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It's generally thought that the evolution of complex life was a rare, once-in-4.5-billion-years event. But new research suggests that conditions were right for complex cells to evolve and die off at least once - or perhaps several times - before our lineage even got started. The reason? New evidence that there was enough oxygen in Earth's atmosphere between 2.4 and 2 billion years ago before it dropped off again suddenly. This suggests that the ingredients for complex life were present before the first fossil evidence of complex life. Jeff and Anthony discuss the uses for oxygen, and propose some reasons why it may have fluctuated.
GET BONUS EPISODES, VIDEO HANGOUTS AND MORE. VISIT: http://patreon.com/wehaveconcerns
Get all your sweet We Have Concerns merch by swinging by http://wehaveconcerns.com/shop
Hey! If you’re enjoying the show, please take a moment to rate/review it on whatever service you use to listen.
Here’s the iTunes link: http://bit.ly/wehaveconcerns And here’s the Stitcher link: http://bit.ly/stitcherwhc
Jeff on Twitter: http://twitter.com/jeffcannata
Anthony on Twitter: http://twitter.com/acarboni
Today’s story was sent in by Alik "The Golfer" Evans: http://www.sciencealert.com/complex-life-could-have-existed-on-earth-at-least-once-before
If you’ve seen a story you think belongs on the show, send it to [email protected] or leave it on the subreddit:http://reddit.com/r/wehaveconcern
By Jeff Cannata/Anthony Carboni4.9
18811,881 ratings
It's generally thought that the evolution of complex life was a rare, once-in-4.5-billion-years event. But new research suggests that conditions were right for complex cells to evolve and die off at least once - or perhaps several times - before our lineage even got started. The reason? New evidence that there was enough oxygen in Earth's atmosphere between 2.4 and 2 billion years ago before it dropped off again suddenly. This suggests that the ingredients for complex life were present before the first fossil evidence of complex life. Jeff and Anthony discuss the uses for oxygen, and propose some reasons why it may have fluctuated.
GET BONUS EPISODES, VIDEO HANGOUTS AND MORE. VISIT: http://patreon.com/wehaveconcerns
Get all your sweet We Have Concerns merch by swinging by http://wehaveconcerns.com/shop
Hey! If you’re enjoying the show, please take a moment to rate/review it on whatever service you use to listen.
Here’s the iTunes link: http://bit.ly/wehaveconcerns And here’s the Stitcher link: http://bit.ly/stitcherwhc
Jeff on Twitter: http://twitter.com/jeffcannata
Anthony on Twitter: http://twitter.com/acarboni
Today’s story was sent in by Alik "The Golfer" Evans: http://www.sciencealert.com/complex-life-could-have-existed-on-earth-at-least-once-before
If you’ve seen a story you think belongs on the show, send it to [email protected] or leave it on the subreddit:http://reddit.com/r/wehaveconcern

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