Monday, December 20, 2010

No Abiogenesis Here

Baboon on Kenyan roadside
Discovery.com has this article: "Life on Earth Began Three Billion Years Ago: A mathematical model dates back the evolution of genes critical to life to three billion years ago."

But the first sentence reads: "Life on Earth dramatically surged around three billion years ago, possibly when primitive forms developed more efficient ways to harness energy from sunlight, according to a study published on Sunday in Nature."

But if life on earth "dramatically surged... [out of] primitive forms [of life]," then such surging was not the beginning of life.

So I'd say the title is misleading. There's no abiogenesis here. Instead, we have more complex life coming from more primitive life.