The Weakening Pulse of Life
Research reveals Earth’s magnetic field was 30 times weaker 600 million years ago, possibly influencing the rise of complex life by affecting atmospheric oxygen levels.
"this is sixth form poetry, not Keats or Yeats"
Research reveals Earth’s magnetic field was 30 times weaker 600 million years ago, possibly influencing the rise of complex life by affecting atmospheric oxygen levels.
Using light-capturing proteins in living microbes, scientists have reconstructed what life was like for some of Earth’s earliest organisms. These efforts could help us recognise signs of life on other planets, whose atmospheres may more closely resemble our pre-oxygen planet.
This poem is inspired by recent research, which has created a colour catalogue to help find life on distant, frozen worlds.
Scattered across the sea the fossilised fingerprints of your invisible touch proclaim the coincidence of our lineage. A single point from which we all emerged,
Between invisible barriers of cool, indifferent oceans transparent medusas dance across clandestine currents. A quorum of gonads sparkling beneath the waves, their immature contents alluringly
Beneath empty plaques and unmarked plots, the misplaced dead lie resting. The blankness of their generic monuments a simple sleight of hand: these fragmented piles
You slide fluently through cool, coastal waters, A balletic grace with unparalleled force That silently slips between the spheres As a distant rumble announces time.
Within the grimy creases of our home, Lurk microbes poised and floating in the dust; A sullied sign that we are not alone. We
With lines on maps too hard to see, Some call for less transparency; The nightmares of an orange clown, As walls go up the life
Within the salt-encrusted lakes of time, Are secret bubbles formed by primal cast; We excavate these drops from faded brine, To understand the structure of