Teach Alternatives in Chemistry – Comic Sunday, August 26, 2007
Posted by Henry in chemistry, Christianity, comic, creationism, fundamentalism, funny, humor, humour, parody, rationality, religion, science.7 comments
Check out this clever comic! Click on it to enlarge.
Sorry, I forgot where I originally downloaded this from…
An Update on Chemical Origin of Life Friday, June 15, 2007
Posted by Henry in chemical catalyst, chemistry, enzyme, natural selection, origin of life, science, scientific model.2 comments
According to Science Daily, the study of the origin of life has made further progress.
A pair of scientists have proposed a model where natural selection is the seen as the driving force at chemical level. An enzyme catalyst might produce chemicals that other catalysts require, and they will seek that enzyme, and they stabilise and thus forming a complex. This process is coined as a “search, selection and memory” Darwinian process. For example:
The process could go like this: Catalyst A produces a chemical that catalyst B uses. Now, since B normally seeks out this chemical, sometimes B will be attracted to A — if its desired chemical is not otherwise available nearby. As a result, A and B will come into proximity, forming a complex.
Of course, currently this is only a proposed model. However, it is testable, and depends only on known chemical and physical laws (no skyhook required here).
R.I.P. – Stanley Miller, Father of Origin of Life Chemistry Thursday, May 24, 2007
Posted by Henry in biochemistry, biology, chemistry, exobiology, Harold Urey, Miller-Urey, origin of life, sarcasm, science, science experiment, Stanley Miller.6 comments
Stanley Miller, a leading pioneer in biochemistry, has sadly passed away due to heart failure at the age of 77.
He is known for his landmark and famous Miller-Urey experiment conducted as a graduate in 1953. This experiment shows that simple chemical elements can be catalysed into amino acids – the building blocks of protein – that is, simple inorganic chemical compounds can be made into organic elements.
The novel experiment was designed to show that the assumed primitive atmospheric condition of the early Earth could possibly produce life chemical compounds. With only water, hydrogen, methane and ammonia mixed in a flask, zapped with some serious sparks of electrical discharge, amino acids were formed in a “molecular soup” within a week.
Evolution Space 