Human Origins

[AstroSpectator]

I have been getting incredibly interested in the universe and how it works lately, including astrophysics, biology, and where everything comes from. I've come to learn that many of the materials that make up the Human body, such as calcium and iron, can only be formed during nuclear fusion in stars. All those materials then get scattered throughout the universe when these stars explode, which is how they eventually came to form the Human body. So, in essence, all of us originate from the super nova explosions of stars. Now my question is what happens when different animals on Earth, including Humans, mate? That baby now has calcium in his bones and iron in his blood.

 

But that material can only form in stars so where did it come from? My guess is that these materials are already there in the sperm and as the pregnant mother ingests different foods with these materials, they get sent to the baby. So basically my theory is that it's a cycle. These materials were formed in stars, sent to Earth through a super nova explosion, over millions of years eventually created the first biological life forms and became embedded in the Earth. When people have babies this material gets transferred to the infant and then when those people die the materials go right back into the Earth. A never ending cycle of biology. However, I would like a more professional opinion if anyone is experienced in this subject.

[D H]

My guess is that these materials are already there in the sperm

Nonsense. Cells cannot create matter.

 

and as the pregnant mother ingests different foods with these materials, they get sent to the baby.

Now you're closer to the mark. Cells grow and divide only if they receive nutrients from outside. To reiterate, cells do not create matter.

[AstroSpectator]

Nonsense. Cells cannot create matter.

 

 

Now you're closer to the mark. Cells grow and divide only if they receive nutrients from outside. To reiterate, cells do not create matter.

 

Thanks for the reply, I suppose it's a little obvious that I have zero education in this field. Do you have any more information on this or perhaps a link that could explain it in more detail? I find this stuff really interesting but I have never even studied basic biology and didn't pay attention too much in my high school biology class.

Edited February 2, 2012 by AstroSpectator

[Halucigenia]

Do you have any more information on this or perhaps a link that could explain it in more detail? I find this stuff really interesting but I have never even studied basic biology and didn't pay attention too much in my high school biology class.

You started right at the beginning with the stardust explanation of where the elements come from that are available for organisms to utilise on Earth. What you seem to be missing is the fact that there is a Food Web that exists in the ecology of organisms on Earth that, as you suggest, recycles these elements from organism to organism. Starting with autotrophs that use chemical energy - chemosynthesis or sunlight - photosynthesis to produce more complex compounds from these simple elements that then get ingested by other organisms in the food web.

 

I hope this is helpful and enjoy your quest for knowledge.

[Santalum]

I have been getting incredibly interested in the universe and how it works lately, including astrophysics, biology, and where everything comes from. I've come to learn that many of the materials that make up the Human body, such as calcium and iron, can only be formed during nuclear fusion in stars. All those materials then get scattered throughout the universe when these stars explode, which is how they eventually came to form the Human body. So, in essence, all of us originate from the super nova explosions of stars. Now my question is what happens when different animals on Earth, including Humans, mate? That baby now has calcium in his bones and iron in his blood.

 

But that material can only form in stars so where did it come from? My guess is that these materials are already there in the sperm and as the pregnant mother ingests different foods with these materials, they get sent to the baby. So basically my theory is that it's a cycle. These materials were formed in stars, sent to Earth through a super nova explosion, over millions of years eventually created the first biological life forms and became embedded in the Earth. When people have babies this material gets transferred to the infant and then when those people die the materials go right back into the Earth. A never ending cycle of biology. However, I would like a more professional opinion if anyone is experienced in this subject.

 

All 92 naturally occuring elements are created by stars and then distrubuted through the cosmos as gas and dust clouds by super nova explosions and planetary nebulae - both the death throes of stars.

 

Later new stars and planets condense out of such gas and dust clouds under the influence of gravity - that is essentially how our solar system came to be and where all the carbon, nitrogen and oxygen etc, that cycles around and around the food web on earth and makes up our bodies, has come from.

 

In the words of Carl Sagan we are all composed of star dust.......literally.

 

To perhaps give you a clearer picture......

 

There are a fixed amount of each element on Earth that can never change......except for perhaps the small amounts of metals that have been ejected from the Earth in the form of satallites and space probes etc. Those fixed amounts of elements endlessy cycle around the global ecosystems and geosystems - a little like money in a healthy economy.

 

Since no new carbon, oxygen and nitrogen etc is ever created on Earth, the more humans there are alive at any given time, the less carbon, oxygen and nitrogen etc is available to form the bodies of other organisms. The more humans there are the less of all other life forms there must be, which is a very fundamental reason why we are running into ever increasing environmental problems etc.

[Moontanman]

All 92 naturally occuring elements are created by stars and then distrubuted through the cosmos as gas and dust clouds by super nova explosions and planetary nebulae - both the death throes of stars.

 

Later new stars and planets condense out of such gas and dust clouds under the influence of gravity - that is essentially how our solar system came to be and where all the carbon, nitrogen and oxygen etc, that cycles around and around the food web on earth and makes up our bodies, has come from.

 

In the words of Carl Sagan we are all composed of star dust.......literally.

 

To perhaps give you a clearer picture......

 

There are a fixed amount of each element on Earth that can never change......except for perhaps the small amounts of metals that have been ejected from the Earth in the form of satallites and space probes etc. Those fixed amounts of elements endlessy cycle around the global ecosystems and geosystems - a little like money in a healthy economy.

 

Since no new carbon, oxygen and nitrogen etc is ever created on Earth, the more humans there are alive at any given time, the less carbon, oxygen and nitrogen etc is available to form the bodies of other organisms. The more humans there are the less of all other life forms there must be, which is a very fundamental reason why we are running into ever increasing environmental problems etc.

 

 

Not really true, the earth gains mass all the time and most of it is heavy elements used by life...

 

http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/question.php?number=470

 

However, I can still find a lot of different estimates for how much stuff hits Earth each year, partly because different studies look at different size ranges, and all the procedures have errors. Estimates for the mass of material that falls on Earth each year range from 37,000-78,000 tons. Most of this mass would come from dust-sized particles.