The nature of life | The Earth, our home

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A huge cloud of dust and gases shines in the mysterious darkness of space. Surrounded by a quantity of dust, a rising star is enhanced in the very darkness of the universe, our Sun.

Through many thousands of years, gravity begins to push dust and gases towards the center of the cloud. Over time, it will condense into a giant sphere of matter. A planet has been formed, our home.

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But 4,500 million years ago this mysterious planet seemed more like hell, than our home. Near the surface the temperature exceeds 1200 ° C, there is no air, only carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrogen (N).

The newborn planet is a ball of fire filled with molten rock, an endless ocean of lava.

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A young planet called Tea ...

It is directed towards our planet. It has the size of Mars and travels at almost 15km/s. 20 times faster than a bullet. The gravity of this intruder deforms the surface of the Earth.

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The shock wave of the collision rises throughout our planet. Millions of tons of rubble are scattered in space. The impact has made the Earth turn so fast, that a whole day only lasts 6 hours. The days pass quickly but the Earth changes slowly.

After many years, gravity does its job. The debris forms a ring around the earth, from this ring a ball of more than 3500 km in diameter is formed, our Moon.

Our home is under attack from a meteor shower, inside of them there is a strange crystal, the special ingredient for our life. Each meteorite only brings with it a pinch of water, but the bombing of millions of them for more than 20 million years forms pools of water. The core of the earth continues to melt but its surface begins to cool until it reaches 70 ° to 80 ° C, enough to form a crust.

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But even the Earth's environment is dangerous, mega-storms rise above the waters caused by the rapid rotation of the Earth. The Moon is very close to the earth causing, also, huge tides that travel the planet. But over time the moon recedes, the waters calm down and the planet slows down its rotation.

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They spend 500 million years. Rocks dot its surface. Volcanoes sprout everywhere rising over the ocean, shaking the planet with its constant eruptions. Over time the lava cools and creates volcanic islands.

This infantile planet, is composed of earth and water. But the atmosphere is toxic and the temperature suffocating. Nothing could live on this planet.

Another meteor assault enters a more violent phase, they had already brought water but now carry with them something else. As they dissolve in water, meteorites release their minerals, transport carbon and primitive proteins.

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The mixture of minerals from meteorites with that of water, form microscopic life. But then for hundreds of millions of years nothing changes, no progress, no evolutionary step forward. The only living beings on earth are unicellular bacteria.

We go ahead in time. Within the seas stromatolites appear, these bacteria transform sunlight into food. This process called photosynthesis uses light energy to convert carbon dioxide (CO2) and water (H2O) into glucose (C6H12O6), a simple form of sugar. From this magical transformation arises a product, a gas called oxygen (O2).

Oxygen is transformed into atmosphere over the waters, these stromatolites will transform life on earth.

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Slowly but undoubtedly, the earth will change its appearance, becoming a warm and comfortable place for our lives ...

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....and living beings will become more complex and will begin to change or evolve.

But one day, very special living beings will emerge, beings that will be able to read this publication.

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I hope you enjoyed this trip for the birth of our planet Earth.

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<sup>Sources:
1. PrenticeHall Science Book - 2. Formation of the earth - 3. Formation of the Solar System</sup>