Creatures of the Deep

“In a sense, we are all creatures of the deep. Hydrothermal vents, plumes of superheated water rich in minerals, are bursting with chemical potential and ripe for exploiting, and had an ancient role to play in the origins of life. Primordial oozes, organic soups struck by lightning, raising life in a Frankenstein-like fashion, are the stereotypical portrayal of the emergence of life on a lifeless planet, but these never existed. There is strong evidence, though, that the chemical outlet of deep-ocean vents laid the basis of the internal chemistry of every living thing today.”

Excerpt From: Halliday, Thomas. “Otherlands.” Random House Publishing Group, 2022-02-01. Apple Books.