• TheMadFool
    13.8k
    Organic Photochemistry

    Some chemical reactions take place by the action of light. These are called, "photochemical reactions", or "photolysis". Mechanistic organic photochemistry is the aspect of organic photochemistry which seeks to explain the mechanisms of organic photochemical reactions. The absorption of ultraviolet light by organic molecules often leads to reactions. In the earliest days, sunlight was employed, while in more modern times ultraviolet lamps are employed. Organic photochemistry has proven to be a very useful synthetic tool. Complex organic products can be obtained simply. Over the last century and earlier an immense number of photochemical reactions have been uncovered. — Wikipedia

    As you can see, if the Wikipedia article is accurate, "complex organic products" can be obtained using ordinary light shined on what I believe is a mixture of simpler molecules.

    Could advanced alien civilizations have perfected the processes of organic photochemistry and broadcasted electromagnetic radiation in the form of, say, radiowaves, etc. tuned to frequencies that stimulate life-creating molecules such as proteins and DNA on suitable planets like ours?

    Space colonization could be rendered possible without having to build spaceships, developing life-support systems, etc. All we would need to seed the galaxy would be knowledge of what kind of electromagnetic radiation and what kind of frequencies/wavelengths would kickstart basic life-originating chemical processes on habitable planets.

    Is there a geologic record around the time life is thought to have begun on earth that indicates [massive] radiation of some kind?

    :chin:

    Solar Radiation & The Emergence Of Life

    NB:

    The scientific consensus seems to be that life evolved roughly 3.5 billion years ago. The universe began in the Big Bang approximately 13.8 billion years ago.

    The first galaxies formed 13.7 billion years ago.

    That means if an alien EM wave did create life on earth, the maximum age of this signal would be 13.7 - 3.5 = 10.2 = approx. 10 billion years old. Since the signal is traveling at the speed of light, the maximum distance of this signal from earth is 10 billion lightyears.

    The oldest known galaxy, the perfect candidate for life to have first arisen in, evolved into advanced intelligence and mastered photochemistry to the point of being able to induce living molecules elsewhere in the universe by broadcasting encoded EM waves, has been given the sobriquet Cosmic Ring Of Fire and, most importantly, is around 10 billion lightyears away.

    Is this a coincidence?
  • Pfhorrest
    4.6k
    There’s no need to posit alien laser beams when our own sun is blasting us with tons of UV radiation all the time.

    (And back before photosynthesis there was no ozone layer so even more of it would be reaching the surface).
  • TheMadFool
    13.8k
    Seriously, if we can master photochemistry and break the code of life-generating EM waves we could colonize other planets both within and without the milkyway.
  • Relativist
    2.1k
    Space colonization could be rendered possible without having to build spaceships, developing life-support systems, etc. All we would need to seed the galaxy would be knowledge of what kind of electromagnetic radiation and what kind of frequencies/wavelengths would kickstart basic life-originating chemical processes on habitable planets.TheMadFool

    Even if you could cause life to appear on exoplanets, there's no reason to think intelligent life would develop. That is, unless you're a theist and believe in a telos.
  • TheMadFool
    13.8k
    Even if you could cause life to appear on exoplanets, there's no reason to think intelligent life would develop. That is, unless you're a theist and believe in a telos.Relativist

    You're correct in that intelligent life may not be the desired end of photochemical seeding of exoplanets by advanced aliens. Nonetheless, if intelligent creatures are conducting galactic seeding operations of the kind I described here, it's more likely that they intend to create intellgent life like themselves than not.
  • Relativist
    2.1k
    if intelligent creatures are conducting galactic seeding operations of the kind I described here, it's more likely that they intend to create intellgent life like themselves than not.TheMadFool
    It would take a lot more than radio waves to direct evolution toward the development of intelligence.
  • TheMadFool
    13.8k
    It would take a lot more than radio waves to direct evolution toward the development of intelligence.Relativist

    Why do you say that? Anyway, going back to what you said earlier, intelligent life may not be the primary objective of photochemical seeding of habitable planets. The alien "engineers" may simply want to spread life, be it complex and intelligent or simple and mindless.
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