Finding 'shallow' answers to the origins of life

In finding answers to the mystery of the origin of life, scientists may not have to dig too deep. New research is shedding light on shallower waters as a possible location for where life on Earth began.

Hydrothermal vents have been a focus of origin of life studies ever since the first one was discovered in 1977. These were mainly deep vents that averaged 2,100 meters down on the ocean floor. The hot gasses emanating from the center of the Earth through these vents could reach temperatures greater than 300 degrees Celsius.

These high temperatures caused some scientists to reject the possibility that life originated at deep sea hydrothermal vents, since organic molecules are unstable at such high temperatures.

Read full article in Astrobiology Magazine