Hosted by Neil deGrasse Tyson, a renowned astronomer, NOVA is exploring the origins of the universe and life in a series called “Origins”. I watched tonight’s episode on the origin of life and the debt we owe to the early and long rule of cyanobacteria. Fascinating. What I really enjoyed was the “comet impact” experiment, wherein primitive amino acids on Earth, struck by a comet, fused into very complex proteins. It was the impact energy that did the work, forcing the amino acids into lower entropy states by the addition of a tremendous amount of energy. This paints quite a picture that argues against the need for some higher intelligence to “overcome” the laws of nature to make life possible.
Good science!
