We Are Not Alone

E = mc²

In essence this famous equation tells us that matter and energy are different forms of the same thing - like water and ice - as c is just a constant.

E~m

Immediately after the big bang the universe was pure energy in all directions which then cooled into plasma, and then into matter, mostly in the form of hydrogen-1 (protons), deuterium (heavy hydrogen, one proton + one neutron), Helium-3 and Helium-4 (two protons plus one or two neutrons, with He‑4 dominating) and very small traces of Lithium-7, and possibly a bit of Lithium-6 and Beryllium-7/9 and that was it. Energy into the same basic types of mass - everywhere.

These elements coalesced into huge clouds, that then contracted down by the force of gravity into dense spheres of superheated gas and became stars. These stars then began to form heavier elements through nuclear fusion - the process all stars, including our sun, employ to create energy.

This occurred everywhere there were clumps of matter, scattered throughout the entire universe.

Through fusion these first stars produced more and more complex elements - listed here in order of atomic weight and complexity:

Hydrogen (H) was transformed into Helium (He)

Helium to Lithium (Li)

Lithium to Beryllium (Be)

Beryllium To Boron (B)

and then on to Carbon (C), Nitrogen (N), Oxygen (O), Fluorine (F), Neon (Ne), Sodium (Na), Magnesium (Mg), Aluminum (Al), Silicon (Si), Phosphorus (P), Sulfur (S), Chlorine (Cl), Argon (Ar), Potassium (K), Calcium (Ca), Scandium (Sc), Titanium (Ti), Vanadium (V), Chromium (Cr), Manganese (Mn), and finally to Iron (Fe)

Nearly all the elements needed for life.

To round out what was needed stars capable of making iron then underwent supernova explosions where the tremendous forces formed Copper (Cu, 29): Key for respiratory enzymes (cytochrome c oxidase), iron metabolism, and connective tissue formation, Zinc (Zn, 30): essential for hundreds of enzymes, DNA repair, gene regulation, and immune function, Selenium (Se, 34): required for antioxidant enzymes (glutathione peroxidases), thyroid hormone metabolism, and redox control, Iodine (I, 53): critical for thyroid hormones that regulate metabolism and development and Molybdenum (Mo, 42): cofactor in enzymes for nitrogen, sulfur, and purine metabolism.

This happened wherever there were stars large enough to create iron - a not uncommon occurence - across the entire cosmos.

All the elements needed for life scatteted throughout the entire observable universe - setting the stage for life’s creation - everywhere.

The physical laws and processes that control how the elements interact are universal. We have found organic molecules throughout space - to include all the ingredients needed to form RNA - the first molecule capable of protein synthesis and self-replication, that plays a vital part in all of life on earth today. It’s backbone is a five carbon sugar called ribose that can form in space on ice crystals irradiated by UV light and then deposited on comets and astroids as just one example.

There is nothing unique about earth’s circumstances, chemistry, or physical processes that would lead us to believe that what occurred to cause life to begin here could not have occurred elesewhere throughout the cosmos.

Given the sheer numbers of planets - aproximately 1 trillion just in our own galaxy alone - the amount of time that has passed where life could have come into being - roughly 13 billion years - the ubiquiousness of the building blocks of life, and the universality of physcal laws and processes, we are almost certainly not alone.

Look up people, look outward, for we are not alone.

We are not alone.