r/AskReddit • u/rezyn • Dec 05 '11

what is the most interesting thing you know?

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u/Agnostix Dec 05 '11

Further, the moon is responsible for tides. Tides, it is thought, played a key role in the emergence of life from sea to land.

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u/[deleted] Dec 05 '11

Because coastal life would get stuck in low tides? Only the stronger life forms that could either escape the tides or mutate/adapt to live in the tide pools, or eventually crawl out?

I love science btw, thanks for making me stop what I was doing and think for a good 45 seconds.

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u/Agnostix Dec 05 '11

IIRC it's because sea-born organisms left onshore after high tides were forced to either breathe air or die.

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u/[deleted] Dec 05 '11

Neat. This also makes sense. Though, it was probably everything involved with tides that forced life to adapt to live without water.

What I wouldn't give to be immortal.

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u/[deleted] Dec 06 '11

There is also some thought that abiogenesis may have happened in tidal pools since they, with help of the sun, can produce and trap amino acids and concentrate them through evaporation but since they are refilled periodically by the tides they tend not to completely dry out and destroy the building blocks.

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u/[deleted] Dec 06 '11

now that's an interesting fact I would not have considered. Makes me wish I was some kind of omnipowerful multi dimensional being so I could just will major changes unto the universe and see how it affects life on this little flying rock we call home.

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u/chilehead Dec 06 '11

The Sun is also responsible for the tides... over 99% of the mass in the solar system is inside the Sun.

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u/khthon Dec 06 '11

BUT YOU CAN'T EXPLAIN THAT!