The Building Blocks for Life on Earth:

[Write4U]

I think you're confused.

No, read Paddo's quoted passage of Abstract, in Post #1, about the volatile materials, which until then I had not even considered at all, but his post started the mutual analysis of known evidence.
My initial point was that Theia was big enough to deliver sufficient amounts of water to create our current oceans.
AFAIK, early Earth did not have a lot of water , if any at all.

p.p.s. From Post #16

Additional evidence published in 2019 suggests that Theia might have formed in the outer Solar System rather than the inner Solar System, thus making it analogous to a Kuiper-Belt object like Pluto, and that much of Earth's water originated on Theia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theia_(planet)

Known objects in the Kuiper belt beyond the orbit of Neptune. (Scale in AU; epoch as of January 2015.)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuiper_belt

 

[Write4U]

Just ran across these two excellent videos on "Life Beyond" earth.

 

[Write4U]

This may explain why life is very likely to develop where there are sufficient raw materials in a dynamic environment.
The secret lies in the dynamical self-assembly of biochemicals, a common occurrence everywhere.

From one to many: dynamic assembly and collective behavior of self-propelled colloidal motors

Abstract

The assembly of complex structures from simpler, individual units is a hallmark of biology. Examples include the pairing of DNA strands, the assembly of protein chains into quaternary structures, the formation of tissues and organs from cells, and the self-organization of bacterial colonies, flocks of birds, and human beings in cities. While the individual behaviors of biomolecules, bacteria, birds, and humans are governed by relatively simple rules, groups assembled from many individuals exhibit complex collective behaviors and functions that do not exist in the absence of the hierarchically organized structure. Self-assembly is a familiar concept to chemists who study the formation and properties of monolayers, crystals, and supramolecular structures.

In chemical self-assembly, disorder evolves to order as the system approaches equilibrium. In contrast, living assemblies are typically characterized by two additional features: (1) the system constantly dissipates energy and is not at thermodynamic equilibrium; (2) the structure is dynamic and can transform or disassemble in response to stimuli or changing conditions.

To distinguish them from equilibrium self-assembled structures, living (or nonliving) assemblies of objects with these characteristics are referred to as active matter. In this Account, we focus on the powered assembly and collective behavior of self-propelled colloids.

These nano- and microparticles, also called nano- and micromotors or microswimmers, autonomously convert energy available in the environment (in the form of chemical, electromagnetic, acoustic, or thermal energy) into mechanical motion. Collections of these colloids are a form of synthetic active matter.

Because of the analogy to living swimmers of similar size such as bacteria, the dynamic interactions and collective behavior of self-propelled colloids are interesting in the context of understanding biological active matter and in the development of new applications. The progression from individual particle motion to pairwise interactions, and then to multiparticle behavior, can be studied systematically with colloidal particles. Colloidal particles are also amenable to designs (in terms of materials, shapes, and sizes) that are not readily available in, for example, microbial systems.

We review here our efforts and those of other groups in studying these fundamental interactions and the collective behavior that emerges from them. Although this field is still very new, there are already unique and interesting applications in analysis, diagnostics, separations, and materials science that derive from our understanding of how powered colloids interact and assemble.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26057233/

 

[iceaura]

The secret lies in the dynamical self-assembly of biochemicals, a common occurrence everywhere.

Plus Darwinian evolution.
They become "biochemicals" via Darwinian evolution. Before becoming part of an evolutionary development, they are just chemicals - no "bio" attached.

 

[Write4U]

Plus Darwinian evolution.
They become "biochemicals" via Darwinian evolution. Before becoming part of an evolutionary development, they are just chemicals - no "bio" attached.

I'd like to continue this line of thought with this very interesting lecture by Robert Hazen on the "co-evolution of life and minerals", based on this provocative question by:

What evolutionary process? This is your first mention of an evolutionary process.

W4U said: I believe that everything in the universe co-evolves, i.e. changes due to natural selection.

I hope this is the appropriate sub-forum.

Here Robert Hazen explains the specific co-evolutionary processes of life and rocks (minerals).

Note that Hazen incidentally touches on the subject of "Big Data", or what Tegmark calls "Hard Facts", rather than asking "Hard Questions".

But most interestingly, it seems to me that Hazen actually is describing the process of Abiogenesis, the gradual evolutionary process of forming biochemicals from pure elementary chemicals and their gradual transformation by natural selection into semi-alive anaerobic protists feeding on minerals and the appearance of the first Prokaryotic organisms and finally, with the advent of oxygen, into more complex aerobic Eukaryote organisms.

To me, this sounds eminently logical and the fossil record seems to generally support this type of evolutionary chronology.