Phs 410 Test #4
How are organic compounds destroyed?
by the very energy sources used to form them
Who discovered Cephied variable stars?
John Goodricke
Lipids and Cell Membranes
-Lipids that comprise cell membranes are complex
Results of Miller's experiment
-Only most simple amino acids produced -Both D- and L-amino acids were produced -Very small numbers of amino acids were produced -Other molecules such as HCN and CH2O were also produced
Atmosphere of the Earth
-Oxidizing -21% Oxygen
What is meant by "color temperature"? Can you tell the temperature of a star from its color? Can you tell anything about its size by looking at the light coming from a star?
-Red=coolest temperature -White=intermediate -Blue=hottest temperature -For 2 stars of the same temperature (color), the brighter the star, the bigger the star. Thus, bright red (cool) stars must be very large compared to blue (hot) stars.
Carbonyl Sulfide Experiment (2004)
-Researchers used OCS to activate amino acids to form peptide bonds -However, no more than a few molecules could be linked together
Two sources of evidence for our faith that life was divinely created
-The Bible -The origin of life based upon a purely naturalistic process is impossible
Mathematical improbability of proteins forming
-The amino acid sequence of a protein containing only 12 different amino acids, 350 amino acids long, could be arranged 10^300 different ways -If only had 1 of each of these molecules, the total weight would be 10^280g -Total weight of the earth is 10^27g -A nucleic acid containing 10,000 nucleotides would have 10800 isomers
2 Timothy 3:16
"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness."
I Corinthians 1:25
"Because the foolishness of God is wiser then men."
David Deemer Quote
"But someone from the outside world would be astonished by the lack of agreement among experts on plausible sites [for abiogenesis], which range all the way from vast sheets of ice occasionally melted by giant impacts, to "warm little ponds" first suggested by Charles Darwin, to hydrothermal vents in the deep ocean, and even to a kind of hot, mineral mud deep in Earth's crust."
Romans 1:20
"For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and godhead; so that they are without excuse."
I Corinthians 3:19
"For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God."
What significant contributions did Hubble make in the study of cosmology?
*Hubble's discovery of an expanding universe had a profound impact on our view of the Cosmos: -Astronomers realized for the first time that distances within the universe are so very large that even a rapidly expanding universe would actually appear rather static over very long periods of time. -A dynamic, expanding universe was just what Newton's model had predicted. -And a dynamic, expanding universe would seem to imply as explosive beginning *Settled dispute between Shapley and Curtis by discovering nebulae were too far to be a part of the milky way (triangulum and andromeda) *Combined Sliphers galactic redshift and galactic distances to make conclusions about universal expansion (20a) *Hubble's constant is the rate at which the universe is expanding.
What kind of atmosphere would needed to have existed for cellular molecules to have arisen spontaneously?
- Reducing -Rich in H2, N2, NH3, CH4 & CO
What is Hubble's constant? What does it measure? What is its size? Is it a constant?
- the unit of measurement used to describe the expansion of the universe. -Hubble's initial measurement = 500 km/s/Mpc, but this is much larger than the measurement now due to initial errors in the calculation of galactic distances. -Hubble's constant is not constant since it's not constant in time. It was significant because it showed that the universe are so very large that even a rapidly expanding universe would appear rather static over long periods of time.
What are Cephied variable stars?
-"standard candles" in astronomy -
What evidence is there that there is a "Big Bang"?
-A dynamic, expanding universe was what Newton's model had predicted. And a dynamic, expanding universe would seem to imply an explosive beginning. -George Gamov: theory for the creation of elements (nucleosynthesis) in a Big-Bang type event. -As the Universe expanded and cooled down, some of the elements that we see today were created. The Big Bang theory predicts how much of each element should have been made in the early universe, and what we see in very distant galaxies and old stars is consistent with the theory. -If the dipole component of the variation in the microwave background is removed, small-scale variations in temperature in the background is measurable. These variations amount only to about ± 200 microKelvin. It is these very small fluctuation in temperature in the early stages of the evolution of the galaxy that give rise to small fluctuations in density and therefore to the "seeds" of galaxy formation.
Sydney Fox Experiment (1958)
-Fox combined purified L-amino acids and heated them in a dry environment. -The amino acids combined in short, unordered blobs. -These aggregates coalesced into crude spheres.
Did the Greeks believe in a heliocentric universe?
-Greeks were quite aware of the enormous size of the Sun, relative to the Earth and Moon. And many felt that it was logical the it should, therefore, reside at the center of the Cosmos. Their belief that the Earth was at the center of the universe, however, arose from scientific observations -"crystalline spheres" holding air, stars, elements, etc. in their fixed place around earth
George Gamov
-He predicted that copious amounts of radiation would be emitted by the hot gas of this Big Bang. The matter and radiation in the initial ball of fire would be in thermal equilibrium. -As the ball of fire expanded, the temperature would eventually drop to the point where matter and radiation decoupled. -At this point, the background radiation would be consistent with a blackbody radiator at the temperature of the gas when decoupling occurred. -The expansion of the universe would cause the wavelength of this background radiation to stretch, getting longer and longer - until the wavelength of radiated light would be the same as that coming from a much cooler gas.
DNA and Enzymes
-How can you have one without the other? -Without replication, life would not exist
How are the galaxies distributed throughout the universe? Is it important to know this?
-Hubble's observations indicated that distant galaxies are moving away from us at a higher speeds than those that are closer. Astronomers realized for the first time that distances within the universe are so very large that even a rapidly expanding universe would actually appear rather static over very long periods of time. This knowledge is important because a dynamic, expanding universe would seem to imply as explosive beginning. -Harlow Shapley measured the distribution of globular clusters around the Milky Way and determines that they were distributed uniformly above and below the galactic plane but were concentrated in the region of Sagittarius. He inferred that this must be the true center of the Milky Way Galaxy.
Who is Henrietta Leavitt and why is her work significant?
-In 1912, while studying photographic plates taken of the Small Magellanic Cloud, Henrietta Leavitt discovered a remarkable relationship between the period of Cephied variable stars and their luminosity - the brighter the star, the longer the period. -In 1912 Henrietta Leavitt discovered the period-luminosity law of Cephied variables in the Magellanic Clouds, which was the first step in the ladder for determining large distances in the Cosmos.
Only two possibilities exist
-Life arose by spontaneous events -A divine being created life
What can you learn by studying the spectrum arising from a star?
-composition of stars -composition of atmospheres by observing the absorption of starlight passing through. -chemical make-up -surface temperature -rate at which energy is emitted per surface area -the velocity of the star toward or away from us based on Doppler shift.
Problem with significant concentrations in primitive oceans? Example?
-dilution would have occurred in the primitive ocean -Ex. If all the nitrogen of the atmosphere was in the form of 1000 different compounds, the concentration of each would be only 0.2mM
RNase
-subcomplexes of a much larger system and rely on intricate folding contained in highly specific genetic information (i.e. irreducible complexity)
Why did the early Greeks believe that the Earth was the center of the universe based on scientific observations?
1. It was observed that heat and fire moved upwards, while everything else (including 'falling stars') seemed to fall to the Earth. 2. But the primary piece of evidence was the lack of observable parallax.
Conclusions (2)
1. Only two possibilities exist 2. We have two sources of evidence for our faith that life was divinely created
The Limitations of Science (4)
1. Scientific understanding derives from the minds of humans 2. The Bible is inspired of God 3. Our limited understanding of the natural world is foolishness compared to the understanding of God 4. Still, we should be able to see the attributes of God by scientific study
What did the early Greeks know about the size of the Earth, Sun and Moon, and the distances between them? What about the size of other planets?
1. The Greeks knew that the Earth, Moon and Sun were spherical objects (from observations of eclipses). They had no fear of "falling off the Earth." -They even had a fairly accurate measure of I the relative sizes of the Earth, Sun and Moon. -the relative distances from the Earth to the Sun and Moon. 2. Relative distances from the Earth to the different "wandering stars"(other planets) 3. Could predict retrograde motion, but not accurate periods
Newton's dynamic solution implies (3)
1. The universe must currently be either expanding or contracting 2. The universe will eventually collapse in upon itself [even if it is currently expanding]... 3. Or The universe will continue to expand indefinitely
Who was Copernicus? What did he do?
1573 - Copernicus proposes a heliocentric model (still based upon circular motion) to simplify the description of planetary motion, even though there was still no direct evidence that the Earth actually moved around the Sun.
Who was the first to observe the Doppler shift of distance nebulae? What was significant about these observations?
1860-William Huggins used spectroscopic techniques to determine that the Orion nebula was composed mostly of gas, while the Andromeda nebula is composed mostly of stars 1868-having observed a Doppler shift in the spectral lines of Sirius, Huggins was the first to propose the use of Doppler shifts to measure radial velocities of stars. The Doppler effect would later be used to determine the rotational velocity of the planets and of the Sun itself. 1914-Slipher became the first to observe the rotation of spiral nebulae, using the Doppler shift.
What is lacking from Newton's dynamic solution?
Although the relative positions of the observable stars had remained more or less constant throughout history, Newton's model had no reasonable static solution
Formation of Complex Macromolecules
Anabolic processes require catalysis and an energy input in order to occur
Alien Sources for Life?
Because many scientists can see that it is impossible for life to have arisen spontaneously, they are turning to extraterrestrial sources for seeding life.
Conclusions from Miller's experiment
Because of these problems, these experiments show the improbability of the formation of biomolecules
What other catalogs of interstellar objects have been made and who was responsible?
Charles Messier, who was fascinated by comets, also compiled a catalog that was composed of comet-like objects (galaxies, nebulae, & star clusters). William Herschel I published a catalog of 2,500 nebulae, that he found looking at the sky looking for double stars, later which was expanded to 5,000 objects.
what has been measured by orbiting detectors and is very good evidence of the big bang theory?
Cosmic Microwave background
What gives coordination?
DNA
Central dogma of molecular biology
DNA transcribed to RNA RNA exits nucleus where it is translated into a polypeptide
Can you determine the relative distances to stars based upon the brightness of stars? If you can, how do you do that? If not, why not?
Everything we can know about a distant star, we determine from the light that reaches us from that star. We can determine distance, surface temperatures and luminosities, motion, masses, & composition from starlight.
What were some of the significant observations that Galileo made using a telescope to study the heavens?
Galileo developed an improved telescope with which he was able to observe the moons of Jupiter, the surface of the moon, a large number of new stars in the Milky Way, sunspots on the Sun's surface, rings of Saturn, & the phases of Venus (showed that Venus orbited the Sun, not Earth). Through this observation about Venus, Galileo confirmed Copernicus's heliocentric model, but this brought up conflict for Christians about how Scripture claims that the Earth is "fixed."
Molecules selected by Miller to perform his experiment
H2O CH4 NH3 H2 CO
who discovered Uranus?
Herschel in 1781 -instant fame because it was the first planet discovered since antiquity
Who compiled the first stellar catalog?
Hipparchus
The presence of design necessitates a designer
If there is no way that the many proteins present in even the simplest cell could have come about by random chance, then there would have had to be a detailed design placed in the process of protein formation
Problem with lipids and cell membranes being the first molecules
If we do have a protocell of lipids, how do charged, hydrophilic molecules get inside without protein channels?
Formation of Simple Molecules Response and example?
In all reactions to date that have been conducted on chemical origins of life, investigators select a certain set of reactants which they believe will produce products they desire to obtain, while excluding other reactants that would have had to be present -Amino acids and free carbohydrates are incompatible at higher pH
1. What is the significance of the cosmic microwave background radiation? 2.Where does it come from? 3. What is the apparent temperature associated with the radiation? 4.What does the Doppler shift in this background radiation tell us? 5.What is the significance of the very small fluctuations in temperature of this background radiation?
In the 1940's Russian physicist George Gamov predicted that copious amounts of radiation would be emitted by the hot gas of this Big Bang. They discovered a uniform blackbody radiation coming from all points in the sky with a peak radiation of 7.35 cm (4080 MHz). 3. The blackbody curve of this radiation corresponds to a temperature of about 2.735 Kelvin. 4. The Doppler shift changes in the background radiation which indicate the Earth's motion through the Cosmos 5. It is these very small fluctuation in temperature in the early stages of the evolution of the galaxy that give rise to small fluctuations in density and therefore to the "seeds" of galaxy formation.
What is Olber's paradox?
Olber raised the question: Is the cosmos finite in space and/or time? The first major step toward a comprehensive cosmological model lies in the answer to this question. Olber argued that the darkness of the night sky conflicts with the assumption of an infinite and eternal static universe. -If space is infinite then when is the night sky dark?
Problem with RNA world
RNA molecules are very unstable and easily degraded
RNA with catalytic ability
RNase
State of most molecules on earth (O/R)
Reduced
What is retrograde motion?
Retrograde motion is an APPARENT change in the movement of the planet through the sky. It is not REAL in that the planet does not physically start moving backwards in its orbit. It just appears to do so because of the relative positions of the planet and Earth and how they are moving around the Sun.
Formation of Biomolecules
Simple cellular molecules would have had to be produced in vast quantities in order to have reached significant concentrations in the primitive ocean
What do scientists believe was the first biomolecule?
Since first biomolecules being formed of amino acids has been shown to be impossible to form, scientists now think first biomolecules must have been RNA
Early Earth Atmosphere Controversy
Some speculate that local reducing environments may have been present
Who performed the experiment to "create" organic molecules?
Stanley Miller
What determines the apparent brightness of a star?
The brightness of stars is determined by its luminosity and distance away from the observer. If two stars have the same temperature (color), their relative brightness depends upon both the distance and the size of the star.
Origin of life quote
The origin of life has not been seen in Earth's rock record and poor preservation of the earth's oldest rock suggest that it will not be.
What is the significance of the Curtis-Shapley debate? What were the different views that were proposed and who held each of these views?
The debate concerned spiral nebulae and the size of the universe. Curtis argued that the spiral nebulae were a great distance away, principally based upon the number of novae observed in Andromeda relative to the number observed in the rest of the Milky Way. Shapley argued that the spiral nebulae were simply components of the Milky Way. -It presented important issues in our developing understanding of the scale and nature of the universe, and of our place within in it.
Abiogenesis
The hypothetical naturalistic formation of life out of the most basic molecules
Is Newton's cosmological model consistent with Einstein's theory of general relativity?
The only difference between the energy equation for the scaling factor determined using Newton's model, and the equation based upon Einstein's general relativity is in the interpretation of the constant κ. In the Newtonian model, κ is a measure of the total energy of the system. In general relativity, κ is a measure of the curvature of space:
Has there ever been a reducing atmosphere?
There is no credible scientific data that supports the hypothesis that earth once had a reducing atmosphere
who were the sun and moon measured by?
aristarchus
Aristotle's static cosmological model
based on observations of "fixed" stars. Observable stars' relative positions had remained more or less constant throughout history.
Importance of the Hubble Constant
become a standard candle for measurements of galactic distances. A knowledge of Hubble's constant can give us an indication of the approximate age of the universe.
What was in this catalog?
carefully recorded the location and magnitude of stars so he could then compare the stellar brightness over time. He used a stellar magnitude scale, +1 to +6, +1 being the brightest. The Hubble telescope now measures up to +30.
In order for cells to function and replicate:
cellular processes must be coordinated
Hubble's observations
consistent with dynamic universe
come from DNA, are required for this coordination to occur
enzymes
who was the earth measured by?
eratosthenese
Why are Cephied variable stars important?
established the period-luminosity law of Cephied variables in the Magellanic Clouds, which was the first step in the ladder for determining large distances in the Cosmos.
In 1922 what did Slipher summarize based on his findings on the redshifts of spiral nebulae?
most nebulae were moving away from us
There is _______ fossil record of how life began
no
Because biomolecules are degraded outside a cell:
scientists agree that their formation must have occurred inside some protected or enclosed space
How are yield increased in organic experiments?
selectively removing the product from the reaction mixtures
In order to function, proteins require a __________ ____________
specific sequence
All hypotheses are merely ___________ and have a basis of ___________
speculative faith
What is stellar parallax? Why is it important?
the apparent shift of position of any nearby star against the background of distant objects that is created by the different orbital positions of Earth; allows for the measurement of stellar distances
what did olber believe?
the dynamic universe had a beginning
If life spontaneously arose...
then it had to be due to properties of matter
If self-replicating molecules and entities are a property of matter...
then we should be able to demonstrate this property of matter today
Thermodynamic barrier in formation of complex macromolecules? Example?
thermodynamic barrier is present which requires detailed regulation in order to be overcome -Ex. Very complex processes lead to the formation of proteins and nucleic acids within the cell
Early Earth Atmosphere Controversy Response
these environments have high temperatures and acidity -Not favorable conditions for formation of life
If a property of matter is the tendency to organize itself into higher levels...
we should be able to test it today
