An Optimistic Solution to the Mystery of Life’s Origin

Antonio Lazcano, biology, biomolecules, Brian Miller, Cambridge University, Discovery Institute Press, DNA, Encyclopedia of Astrobiology, Eugene Koonin, Evolution, First Life from Purely Natural Means? (series), genetic information, George Whitesides, intelligent agent, Intelligent Design, Jack Szostak, James Tour, life, National Center for Biotechnology Information, New Atheists, Nobel Prize, origin of life, prebiotic Earth, Richard Dawkins, RNA, Stephen Meyer, The Mystery of Life’s Origin, Walter Bradley
Consider what five prestigious origin-of-life thinkers say about the current status of origin-of-life research. Source
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Origin of Life: Saved by Time?

antagonist, biochemistry, Canada, chemical reactants, early Earth, Evolution, First Life from Purely Natural Means? (series), Francis Crick, George Wald, habitability, hero, Intelligent Design, materialists, microfossils, Miracle, Nobel Prize, Nuvvuagittuq belt, origin of life, Quebec, Scientific American
Many materialists believe that the severe unlikelihood of the series of events required for the origin of life is not a serious problem. Source
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Still Unexplained: The First Living Cell

American Biology Teacher, biology, Brian Miller, Cell Biology International, cell's, cellular machinery, chicken-and-egg problem, DNA, enzymes, Evolution, First Life from Purely Natural Means? (series), Frank Salisbury, genetic code, information, intelligent agents, Intelligent Design, Jeremy England, molecular machinery, molecular machines, origin of life, physicists, RNA, simplest cell
In recent years, MIT physicist Jeremy England has gained media attention for proposing a thermodynamic energy-dissipation model of the origin of life. Source
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Can Red Have “Redness” if No Self Perceives It?

apes, chimpanzees, Closer to Truth, genomes, human exceptionalism, illusion, inner feeling, Julian Baggini, lichens, neurons, neuroscience, Neuroscience & Mind, origin of life, philosophy, qualia, red, redness, religion, Robert Lawrence Kuhn, rocks, science, scientific explanation, self
Is not the fact that we are having these discussions the best available evidence that we are not “just overgrown apes or undergrown apes”? Source
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Rare Earth: How Vital Minerals “Evolve”

astrobiology, Astrobiology Magazine, biological activity, calcium, carbon, Carnegie Institute, chlorine, Dirk Schulze-Makuch, earth, elements, hydrogen, intelligence, Intelligent Design, magnesium, Mars, microbes, minerals, NASA, nitrogen, origin of life, oxygen, phosphorus, Physics, Earth & Space, potassium, Robert Hazen, selenium, Stephen Jay Gould, sulfur, The Privileged Planet, Titan, Washington State University
It's intriguing that life as we know it depends on a seemingly un-natural distribution of minerals. Source
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High Energy: Long Story Short Addresses “Energy Harnessing” and Life’s Origin

abiogenesis, ADP, ATP, ATP synthase, batteries, biopolymers, chemiosmotic coupling, drivetrain, Energy, energy harnessing, Evolution, gasoline, homeostasis, hydrothermal vents, Intelligent Design, lightning, Long Story Short, membranes, natural selection, origin of life, plants, promissory note, proton gradients, protons, regulators, RNA, self-replication, solar panels, sun, sunlight, transformers, volcanoes
Everyone knows that maintaining life requires energy, but most do not appreciate the intricate steps required to harness it. Source
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Darwinist Turns Math Cop: Track 1 and Track 2

anti-evolutionism, Darwinian processes, Darwinism, Evolution, evolutionary pathways, formalism, Guide to Reading Jason Rosenhouse (series), improbability, Intelligent Design, Jason Rosenhouse, mathematicians, mathematics, origin of life, presuppositions, probability, protein space, proteins, sophistry, statistics
Jason Rosenhouse insists that intelligent design proponents obey his rules, but happily flouts them himself. Source
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Origin of Life from Basalt Lava Glass? Sorry, No

Astrobiology (journal), basalt lava glass, Chemistry, cyclic trimetaphosphate, early Earth, earth, Evolution, Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution, intelligent agency, Intelligent Design, investigators, Jack Szostak, James Tour, Mars, natural processes, nickel borate, nucleoside triphosphates, nucleosides, nucleotides, origin of life, phosphates, ribonucleic acid, RNA, RNA world, rock glasses
An honest evaluation of the studies leads to the conclusion that the formation of RNA could not have occurred through any natural processes on the early earth. Source
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