Dunno. He was referring to this “hair bleach” claim:
Writing in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface, Professor John Brindley, from the University of Leeds, and his colleagues, said: ‘The story of the relationship between hydrogen peroxide and life is complex and dynamic, and fraught with certain natural tensions which have led to human misapprehensions.
‘In this work, we show that the association may be extremely ancient, that the story may have begun more than 3.7 billion years ago, the first chapter providing the periodic pH and thermal drive that enabled the RNA world to replicate, evolve and develop enzyme activity.
‘We affirm that concern over the alleged toxicity of hydrogen peroxide to life is largely misplaced in the current context.’
The researchers added that hydrogen peroxide could also be a useful biosignature for when searching for life on other worlds. More.
As someone who uses stuff like that to kill troublesome life forms on this world, I (O’Leary for News) am going to withhold a judgement on other worlds.
Isn’t the real problem here that they are still trying to figure out how information can arise without intelligence? Still trying to make a dollar out of fifteen cents?
See also: How it became such a mess
The most helpful book I have encountered so far on the subject: The Origin of Life Circus
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