Did life start on the ocean floor — and what does that mean for alien life? : Short Wave : NPR
In a cold, dark ocean, life thrives near hydrothermal vents.
Ralph White/Getty Images
hide caption
toggle caption
Ralph White/Getty Images
How did life start on Earth? The answer is a big scientific mystery scientists are actively investigating. After talking with many scientists, host Regina G. Barber found that an abundance of water on Earth is most likely key, in some way, to the origin of life — specifically, in either deep sea hydrothermal vents or in tide pools. It’s for this reason some scientists are also exploring the potential for life in so-called “water worlds” elsewhere in the solar system, like some of the moons of Jupiter and Saturn. This episode, Regina digs into two water-related hypotheses for the origin on life on Earth — and what that might mean for possible alien life.
Have another scientific mystery you want us to cover on a future episode? Email us at shortwave@npr.org.
Listen to every episode of Short Wave sponsor-free and support our work at NPR by signing up for Short Wave+ at plus.npr.org/shortwave.
Listen to Short Wave on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
This episode was produced by Hannah Chinn and Berly McCoy. It was edited by Rebecca Ramirez and fact-checked by Tyler Jones. The audio engineer was Robert Rodriguez.
