Among the still unsolved mysteries of science is the search for the origin of complex life forms from the basic elements of the earth. Of all the elements, carbon is undoubtedly the one most directly associated with life on this planet. “Organisms” – basic units of life – are derived from “organic” compounds, which in turn denote the chemistry of carbon (periodic table code C). Geologist Robert Hazen writes lyrically about carbon’s place in the universe, suggesting that the creative orchestra of the cosmos is incessantly producing a “Symphony in C.” The role of carbon in the formation of complex molecules is particularly important for the creation of the building blocks of life.

Not surprisingly, carbon chemistry played a central role when scientists began to consider various plausible scenarios for the evolution of life. Louis Pasteur, one of the founders of modern microbiology, convincingly dismissed the idea of ​​spontaneous emergence of life from nonlife through an “essence” or “soul.” He did this with a simple experiment in 1869, showing that sterile grape juice could never turn itself into wine. To start the fermentation process, an injection of living organisms—like yeast—had to be made. Yet Pasteur’s groundbreaking insight still left us wondering how yeast arose from inanimate chemicals. At some level, we’re still trying to find that path to the first “living” being to emerge from chemicals.

To understand how geology and chemistry worked together to create life, we would also need to bring physics on board! One of the founders of quantum physics, Erwin Schrödinger, stated in his seminal 1944 paper: What is life?– all living things have a common physical property – they organize themselves into structures made up of highly distributed chemical building blocks. In the language of physics, the development of life means that “entropy” decreases – which is often defined quite simply as the degree of “disorder” in a system. More precisely, entropy is a measure of the possible arrangements of a system or the distribution of energy or resulting information in a system.

Energy efficiency and the performance of organisms is a fascinating area for consideration of what Caltech biophysicist Rob Phillips has called “molecular vitalism.” Using nothing more than the traditional blackboard and colored chalk, he wowed the audience at the Kavli Institute by calculating on the fly the amount of energy a bacterium, a human, and the sun produce per kilogram. Amazingly, the sun—an inanimate, giant nuclear fusion reactor—produces about 0.0001 watts per kilogram; a human produces about one watt per kilogram, and a bacterium about one thousand Watts per kilogram. Energy transfer is a key feature of life and is not related to intelligence but to molecular efficiency.

The combination of physics and geology suggests that life could only evolve under environmental conditions that allowed the emergence of low-entropy states in an overall context that would nevertheless increase the total entropy of a system. Weather systems such as tornadoes and hurricanes are examples of such emergence of lower-entropy subregions through stochastic processes as the total entropy increases. What conditions mimic such energy gradients and what elements might facilitate the emergence of life-giving molecules? We now know that the primordial soup and lightning hypothesis, popularized by the famous Miller-Urey experiment, could only provide approximate conditions for a particular organic synthesis.

Research into the origin of life is only sporadically funded. The Simons Foundation, founded by mathematician and hedge fund manager Jim Simon, is a major funder of scientific research in this field. The Templeton Foundation, based in Philadelphia, focuses on “big questions” with more philosophical underpinnings, dealing with theology as well as the rise of artificial intelligence forms. Independent networks of universities have also emerged to promote research and publications on the subject. The Dutch government has announced funding of 40 million euros over the next 10 years as part of its “Evolving Life from Non-life” (Evolf) program.

As we consider ways to sustain life on Earth within planetary boundaries and novel technological solutions, we must continue to consider the fundamental question of how life arose as a research priority, particularly in deep-sea hydrothermal vents. Research must be approached with humility, and scientists must calmly engage in debates with those who exploit the complexity of life-giving molecules to make scientifically problematic “creationist” arguments. But these debates must be carefully managed to shed less heat and more light on some of the most perplexing existential questions facing the public.