These Scientists Have a Tantalising New Answer to The Mysterious ‘Gaia Puzzle’

Or in the crushing ocean depths miles beneath the surface near fissures in the Earth’s crust that spewed out hot mineral-rich soup. While there is good evidence for life at least 3.7 billion years ago, we don’t know precisely when it started.

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Tau.Neutrino said:

These Scientists Have a Tantalising New Answer to The Mysterious ‘Gaia Puzzle’

Or in the crushing ocean depths miles beneath the surface near fissures in the Earth’s crust that spewed out hot mineral-rich soup. While there is good evidence for life at least 3.7 billion years ago, we don’t know precisely when it started.

more…

“This is a form of anthropic selection argument that says there is nothing to explain.”

Quite so.

So why use the headline they did?

The Rev Dodgson said:

Tau.Neutrino said:

These Scientists Have a Tantalising New Answer to The Mysterious ‘Gaia Puzzle’

Or in the crushing ocean depths miles beneath the surface near fissures in the Earth’s crust that spewed out hot mineral-rich soup. While there is good evidence for life at least 3.7 billion years ago, we don’t know precisely when it started.

more…

“This is a form of anthropic selection argument that says there is nothing to explain.”

Quite so.

So why use the headline they did?

> life, through its interactions with the Earth’s crust, oceans, and atmosphere, produced a stabilising effect on conditions on the surface of the planet – in particular the composition of the atmosphere and the climate.

Ah, crash and burn.

The advent of photosynthesis by cyanobacteria had such a destabilising effect on the surface of the the Earth that it nearly killed everything else off. Luckily, it was the stabilising effect provided by geological iron in rocks that actually saved things. In short, life does not always produce a stabilising effect, sometimes the exact opposite.