Fun fact rabbit hole time!

So this video shows @corvidresearch pouring a soap into hard water, resulting in cloudiness. This cloudiness relates to how life first formed about 4 billion years ago! Also, Mars!

So let's break down the science, and then go down the rabbit hole. 1/ https://twitter.com/corvidresearch/status/1356073606900371460
So, first off, some background chemistry! (Woot!)

'Hard water' refers to water that has a lot of dissolved minerals in it, specifically divalent (doubly charged) calcium (Ca+2) and magnesium (Mg+2), usually along with bicarbonate (HCO3-). 2/
Where does the Ca+2, Mg+2, and HCO3- come from? Groundwater that has reacted with carbonate rocks! So if you live in an area where your drinking water is sourced from groundwater in carbonate rocks, made up of minerals like CaCO3 or CaMg(CO3)2, you likely have hard water. 3/
Hard water forms from rainwater, which is naturally acidic (pH of ~4.5) due to CO2 from the atmosphere dissolving into it, forming carbonic acid:

CO2 + H2O => H2CO3

The carbonic acid then dissolves carbonate minerals in the ground:

H2CO3 + CaCO3 => Ca+2 + 2 HCO3-

4/
Side bar: you have likely felt the effects of carbonic acid!

If you have burped after drinking a fizzy beverage, it's because your stomach acid (hydrochloric acid, or HCl) reacted with the bicarbonate (HCO3-) in your drink, making CO2 (gas):

HCl + HCO3- => Cl- + H2O + CO2

5/
And when you burped that CO2 gas, it reacted with the mucous membranes in your sinuses which have water:

CO2 + H2O => H2CO3

Producing carbonic acid, giving you an acid burn up your nose (which may have made your eyes water).

But back to the story! 6/
So if you have hard water, and you add soap to it, there is a chemical reaction that occurs. The divalent (+2 charge) cations (like Ca+2 and Mg+2) will bind to organic compounds called lipids to form a precipitate we call soap scum.

What are lipids? 7/
Lipids are useful organic molecules. They help to trap dirt and oils to help remove them from your skin. They can do this because they have one end that has a charge (a negative charge) and the other end is not. The charged end helps remove dirt, the non-charged end oils. 8/
The catch is that those divalent cations make too strong of a bond with the charged end of the lipid, causing precipitation of soap scum rather than just washing away.

But what does this have to do with life? 9/
Life as we know it is made up of cells, from single-celled (like Bacteria, Archaea, and others) to multi-celled (like us). These cells have a barrier made up of lipids that keep the cell parts in, the environment out, and regulate what moves in and out of the cell. 10/
So one of the critical steps for life to form is to form a barrier like this.

So if there are lipids around, they can clump together to form very simple barriers like cell membranes. BUT, if there are lots of divalent cations around, you get soap scum instead! 11/
This is a serious problem for starting life in the ocean, where there is a lot of Ca+2 and Mg+2 around.

BUT, in hot spring systems (like the ones I study in Yellowstone), Ca+2 and Mg+2 precipitate as carbonate minerals in the subsurface as super-heated water rises. 12/
So what this does is strips all of those pesky divalent cations from the hot spring water BEFORE it reaches the surface.

So now, if you have lipids in a hot spring, they are free to form happy little proto-cells! 13/
This is part of a terrestrial hot spring origin for life that I and a lot of excellent scientists I collaborate with have been proposing. Perhaps, over 4 billion years ago, life on Earth began in a hydrothermal system much like the ones you can see in Yellowstone! 14/
And as another cool science link, this is also how life could have started on Mars. The upcoming Mars rover Perseverance skated to land in Jezero Crater on Feb 18th is tasked with looking for evidence of life on Mars. 15/
The heat generated by impacts that created the impact basins/craters can drive hydrothermal activity for up to millions of years. Also, Jezero Crater is next to a large volcano (Syrtis Major), which could also have supported hydrothermal areas. 16/
So life as we know it, and potential life if it ever formed on Mars, may owe it's origins to hot springs that create environments where we don't get the life-squelching formation of soap scum.

So there you go:
Soap scum
Acid burps
Hot springs
Origins of life
And Mars!
You can follow @JeffHavig.
Tip: mention @twtextapp on a Twitter thread with the keyword “unroll” to get a link to it.

Latest Threads Unrolled:
Those who think consciousness raising & movement building are disconnected, or even a distraction from electoral politics have not paid attention to the history of social change.In this thread, we
Read more
The 2020s will be known as the Remote Work decadeA few predictions of what is likely to emerge[ a thread ] Third Space: Office and Working from Home will
Read more
1/29: Have you ever had a concept explained to you that helps frame complex issues you’ve been wrestling with and opens your eyes to new possibilities? A concept that I
Read more
By continuing to use the site, you are consenting to the use of cookies as explained in our Cookie Policy to improve your experience.