Hi nightbat I'm laughing because I knew you would be first to come into
this post. The words "comet tail" and your ears go up,much like "sexy
girl" makes my ears go up (Had you in mind when posting) You are very
knowledgeable in the tiny quantum world that started life..
Seems the building blocks of life had a billion years head start before
the Earth cooled. I like Darwin's idea that warm ponds
were the right places. The comet tails organic chemicals sprinkled there
could concentrate,as these ponds evaporated( laboratories for creating
life) Liquid water created by the warm Earth and then the sun. Jumping
ahead in time photosynthesizing cells(organisms) starting
evolving(energy from photons) and that put oxygen into the mixture of
gasses to make up air. I find this interesting nightbat that before
oxygen life lived well ,and oxygen was poisonous to organisms that had
adapted to the environment that was nitrogen and carbon dioxide.Hmmm
Seems botulism is a throw back to that oxygen free time. Seems to me
the change over to oxygen we should study more.After all we are living
proof that oxygen organisms won out,as just about every animal living on
the Earth today breaths oxygen to stay alive. Bert PS I just
reminded myself to mention lightning.Earth has plenty of that