Someone explained, why water is essential for life.
Actually, not so much water, but liquid.
If the matter is in a state of vapour, most chemical reactions cannot occur, because the reagents are too far apart and bump into each other fairly rarely and stay around for too short a time.
If the matter is in a state of solid, the reagents cannot move around.
If the matter is in a liquid state, the reagents can flow about, and remain close enough and long enough for the reactions to occur.
Then look at the temperature range. Liquid oxygen cannot be The Liquid, because everything else is a solid - too few reactions are possible. Liquid magma cannot be The Liquid, because everything else is a vapour - too few reactions are possible.
You can play around with a number of materials that remain liquid, and are a good solvent. But clay or mud, even as some very viscous liquid, may not fit those criteria very well.
Coacervates or not - having a membrane is a logical advantage. It improves the chances of having a controllable chemical reaction inside the bubble. I am not sure how to jump from not having a membrane to having a membrane. Also, being not an expert, I can't tell how well the coacervates explain this. Seems odd that a body would "adopt" the production of a membrane by getting clothed in it. Like, people wearing a coat would evolve to produce a coat? But it would seem logical, if the bodies produced lipids as by-product, those lipids would stay close, or not get separated from the body - that way eventually enclosing the body.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2019-10-31 05:25 pm (UTC)Actually, not so much water, but liquid.
If the matter is in a state of vapour, most chemical reactions cannot occur, because the reagents are too far apart and bump into each other fairly rarely and stay around for too short a time.
If the matter is in a state of solid, the reagents cannot move around.
If the matter is in a liquid state, the reagents can flow about, and remain close enough and long enough for the reactions to occur.
Then look at the temperature range. Liquid oxygen cannot be The Liquid, because everything else is a solid - too few reactions are possible. Liquid magma cannot be The Liquid, because everything else is a vapour - too few reactions are possible.
You can play around with a number of materials that remain liquid, and are a good solvent. But clay or mud, even as some very viscous liquid, may not fit those criteria very well.
Coacervates or not - having a membrane is a logical advantage. It improves the chances of having a controllable chemical reaction inside the bubble. I am not sure how to jump from not having a membrane to having a membrane. Also, being not an expert, I can't tell how well the coacervates explain this. Seems odd that a body would "adopt" the production of a membrane by getting clothed in it. Like, people wearing a coat would evolve to produce a coat? But it would seem logical, if the bodies produced lipids as by-product, those lipids would stay close, or not get separated from the body - that way eventually enclosing the body.