So, last week when catching up on some news subscriptions, I caught up with John Birmingham’s Alien Side Boob opinion piece ($)Quantity over Quality. It was a tough thinky read.
It had been made public that Putin seems happy to start a Nuclear War. Just what the we need *she says sarcastically*.
Hmmm. Was it last week? Or did it sit in my inbox for a while? Feels like last month to me. So much has happened. AusMossy commented, mentioning “… welcoming our new cockroach overlords“. Ha. I remember those days. Thinking that cockroaches were the only living things that could exist after nuclear war.
Wonder how that came about? An image of whiteness comes to mind. Piles of trash. Anyway.
I responded to AusMossy’s comment with:
“Ha, I used to imagine that. Cockroaches. When we’re gone.
Now I think of plants and animals like in Chernobyl.
Or at the very least, bacteria (worst case from volcanos and waterborne) and co-existing units. Symbiotic organisms. Like jellyfish and those tall coral things.”
Promised to post about my speculations of pre-Cambrian life. More on that below.
Maybe, if we’re lucky, some animals will exist, and plant life. Animals, what remain hopefully re-wilded. Like those domestic cattle that bred their long horns and natural coats back.
Oh yeah – I found the documentary I was thinking of. It’s called Chernobyl Reclaimed: An Animal Takeover (2007). Just listening to a free version on YouTube. Really feels simplistic and soothing. Almost designed to appeal to my kid-like sense of wildlife without humans hunting them. You’ve got animals footsteps, insects, birds and even pan pipe music.
Almost hypnotic, this doco. Got me wondering – is this Chernobol? Or could it be from ruined and abandoned villages and towns? You know – don’t fuss yourselves over nuclear war. Animals will still live. It will be Ok. Just speculation. Am too tired to do research.
And am only listening. Not seeing the apartments in town yet. Could be later in the doco.
Anyway, nowadays I’m thinking (hoping) that if/when humans destroy ourselves, what exists could be like cells and organisms in the pre-Cambrian era.
I’ve twice watched (or started to watch) David Attenborough’s First Life documentary series from 2010.
I mapped these brainstorms out after watching the documentary. I thought I did them at completely different times, but it seems these docs were both saved in November 2016.
So, this is another example of me mapping out, or speculating a concept. These were written, in part to use my mind, to explore a suspicion I could be more than an arm-chair scientist, and in part to facilitate my learning and memory.
If you can’t follow, don’t worry. It’s just a brainstorm. Bullet points.
You might like the BBC doco though. To escape, back in times past.
Or even explore the online events for the World Science Festival in Brisbane. https://www.worldsciencefestival.com.au/
Ya Wha? Mapping out Cell life in Pre-Cambrian Era
Document A. What I think could have happened in the Pre-Cambrian Era
Document B. ‘Ridiculous Experiment with Cells’ idea.
A. What I think could have happened in the Pre-Cambrian Era
Cells adapted slightly and were slowly altered by aspects such as:
Atmospheric conditions caused from volcanos erupting
Pressure & density of smoke
levels of carbon monoxide and oxygen ect
food types were varied (not just oxygen and light)
Atmospheric conditions changed as volcanos slowed & stopped
Light filtered through
Oxygen became denser/ more
Water ‘pollution’ altered/cleared
Ice Age period
Environmental/ Physical conditions changed (rapidly?)
Atmospheric conditions changed
Cells regressed, while some attributes/ alterations ‘slept’ unneeded
These (three as counted) major changes in earths conditions possibly caused adaptability and alterations to the cells’ state to be ‘remembered’/ hardwired.
There would have been in each period:
huge deaths of cells (specific purpose/conditions of life)
adaptability came to forefront
alterations became more frequent
combinations of cells’ structure that included building blocks/ conditions of future plants and animals
Once the atmosphere and physical conditions stabilised:
Changes in cells became more pronounced
Certain cells expanded due to more space to survive
Certain cells came together into double and triple celled organisms(?)
Varieties of structures (including the ‘sleeping’ attributes were tried, died, adapted and existed (Darwins Evolution)
B. ‘Ridiculous Experiment with Cells’ idea.
Experiment: Practice Cells brought together
Can cells and/or bacteria be brought together in different ways (environmentally, filter/blended, almost wiped out then allowed to incubate) from different basic life forms?
Can an environment as expected in 100-1000 years be created (taking very much into account effects of man-made climate change), and which ways could simple cells and bacteria react?
Can new types of organisms be created? Ie: not plants or animals or a different path than plants and animals, and if so, what are their needs and how do they meet those needs?
Experiment #1
- Bacteria living in volcanos
- Bacteria living in ice poles
- Algae
Can these cells over time, in a semi-stable environment (eg: fridge, freezer, outside, rainforest, in bush, near sea) adapt to most or any condition provided it is stable for an extended period of time (at least a year for instance).
Do these cells:
- Co-aless(?) / combine /
- Work in certain symbiotic (maybe even dependent) relationships?
- Do they somehow alter their environment to provide certain conditions (food, atmosphere, oxygen levels etc)
- If so for how long?
- What are their life cycle stages
- Do they go through evolution and adaptability including death of certain groups/types of cells?
- Can they develop into multi-cell organisms?
- Is there any way/s to encourage these cells to go through the Cambrian Era again?
- If so what results – basic worms, not-quite incects / scale incects?
- Can we recreate life stages of our ancestors?
- How basic are the cells that emerge?
- How complex are the cells that emerge?
- Can new forms of life be created? (not complex ie: insect)
ENDS
Musings of KarlettaA 