In the subject of abiogenesis it is a commonly held hypothesis that life began in the vicinity of hydrothermal vents, yet the organising principle for pre-biotic compounds has hitherto remained unidentified. Acoustic-physics researcher, John Stuart Reid, suggests that the nodal areas of Faraday Wave patterns on the surface of microscopic bubbles, emerging from the vents, could have provided safe haven for pre-biotic compounds in the primordial oceans, seeded by comets. In this CymaScope instrument experiment, macro-sized air bubbles, excited by a 26Hz sinusoidal tone, exhibit Faraday Wave patterns and life-like motion. The patterns are the result of Helmholtz Resonance in which enclosed volumes of gas have a specific resonant frequency. In the case of hydrothermal vents the jostling of gas bubbles creates wide band noise, containing thousands of sinusoidal frequencies. Each bubble automatically selects its resonant frequency from the noise spectrum. In the experiment the patterns appear to be imprinted on only part of the bubble, due to there being a single light ring source, however, the convex nature of the surface of each bubble reflects light back to the camera from a limited range of angles and in fact the Faraday Wave patterns completely surround each bubble. Regarding the life-like behaviour of the bubbles in the CymaScope instrument's cuvette, Nobel Laureate, Professor Brian Josephson, commented, "This may help to clarify the way intelligence emerges in Nature".
8 сен 2024
