{"id":782538,"date":"2024-05-18T02:51:50","date_gmt":"2024-05-18T07:51:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=782538"},"modified":"2024-05-18T02:51:50","modified_gmt":"2024-05-18T07:51:50","slug":"did-earths-multicellular-life-depend-on-plate-tectonics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=782538","title":{"rendered":"Did Earth&#8217;s Multicellular Life Depend on Plate Tectonics?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>How did complex life emerge and evolve on the Earth and what does this mean for finding life beyond Earth? This is what a recent study published in <em>Nature<\/em> hopes to address as a pair of researchers investigated how plate tectonics, oceans, and continents are responsible for the emergence and evolution of complex life across our planet and how this could address the Fermi Paradox while attempting to improve the Drake Equation regarding why we haven\u2019t found life in the universe and the parameters for finding life, respectively. This study holds the potential to help researchers better understand the criterion for finding life beyond Earth, specifically pertaining to the geological processes exhibited on Earth.<\/p>\n<p><span id=\"more-167049\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Here, <em>Universe Today<\/em> discusses this study with Dr. Taras Gerya, who is a Professor of Earth Sciences at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH-Zurich) and co-author of the study, regarding the motivation behind the study, significant results, follow-up studies, what this means for the Drake Equation, and the study\u2019s implications for finding life beyond Earth. So, what was the motivation behind this study?<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<p>\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Co-Evolution of Life and Plate Tectonics (AGU) #utdgss\" width=\"1110\" height=\"624\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/4jaMCz71ejc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Dr. Gerya tells <em>Universe Today<\/em>, \u201cIt was motivated by the Fermi Paradox (\u201cWhere is everybody?\u201d) pointing out that the Drake Equation typically predicts that there are from 1000 to 100,000,000 actively communicating civilizations in our galaxy, which is too optimistic of an estimate. We tried to figure out what may need to be corrected in this equation to make the prediction with the Drake Equation more realistic.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For the study, the research duo compared two types of planetary tectonic processes: single lid (also called stagnant lid) and plate tectonics. Single lid refers to a planetary body that does not exhibit plate tectonics and cannot be broken into separate plates that exhibit movement by sliding towards each other (convergent), sliding past each other (transform), or slide away from each other (divergent). This lack of plate tectonic activity is often attributed to a planetary body\u2019s lid being too strong and dense to be broken apart. In the end, the researchers estimated that 75 percent of planetary bodies that exhibit active convection within their interiors do not exhibit plate tectonics and possess single lid tectonics, with Earth being the only planet that exhibits plate tectonics. Therefore, they concluded that single lid tectonics \u201cis likely to dominate the tectonic styles of active silicate bodies in our galaxy\u201d, according to the study.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<p>\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Plate Tectonic Pump\" width=\"1110\" height=\"624\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/6Qpg8vozkpc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Additionally, the researchers investigated how planetary continents and oceans contribute to the evolution of intelligent life and technological civilizations. They noted the significance of life first evolving in oceans due to them being shielded from harmful space weather with single-celled life thriving in the oceans for the first few billion years of Earth\u2019s history. However, the researchers also emphasize how dry land provides a myriad of benefits for the evolution of intelligent life, including adaptations to various terrains, such as eyes and new senses, which contributed to animals evolving for speed to hunt among other biological assets that enabled life to adapt to the various terrestrial environments across the planet.<\/p>\n<p>In the end, the researchers concluded dry land helped contribute to the evolution of intelligent life across the planet, including abstract thinking, technology, and science. Therefore, what were the most significant results from this study, and what follow-up studies are currently in the works or being planned?<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<p>\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The World Before Plate Tectonics\" width=\"1110\" height=\"624\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/DI6SemRT2iY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Dr. Gerya tells <em>Universe Today<\/em>, \u201cThat very\u00a0special condition\u00a0(&gt;500 million years\u00a0coexistence of continents, oceans, and plate tectonics) is needed on a planet with a primitive life in order to develop an intelligent technological communicative\u00a0life. This condition is\u00a0very rarely realized: only\u00a0&lt;0.003-0.2 % of planets with any life may\u00a0satisfy this condition.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dr. Gerya continues, \u201cWe plan to study water evolution in the planetary interior in order to understand how stability of surface ocean volume (implying stability of coexistence of oceans and continents)\u00a0can be maintained for billions of years\u00a0(like on Earth). We also plan to investigate the survival time of technological civilizations based on societal collapse models. We also started a project on the oxygenation state evolution of planetary interior and atmosphere in order to understand how oxygen-rich atmospheres (essential in particular\u00a0for developing\u00a0technological civilizations)\u00a0can be formed on planets with oceans, continents and plate tectonics. Progress in these three\u00a0directions is essential but will greatly depend on the availability of research funding.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<p>\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Fermi Paradox \u2014 Where Are All The Aliens? (1\/2)\" width=\"1110\" height=\"624\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/sNhhvQGsMEc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>As noted, this study was motivated and attempts to improve the Drake Equation, which proposes a multivariable equation that attempts to estimate the number of active, communicative civilizations (ACCs) that exist in the Milky Way Galaxy. It was proposed by in 1961 Dr. Frank Drake to postulate several notions that he encouraged the scientific community to consider when discussing both how and why we haven\u2019t heard from ACCs and reads as follows:<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><em>N = R<sub>*<\/sub> x f<sub>p<\/sub> x n<sub>e<\/sub> x f<sub>l<\/sub> x f<sub>i<\/sub> x f<sub>c<\/sub> x L<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>N<\/em> = the number of technological civilizations in the Milky Way Galaxy who can potentially communicate with other worlds<\/p>\n<p><em>R<sub>*<\/sub><\/em> = the average star formation rate in the Milky Way Galaxy <\/p>\n<p><em>f<sub>p<\/sub><\/em> = the fraction of those stars with planets<\/p>\n<p><em>n<sub>e<\/sub><\/em> = the average number of planets potentially capable of supporting life per star with planets<\/p>\n<p><em>f<sub>l<\/sub><\/em> = the fraction of planets capable of supporting and developing life at some point in its history<\/p>\n<p><em>f<sub>i<\/sub><\/em> = the fraction of planets that develop life and evolves into intelligent life<\/p>\n<p><em>f<sub>c<\/sub><\/em> = the fraction of civilizations who develop technology capable of sending detectable signals into space<\/p>\n<p><em>L<\/em> = the length of time that technological civilizations send signals into space<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<p>\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"What Is The Drake Equation?\" width=\"1110\" height=\"624\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/giNQNhgknvE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>According to the study, the Drake Equation estimates the number of ACCs range widely, between 200 to 50,000,000. As part of the study, the researchers proposed adding two additional variables to the Drake Equation based on their findings that plate tectonics, oceans, and continents have played a vital role in the development and evolution of complex life on Earth, which are as follows:<\/p>\n<p><em>f<sub>oc<\/sub> <\/em>= the fraction of habitable exoplanets that possess notable continents and oceans<\/p>\n<p><em>f<sub>pt<\/sub> <\/em>= the fraction of habitable exoplanets that possess notable continents and oceans that also exhibit plate tectonics that have been functioning for at least 500 million years <\/p>\n<p>Using these two new variables, the study provided new estimates for\u00a0f<sub>i<\/sub> (chances of planets that develop life and evolve into intelligent life). So, what is the importance of adding two new variables to the Drake Equation?<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<p>\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"How Many Alien Civilizations Exist in Our Galaxy?\" width=\"1110\" height=\"624\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/WmbMOmFtSAY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Dr. Gerya tells <em>Universe Today<\/em>, \u201cThis allowed us to re-define and\u00a0estimate more correctly the key term of the Drake equation f<sub>i<\/sub> \u2013 probability of a planet with primitive life to develop an intelligent technological communicative life. Originally, f<sub>i<\/sub> was (incorrectly)\u00a0estimated to be very high (100%). Our estimate is many orders of magnitude lower (&lt;0.003-0.2 %), which likely\u00a0explains why we are not contacted by other civilizations.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, when inputting these two new variables into the entire Drake Equation, the study estimates a far smaller number of ACCs at &lt; 0.006 to 100,000, which is in stark contrast to the original estimates of the Drake Equation of 200 to 50,000,000. Therefore, what implications could this study have on the search for life beyond Earth?<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<p>\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Drake Equation is Useless (Part 1) - Ask a Spaceman!\" width=\"1110\" height=\"624\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/6B8yAxiPbk0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Dr. Gerya tells <em>Universe Today<\/em>, \u201cIt has three key consequences: (1) we should not hope much that we will be contacted (probability of this is very low, in part because the life time of technological\u00a0civilizations can be shorter than previously\u00a0expected), (2) we should use remote sensing to look for planets with oceans, continents and plate tectonics (COPT planets) in our galaxy based on their likely distinct (CO2-poor) atmospheres and surface reflectivity signatures (due to the\u00a0presence of oceans and continents), (3) we should take care about our own planet and civilization, both are extremely rare and must be preserved.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This study comes as the search for life beyond Earth continues to gain traction, with NASA having confirmed the existence of 5,630 exoplanets as of this writing, with almost 1,700 being classified as Super-Earths and 200 being classified as rocky exoplanets. Despite these incredible numbers, especially since exoplanets first started being discovered in the 1990s, humanity has yet to detect any type of signal from an extraterrestrial technological civilization, which this study referred to as ACCs. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<p>\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"NASA Confirms Over 5000 Exoplanets Have Been Discovered! (4K)\" width=\"1110\" height=\"624\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/0e4CnAEj3_w?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Arguably the closest we have come to receiving a signal from outer space was the Wow! signal, which was a 72-second radio blast received by Ohio State University\u2019s Big Ear radio telescope on August 15, 1977. However, this signal has yet to be received since, along with a complete lack of signals at all. With this study, perhaps scientists can use these two new variables added to the Drake Equation to help narrow the scope of finding intelligent life beyond Earth.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<p>\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"What Was The Wow! Signal? | NASA&#039;s Unexplained Files\" width=\"1110\" height=\"624\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/zWDsDFz_TLw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Dr. Gerya concludes by telling <em>Universe Today<\/em>, \u201cThis research is part of an\u00a0emerging new science \u2013 Biogeodynamics, which we try to support and develop. Biogeodynamics aims to understand and quantify relations between the long-term\u00a0evolution of planetary interiors, surface, atmosphere, and life.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<p>\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Biogeodynamics:How Earth&#039;s tectonic evolution is reflected in its biosphere.\" width=\"1110\" height=\"624\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/xzYhPPcP2rs?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>How will these two new variables added to the Drake Equation help scientists find life beyond Earth in the coming years and decades? Only time will tell, and this is why we science!<\/p>\n<p><em>As always, keep doing science &amp; keep looking up!<\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"sharedaddy sd-block sd-like jetpack-likes-widget-wrapper jetpack-likes-widget-unloaded\" id=\"like-post-wrapper-24000880-167049-66485ca54810d\" data-src=\"https:\/\/widgets.wp.com\/likes\/?ver=13.2#blog_id=24000880&amp;post_id=167049&amp;origin=www.universetoday.com&amp;obj_id=24000880-167049-66485ca54810d&amp;n=1\" data-name=\"like-post-frame-24000880-167049-66485ca54810d\" data-title=\"Like or Reblog\">\n<h3 class=\"sd-title\">Like this:<\/h3>\n<p><span class=\"button\"><span>Like<\/span><\/span> <span class=\"loading\">Loading&#8230;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"sd-text-color\"\/><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.universetoday.com\/167049\/did-earths-multicellular-life-depend-on-plate-tectonics\/?rand=772204\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How did complex life emerge and evolve on the Earth and what does this mean for finding life beyond Earth? This is what a recent study published in Nature hopes&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":782539,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-782538","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-genaero"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/782538","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=782538"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/782538\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/782539"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=782538"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=782538"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=782538"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}