earth.
This research is not only limited to understanding the origins of Earthly life, but also how electrochemical reactions can impact nitrogen isotopes in geologically-relevant products.
Researchers are applying these theories to understanding not only energy-efficiency, but also environmental alternatives to chemical production.
The emergence of “green chemical processes” through the further exploration of using electrochemical reactions can be used, for example, to produce fertilizer in a cleaner format.
This research can also contribute to understand the search for life on other planets, or even their production.
Lightning has been observed on other planets, such as Jupiter (pictured) and Saturn. If scientists can replicate the environmental conditions on other planets, perhaps they can identify how lightning can impact life on those planets, too.
This research provides another perspective to understand not only how life on Earth came to be, but how electrochemical processes can be used to improve our everyday lives.
The team of Harvard researchers behind the study look forward to the possibility of shedding light on what is possible outside our solar system.
Sources: (The Harvard Gazette)
See also: The oldest living organisms on Earth
Was it a lightning strike? The start of life on Earth
The hypothesis of ancient electrochemistry
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The planet’s surface could be described as a sci-fi film; rough, desolate. Asteroid explosions and volcanic eruptions made life on Earth unsustainable for even the most basic life forms. That is, until, a strike of lightning transformed everything. Well, that’s the theory, at least.
Curious to know more? Read on.