This week we will examine some evidence pointing to the origin of life on earth. We also ask the question “is there or was there Life on Mars?” We investigate a few of the 5000 exoplanets that have been discovered in distant solar systems. We discover a new way to grow wood in any shape or size in a laboratory. Finally, Google has just calculated Pi to 100 trillion decimal places. We find out why.
The Origin of Life on Earth
Scientists at the foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution have discovered that ribonucleic acid (RNA) is able to spontaneously form on basalt lava glass. RNA is an analog of DNA which was likely the first genetic material for life. Basalt lava glass was abundant on Earth 4.35 billion years ago. Similar basalts survive on Mars today.
For several hundred million years after the Moon formed, frequent asteroid impacts combined with volcanic reactions on a young earth caused the formation of molten basaltic lava which is the source of basalt glass. The Foundation’s study showed that long RNA molecules 100-200 nucleotides in length form when nucleoside triphosphates percolate through basaltic glass. This shows a possible path from simple organic molecules to the first RNA.
We still do no know why all the RNA building blocks all have the same general shape. We also don’t know the importance of the variability in the linkages between the nucleotides.
Mars does not have the continental drift and plate tectonics that buried most rocks on Earth that are older than 4 billion years. Therefor the rocks from the relevant time remain on the surface. Recent missions to Mars have found all of the required rocks for life formation. If life formed on Earth in this way we may find clues to life formation on Mars (if it ever happened) in the Basalt Lava Glass on the surface.
The Planets discovered so far in 2022
NASA has recently announced that we have now discovered more than 5,000 exoplanets. That is planets beyond our solar system. The developments in telescopes and AI has seen a rapid increase in the discovery of new planets. However there is an estimated trillion exoplanets in the Milky Way alone. We have a lot more work to do.
Here are a few interesting recent discoveries.
Metal Clouds that rain gems
855 light years from Earth there is a planet with airborne metals and gems. On the cool side of the planet it is cool enough in the high atmosphere for metals like magnesium, iron, vanadium, chromium and nickel to condense in the clouds. We don’t know exactly what these clouds look like but they could resemble dust storms of different colors. The clouds likely condense into droplets meaning that gems of different types may rain from the sky.
Rugby Ball Shaped Planet
Most planets are spheres however the European Space Agency has found a planet shaped like a rugby ball. The planet (WASP-103-b, they need a better naming system but given the sheer number being found that might be an issue for the future) is twice the size of Jupiter and manages to complete a lap of its’ star in an earth day. This causes the gravitational force from the star to deform the usual spherical shape and stretch it into the shape of a rugby ball.
Super Neptune
150 light years from Earth a “Super Neptune” has been discovered. A “super” planet is slightly larger than the reference planet (not massively larger as the super seems to imply). TOI-674b also has water vapor in its atmosphere. We don’t know how much water vapor or if there are other implications resulting from this vapor but we are still early in examining these planets.
Still forming Planet
The Hubble space telescope was able to image a volatile disk of gas and dust (called a protoplanetary disk) that is characteristic of a planet in the midst of forming. The solar system that this planet belongs to is only 2 million years old (our sun is 4.5 billion years old). This new planet is big, really big. Nine times bigger than Jupiter. It orbits 8.6 billion miles away from its’ sun. That is more than twice as far as Pluto is from the sun.
Did NASA find Hell?
50 light years away there is a Super Earth called 55 Cancri e. It orbits so close to its’ sun that the surface might fit the biblical description of hell. The planet is less than 1.5 million miles from its’ star. That is 1/25th of the distance that Mercury is from the sun. The surface temperature is likely above the typical melting point of rock forming minerals. The planet is thought to be covered in oceans of lava. The planet appears to be tidally locked in its’ orbit (meaning that one side of the planet always faces the sun). It is expected that one side of the planet is searing hot and the other side in permanent darkness.
The James Webb Space Telescope is due to start sending data back to Earth within the next month. Its’ first target is 55 Cancri e. This telescope will allow us to peer much deeper into the atmosphere of this and other newly discovered exoplanets. Many strange and new planetary discoveries await.
Lab Grown Wood
We have spoken about the emerging lab grown meat industry so it stands to reason that someone would develop a lab grown wood. The market for wood derived products was US$631 Billion in 2021. There is massive demand and a cheaper solution that doesn’t require cutting down forests and transporting the wood great distances will be welcomed.
A team at MIT have developed a lab-grown timber that may be able to replace forest grown wood. The technique also allows the timber to produced in any shape and size.
The team extracted cells from the leaves of a flowering plant called Common Zinnia. The cells were then stored in a medium for a couple of days after which they were treated with a gel enriched with nutrients and hormones. This gave rise to new plant cells. The researchers could control the mechanical and physical properties of these new cells. During the experiment the plant material containing high hormone concentrations turned stiff.
The team were able to 3D print custom designed structures out of the cells cultured in the gel. The plant material was then incubated in the dark for 3 months. The wood not only survived it grew at twice the rate of a regular tree.
During furniture making, about 30% of the wood is wasted. With this technique the wood can be grown in any size and shape required, resulting in minimal waste.
The research is still in its’ early days however the team have demonstrated that it should be possible to develop lab grown plant materials that have specific characteristics for any desired application. Every year we cut down 15 billion trees. At some time in the future we may be able to reduce this significantly.
100 Trillion Digits of Pi
One of the great mysteries of math is Pi. One question that has always been pondered is “is Pi a rational or irrational number”. Rational numbers have terminating decimals. 1/2 = 0.50 so it terminates.
In 2019 Google Cloud calculated pi to 31.4 trillion digits, a world record at the time. In 2021 scientists at the University of Applied Sciences of the Grisons (in Switzerland) doubled that effort. Now Google has broken their record and calculated Pi to 100 trillion digits. Pi still appears to be an irrational number.
Google did this to demonstrate the flexibility and endurance of the technology in their Compute Engine N2. The program used is called y-cruncher v0.78 developed by Alexander Yee. The algorithm used 128 CPU and 864 Gig of RAM (a lot larger than my laptop). The calculation started in October 2021 and ended in March 2022. A total of 515 Terabits of storage was used to store the 100 trillion digits. Google was able to demonstrate the resilience and accuracy of its’ systems.
Paying it Forward
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Till next week.