Transition Metal Catalysts Could Be Key To Origin of Life 145
An anonymous reader writes "One of the big, unsolved problems in explaining how life arose on Earth is a chicken-and-egg paradox: How could the basic biochemicals — such as amino acids and nucleotides — have arisen before the biological catalysts (proteins or ribozymes) existed to carry out their formation? In a paper appearing in the current issue of The Biological Bulletin, scientists propose that a third type of catalyst could have jumpstarted metabolism and life itself, deep in hydrothermal ocean vents."
Ah Mercury (Score:3, Funny)
Sweetest of the transition metals.
Re:ok but how does this explain (Score:4, Funny)
you wouldn't start with citric acid and some simple metal, like iron or copper, you'd have to use something more serious. I imagine AsO(OH)3 (arsenic acid) mixed in some proportion with Strontium and Tin. I think that's how you get Beck.
Re:ok but how does this explain (Score:2, Funny)
That's a non sequitur, and you know it! Beck is one of the undead, so you can't apply the same rules to him.
Re:Ah Mercury (Score:5, Funny)
My bet is on molybdenum (Score:1, Funny)
It is a good choice and happens to be atomic number 42. Google 42 if this number doen't meaning anything special to you.
Re:ok but how does this explain (Score:1, Funny)
Why hasn't Glen Beck denied being a zombie yet? Why won't Glenn Beck deny these allegations? We're not accusing Glenn Beck of eating brains and feasting on the dead - in fact, we think he didn't! But we can't help but wonder, since he has failed to deny these horrible allegations. Why won't he deny that he is a zombie and that he feasts on human beings?