and further...................
https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/~ejchaisson/cosmic_evolution/docs/text/text_chem_2.html
The question of life’s origin has engaged the minds of humans since they first contemplated our place on Earth and in the Universe. The subject often elicits emotion—first because it involves ourselves, and second because biochemists don’t yet have a comprehensive account of the specific steps that led to life on our planet.
A Non-scientific Idea Many people have been raised to accept unquestioningly certain principles, one of which is that life originated by means of a God or gods. The theological or philosophical idea that life resulted from such a
supernatural process is a
belief. Admittedly, it might be a perfectly good belief, but it remains just that—a belief—for no unambiguous information, acceptable in a laboratory of science or a court of law, confirms the creation of life by a supernatural being or beings. Scientists have no clear data whatsoever supporting the idea that someone or something deposited already-made life on planet Earth long ago. Furthermore, we have no known way to test experimentally the idea that divine intervention created life.
Science is agnostic when it comes to God—not atheistic, as some people prefer to read that laden word wrongly—just agnostic. Aside from personal feelings or cultural persuasions, most professional scientists just don’t know what to make of a God or gods. We simply have no bone fide
data on which to base a judgment.
The belief that life suddenly arose by means of some vitalistic process is outside the realm of modern science. Today’s scientific method, which is a means of inquiry based on reasoned logic bolstered by experimental and observational tests, cannot be used to study supernatural ideas for the origin of life. Accordingly, such ideas, unprovable even in principle, seem destined to remain beliefs forever, hence beyond the subject of science.
Three Scientific Proposals Several alternative theories for the origin of life do not require the help of supernatural beings. Each of these theories relies on natural principles and each can be tested experimentally. These theories are thus based on science rather than on theology, and only one of them has thus far survived the test of time, criticism, and debate.
First, life might have originated on Earth by means of panspermia, meaning “germs everywhere.” This idea, also called exogenesis, maintains that microscopic living organisms came to our planet from outer space. An asteroid or comet, perhaps containing primitive cells or simple bacteria, could have fallen to Earth at some time in the past, after which they evolved over billions of years into the more advanced forms of life now spread across our planet. That said, no meteorites—the landed debris of asteroids and comets—have ever been shown to harbor bona fide life.
The basic tenet of panspermia is that primitive life, which originated someplace else, was deposited on Earth’s surface by means of a collision with some other object that already harbored life. However, most space scientists argue that unprotected simple life wouldn’t likely survive the harsh environment of outer space or the fiery plunge into our atmosphere. High-energy radiation and high-speed particles in interplanetary and interstellar space, as well as violent friction and intense heat while moving through air, would almost surely destroy any form of life riding on the backs of small celestial bodies. On the other hand, microscopic spores might survive such alien conditions, provided they’re deeply embedded within the incoming rocks. If biologists have learned anything new about life recently, it’s that life is very hardy and often capable of surviving in extreme environments.
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