My blog title above has been borrowed from a recent email by the John Templeton Foundation. The answer depends on your precise definition of Evolution and of Life. The definition of Life is (very) complex.
For example:
- Does Life include bacteria and viruses??
- Does Evolution include collisions with asteroids and comets?
- Does water constitute Evolution, Life or a “surrounding environment”?
- Might viruses be extraterrestrial (ie, astrovirology) ??
My examples above explain the following 2024 quote from the John Templeton Ideas article, entitled: Evolution Before the Origin of Life?
“The [LO: cyanobacteria] microbe, which scientists called “nature’s little alchemist,” engineered the surrounding environment so that complex living systems like lichens and vascular plants could grow.”
Nevertheless, the ancient idea of panspermia (eg, Wikipedia) has resulted in the scientific field of astrobiology, and subsequently in its subdiscipline astrovirology. “As a discipline, astrobiology is founded on the premise that life may exist beyond Earth.“ (Wiki)
“Astrovirology is an emerging subdiscipline of astrobiology which aims to understand what role viruses played in the origin and evolution of life on Earth as well as the potential for viruses beyond Earth.”
Source: Wikipedia
The above explains my related blog series: Are planets evolutionary lab experiments? See my 2019 blog posts: part-1, part-2, part-3, and part-4.
What is Life (1970) by George Harrison (1943-2001)
artist, lyrics, video, Wiki-artist, Wiki-song
Note: all markings (bold, italic, underlining) by LO unless in quotes or stated otherwise.
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