It's still a mystery how life began on Earth.
So, I have an idea, that might be viable, and no doubt I'm not the first to think this, but I do want to write it down so others can argue about it.
First, some jargon.
Panspermia - The idea that life was brought to earth from elsewhere in the universe/galaxy
Intelligent Design - The idea that life couldn't have evolved by chance, and must have been created by an intelligent being.
Abiogenesis - The idea that life evolved all by itself, from simpler molecules
Gamma Ray Burst - The most powerful event in the galaxy, save for the big bang itself. A focused beam of gamma rays created when a star turns into a black hole
I'm going to eliminate panspermia.
Yeah, sure, maybe the condition to kickstart life are more favourable elsewhere in the galaxy, but it sounds too much like 'turtles all the way down' - and doesn't actually answer the question of how life came into being, just kicks it over into another part of the galaxy.
I also don't think that life was created by an intelligent being. That story is so egregiously circular it immediately creates more questions than it answers.
So, we need something of incredibly high energy to take place. Essentially to shake various molecules enough that they form more complex molecules.
Also, it needs to happen once, I think there's a paradox, in which the energy required to kickstart life would also wipe it out. So, a singular event.
A gamma ray burst (GRB)
Now I wasn’t there when it happened, if it happened.
But it is a great candidate event that comes with precisely the right frequency and the kind of extreme entropy required for abiogenesis to occur.
The chances of one hitting us are conspicuously close to 1 in 4.5 billion in any one year, so that means there’s a good chance we’ve been hit once. And precisely once. No more, no less.
Multiple GMB’s would keep life from evolving.
So, how do we go about proving/disproving this? Is it even possible?