Researchers: Early Earth was indeed “extremely oxygen-poor compared to today”

_{Denyse O'Leary

January 16, 2015

News, Origin Of Life}

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Chemical analysis of some of the world’s oldest rocks has provided the earliest record yet of Earth’s atmosphere. The results show that the air 4 billion years ago was very similar to that more than a billion years later, when the atmosphere — though it likely would have been lethal to oxygen-dependent humans — supported a thriving microbial biosphere that ultimately gave rise to the diversity of life on Earth today.

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In the new study, a team led by researchers from McGill’s Earth and Planetary Sciences Department, used mass spectrometry to measure the amounts of different isotopes of sulfur in rocks from the Nuvvuagittuq belt. The results enabled the scientists to determine that the sulfur in these rocks, which are at least 3.8 billion years old and possibly 500 million years older, had been cycled through Earth’s early atmosphere, showing the air at the time was extremely oxygen-poor compared to today, and may have had more methane and carbon dioxide.

See also: Maybe if we throw enough models at the origin of life… some of them will stick?

and

So, what really drives origin-of-life research?

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Ragnar although that was not on my mind what you said was so helpful I had to add it to the "Features of the Universe and of Living Things" section of the theory!
Features of the Universe and of Living Things Wherever biological life/intelligence such as ours establishes itself on a planet the otherwise relatively unreactive CO2 atmosphere (of a lifeless planet) in time becomes a dangerous chemical chaos. The culprit of firestorms which are visible from outer space and other cataclysms is the presence of oxygen in the atmosphere, from the presence of intelligent living things, life. Our planet now has an atmospheric oxygen concentration balancing at 20.946%. Oxygen itself is not flammable but the higher the concentration the faster the fuel that is in it burns. Where it was much greater entire pollen/cottonwood filled forest regions (and piney vegetation) can more than burn there can become an ignition chain-reaction producing a dispersed-fuel “grain silo” type explosion that with a spark goes off all at once, with explosive force. [] Headhouse of the DeBruce Grain Co. elevator near Haysville, Kansas, June 12, 1998, site of deadly grain silo explosion. Photo by Barb Sturner/FEMA News Photo Although oxygen is a danger the gas is at the same time vital for diffusing our sun's harmful ultraviolet and x-ray radiation, which would otherwise strike the Earth unhindered. In this way the founding forms of intelligence make it possible for a planet like this to in time support other more complex levels of intelligence including multicellular intelligence such as ourselves, humans. While plants, some bacteria and single cell animals only adsorb light, in the darkness other living things communicate by emitting their own light biologically. The light that we emit into the universe is used to light roads and building has the signature of “lighting technology”. From outside our solar system it’s possible to tell how far our light generation technology has advanced from unique spectral signatures of more efficient types of lighting to match the spectral range of our vision. The need for additional lighting to see at night can indicate eye designs that can resolve fine detail in bright light, as opposed to nocturnal eye designs that see little detail but work well in near darkness. A more close-up view of our planet shows features that include our cities, roads and cars. At closer range human architectural designs reflect a cumulative culture (includes science, religion, art and folklore) that acts as a collective memory to go from generation to generation, necessary for there to be this level of visible technology. Throughout the universe intelligent living things can be the cause of profound changes to the features of their planet, environment, weather, even the electromagnetic emissions radiated by their solar system. The radio waves we now transmit for TV and radio communication is now noise in the usual background sound of stars that may in time be detected by intelligence in another solar system. Although another intelligence has not yet been detected this way, we would know a signal came from intelligence similar to ourselves when we hear its music, see them dancing and know when it went to a commercial to help pay for the broadcast. {For a link to the updated pdf file of the theory click my name at top of this or any comment by me}
I was primarily thinking along the lines of how certain features of the universe and of living things such as presence of oxygen detected on nearby planets are best explained by an intelligent cause, which is evidence to support my finding that where all keep religion out of their science the premise of the Theory of Intelligent Design is scientifically true:
The theory of intelligent design holds that certain features of the universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause, not an undirected process such as natural selection.
But I now have to thank you for helping to write the Theory of Intelligent Design. It has over the years developed from what usually gets more like thrown at it in forums it moved through where scientists gathered to defeat it. Whatever sticks only makes it a stronger theory. I just had to become a sucker for punishment to use this scientific method that used the controversy to literally have scientists lined up 24/7 to take turns taking their best shot at it. At the CARM forum a famous chemist (Chemist99a) who had their lab blown up during campus student rioting during the 60's ended up liking it or not helping word the "Nonrandom Behavior of Matter" section that is in their honor (and they were OK with because of being very true) starts off like this then gets into chemistry they were passionate about everyone at least knowing:
Chemists routinely document the nonrandom repeatable behavior of real matter using chemical equations, charts and tables.
Chemist99a was worried like crazy about ID causing chaos that he already lived through that seemed to have somewhat traumatize him, even though he had good reason to believe the same could happen again where ID turned into another civil disobedience protest like that. What has since happened to science labs in Iraq and Syria would probably give us all nightmares. There are unintended consequences galore that makes my punishment endured in discussion forums preferable to what can happen where I didn't put together what there really is for scientific theory to begin to explain how "intelligent cause" works. As far as world religion is concerned it's science finally explaining something useful, an "I told you so" instead of being told what to think and believe from some who try to control religion by controlling scientific knowledge topped with Darwinian theory that acts as a science stopper where worshiping the past can to some seem like scientific progress forward. I would rather be searching with those who desire to antiquate the "evolution" way of thinking even though in my case arriving at UD with what I now have is a mission accomplished that empowers the ID movement to make their scientific dreams come true too. Just have to get used to how in the best case scenario what is ultimately discovered is most likely to be nothing like first imagined, but in time that proves to be because of it being way better than could have beforehand been dreamed possible. Conflict ends with the ID movement winning with theory that cannot use the word "evolution" or phrase "natural selection" due to that only working for variables in Darwinian theory, which does not have to be defeated for ID to win just more like ignored. Not that there is anything wrong in knowing what Darwinian theory can within bounds of science cover. It's a matter of keeping theories properly separated, instead of against each other. For the ID movement the tactic makes changing science a whole lot easier. For evolutionary biology such a thing happening is surprisingly weird, but there it's an improvement over what the Theory of Intelligent Design was before. This is all measurable scientific progress, together getting to wherever the scientific evidence leads without a civil war or worse erupting on us along the way.Gary S. Gaulin_{January 17, 2015
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Well, Gary, the good thing for ID about an extremely low oxygen content in the early Earth atmosphere is, basically, that this would have allowed harmful radiation from the Sun to strike the Earth unhindered; oxygen naturally diffuses this radiation, e.g. ultraviolet and x-rays. In turn, this radiation will break up large complex molecules that might be forming, like proteins or nucleotides. Therefore any origin of life hypothesis without an Intelligence--Jehovah God--to direct it is totally impossible. Death for evolution! Does that help?Ragnar_{January 17, 2015
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The results enabled the scientists to determine that the sulfur in these rocks, which are at least 3.8 billion years old and possibly 500 million years older, had been cycled through Earth’s early atmosphere, showing the air at the time was extremely oxygen-poor compared to today, and may have had more methane and carbon dioxide.
This is good news for the Theory of Intelligent Design. Can anyone in this forum explain why?Gary S. Gaulin_{January 17, 2015
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