<< Right at the vent, the environment would be too harsh for a prebiotic
replicator to survive, but near the vent where the vented chemicals
have decayed (redox/energywise) a little and the water has cooled a
little, and where the water is cycling around due to bubbling from the
vent, is where I expect most of the interesting chemistry including
catalytic activity would have occurred >>


Let's think that through.
I think we can agree that some type of energy has to move the chemical
processes that lead to life - agreed?

OK - if the energy increases - all burns out
If the energy decreases - all shuts down.
If the energy is random - then nothing non random can evolve out of it.
So the energy has to be cyclical.
Vents may have a cyclical component - but comparing it to the sun cycle
suggests the sun the obvious energy source. Then life is what is most stable
(and later adapted to) a heat cycle.

And we have to be careful - darwinian evolution demands a replicator and an
energy user - but there is really no reason why that would happen  or start up
except by luck.
---
þ RIMEGate(tm)/RGXPost V1.14 at BBSWORLD * Info{at}bbsworld.com

---
 * RIMEGate(tm)V10.2áÿ* RelayNet(tm) NNTP Gateway * MoonDog BBS
 * RgateImp.MoonDog.BBS at 11/3/04 10:20:55 PM