Category: Uncategorized

WHAT IS A NANOBE? “A nanobe is a tiny filamental structure first found in some rocks and sediments. Some scientists hypothesize that nanobes are the smallest form of life, 1/10 the size of the smallest known bacteria. No conclusive evidence exists that these structures are, or are not, living organisms, so their classification is controversial.” Found 3 miles below the seabed in rocks. https://lnkd.in/eckY5qA View in LinkedIn

MASSIVE UNDERSTATEMENT. “We conclude that the Phanerozoic sedimentary record is best explained by a Great Unconformity of inherently coupled erosive and constructive genesis, with Neoproterozoic glacial erosion governing the subsequent history of continental freeboard and sediment accumulation. As such, the environmental and geochemical changes that led to the diversification of multicellular animals may be considered a direct consequence of Neoproterozoic glaciation.” https://lnkd.in/d6fatHN View in LinkedIn

"NANOBE structures have been found within organisms as well as rocks. While their existence is relatively new knowledge, some speculate that nanobes may even outnumber bacteria by an order of magnitude." https://lnkd.in/dBbSDUB View in LinkedIn

TECTONICS. “Before the plate tectonic revolution, the missing sediments from Walcott’s “Lipalian interval” were generally expected to reside in the ocean basins; their absence, along with the young age of the ocean crust, was considered a significant point of evidence in favor of seafloor spreading and plate tectonics. In a plate tectonic model, much sediment accumulated on the oceanic crust is consumed by subduction—presently at a rate of about 1.65 km3/y. Due to its low density and fusibility, however, subducted sediment in the mantle wedge is often incorporated into new arc magmas; consequently, a chemical or isotopic signature of subducted sediment (if sufficiently voluminous) may be preserved within the igneous record.” https://lnkd.in/d6fatHN View in LinkedIn

HOW WILL NASA know when it sees a new life for different than that on earth? By asking the wrong question, you risk missing the hidden answer. Water? Carbon? DNA? Probably not relevant. View in LinkedIn

THE DOGMA. “The conventional interpretation of the metazoan body fossil record is that it documents an abrupt (in geological terms) appearance of animals around the base of the Cambrian Period 541 million years ago (Ma) – the “Cambrian Explosion” hypothesis. By around 520 Ma, virtually all of the animal phyla with recalcitrant tissues that one might expect to become fossilized are represented in the fossil record, as revealed by Lagerstätten such as the exceptionally preserved Chengjiang biota 4 (Fig. 1 summarizes major Ediacaran and early Cambrian fossil assemblages). However, this body fossil record is at odds with molecular clock analyses, which consistently indicate that Metazoa originated somewhere between 850 and 650 Ma in the Tonian or Cryogenian intervals, before diversifying through the Cryogenian and the Ediacaran.” https://lnkd.in/d8SyHX7 View in LinkedIn

DARWIN CONFOUNDED. “Darwin's dilemma” regarding the origin and early evolution of Metazoa arguably persists, because incontrovertible fossil evidence for animals remains largely, or some might say completely, absent from Neoproterozoic rocks.” https://lnkd.in/d8SyHX7 View in LinkedIn

GLOBAL CO2. “It's possible that both uplift and glaciers played a role in clearing out kilometers of crust. In 2013, researchers found that rocks of the Snowball Earth era had captured and stored carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, perhaps because extreme weathering had made the rocks particularly porous. This capture of carbon dioxide could have triggered global cooling, the flip side of the global warming occurring in modern times due to the burning of fossil fuels. The cooling could have led to a global icy climate, and the resulting glaciers could have then sped up erosion even more.” https://lnkd.in/ds7GcBF View in LinkedIn

STUBBORN RESISTANCE TO IDEAS. “Scientists had considered glaciers as a possible cause of the Great Unconformity before, but the idea had been largely abandoned. A 1973 paper on the idea by University of North Carolina geologist William White failed to garner a single citation by other researchers. Other theories include the impossible (giant tides that wiped the land clean, but would have required the moon to exist hundreds of millions of years earlier than it actually did) and the more reasonable (the uplift and subsequent weathering of a massive supercontinent).” https://lnkd.in/ds7GcBF View in LinkedIn

GLACIAL EROSION THEORY. “The ice would have had to shave only an average of 0.002 inches (0.0625 millimeters) of dirt and rock off the crust each year to accomplish this feat, Keller said. That's a breeze even for modern-day glaciers, he said. Today, erosion rates for continental ice sheets range from 0.004 to 0.19 inches (0.1 to 4.8 mm), with steep mountain glaciers moving nearly 4 inches (100 mm) of rock and dirt annually.” https://lnkd.in/ds7GcBF View in LinkedIn