達爾文關(guān)于地球上生命起源的觀點可能是錯誤的

達爾文關(guān)于地球上生命起源的觀點可能是錯誤的

While there are certainly varying beliefs on how life on how life emerged on our planet, the scientific consensus has long been the most humbling one: Around 4 billion years ago, our ancestors were simple molecules swishing around in a primordial soup.

盡管關(guān)于生命是如何在我們的星球上出現(xiàn)的存在著各種各樣的觀點，但科學界的共識一直是最令人羞愧的:大約40億年前，我們的祖先只是在原始湯里四處游動的簡單分子。

Science has long held that life originated from shallow pools of water that contained just the right ingredients for life. (Photo: Courtney D'Angelico/Shutterstock)

That broth had just the right ingredients — methane, ammonia water, a dash of energizing lightning — to nurture the earliest organic compounds. At one point, the soup overflowed from shallow ponds and the chemistry of life, in its simplest form, spilled forth and multiplied.

那鍋肉湯的成分恰到好處——甲烷、氨水、少量的閃電能量——用來培育最早的有機化合物。在某一時刻，湯從淺水池塘溢出，生命的化學物質(zhì)以最簡單的形式擴散并繁殖。

At least, that's been the narrative for the last century or so — a theory first suggested by famed naturalist Charles Darwin and refined decades later by scientists A.I. Oparin and J.B.S. Haldane.

至少在上個世紀左右的時間里是這樣的——這個理論最初是由著名的自然學家查爾斯·達爾文提出的，幾十年后由科學家ai·奧帕林和J.B.S.霍爾丹完善。

We've been debating and frequently disagreeing over that hypothesis ever since.

從那以后，我們就一直在爭論這個假設(shè)，而且常常不同意。

With details from 4 billion years ago being a bit sketchy, it's understandable that Darwin — and the scientists who came after him — dangle such a resounding "if" in front of the theory.

由于40億年前的細節(jié)有些粗略，所以達爾文——以及他之后的科學家們——在這個理論面前拋出一個響亮的“如果”是可以理解的。

And scientists from University College London made the origin of life in those shallows an even iffier proposition.

來自倫敦大學學院的科學家們提出了一個更模糊的命題:這些淺灘的生命起源。

According to their study, published this month in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution, life may have sprung from a perfectly cooked soup, but the pot wasn't a "warm pond" after all.

根據(jù)他們本月發(fā)表在《自然生態(tài)與進化》雜志上的研究，生命可能來自一碗煮得很好的湯，但這個鍋畢竟不是一個“溫暖的池塘”。

Rather, life may have sprung from the deepest trenches of the ocean, specifically heated fissures on the seafloor in volcanically active regions.

確切地說，生命可能是從海洋最深處的海溝中產(chǎn)生的，這些海溝是火山活動區(qū)域中海底的特別熾熱的裂縫。

Those hydrothermal vents may have been the real cradle of life.

這些熱液噴口可能是真正的生命搖籃。

"There are multiple competing theories as to where and how life started. Underwater hydrothermal vents are among most promising locations for life's beginnings — our findings now add weight to that theory with solid experimental evidence," the study's lead author, Nick Lane, noted in a statement.

關(guān)于生命的起源和方式，存在多種相互矛盾的理論。水下熱液噴口是最有希望的生命起源地點之一，我們的發(fā)現(xiàn)為這一理論提供了有力的實驗證據(jù)。

The key to their findings was the humble protocell, considered the most basic building block for all life on Earth. The scientists were able to replicate the formation of protocells in an environment very similar to that found in a hydrothermal vent. Typically protocells form naturally in freshwater bodies. The ocean, on the other hand, with its salt and high alkalinity levels, wouldn't seem like the ideal nursemaids for these infant cells — particularly the heated regions near undersea volcanoes.

他們發(fā)現(xiàn)的關(guān)鍵是不起眼的原始細胞，它被認為是地球上所有生命最基本的組成部分?？茖W家們能夠在與熱液噴口非常相似的環(huán)境中復制原始細胞的形成。典型的原生細胞在淡水中自然形成。另一方面，海洋，因為它的鹽和高堿度水平，看起來不像是這些嬰兒細胞的理想的保姆——特別是在海底火山附近的加熱區(qū)域。

The protocell is considered the basic building block for life on Earth. (Photo: Przemek Kaczmarek/Shutterstock)

In past experiments, as IFLScience reports, protocells successfully spawned in the cool freshwater of labs, quickly became undone when exposed to briny seawater.

據(jù)IFLScience報道，在過去的實驗中，原始細胞成功地在實驗室的淡水中繁殖，但一旦暴露在含鹽的海水中，這些細胞很快就會消失。

Considering the vast timeframe involved it may seem like a niggling detail: what does it matter that life may have sprung from the depths of the ocean, rather than from shallow freshwater pools?

考慮到所涉及的時間范圍之廣，這似乎是一個瑣碎的細節(jié):生命可能起源于海洋深處，而不是淺水池塘，這又有什么關(guān)系呢?

Ultimately, it may not be about tracing life here on Earth — but its existence in other parts of the cosmos.

最終，它可能不是在地球上尋找生命，而是在宇宙的其他地方尋找生命的存在。

Consider Jupiter's fourth largest moon, Europa. Scientists suspect the vast ocean beneath its frozen enamel may be packed with sodium chloride, also known as table salt. Add potential volcanic activity below the seafloor — and someone may be cooking with gas.

以木星的第四大衛(wèi)星——木衛(wèi)二為例?？茖W家們懷疑，在它冰凍的琺瑯質(zhì)下面的浩瀚海洋里可能充滿了氯化鈉，也就是食鹽。再加上海底潛在的火山活動，有人可能正在用天然氣做飯。

Indeed, the new research suggests primordial soup may not be such a uniquely homemade creation at all.

事實上，這項新研究表明，原始湯可能根本就不是一種獨特的自制食物。