Conjecture and hypothesis: The importance of reality checks

• David Deamer

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 620–624, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.60

• alternative hypotheses as a way to advance our understanding of how life can begin on the Earth and other habitable planets. As an example of how this approach can be used, two conditions have been proposed for sites conducive to the origin of life: hydrothermal vents in salty seawater, and fresh water

• hydrothermal fields associated with volcanic landmasses. These are considered as alternative hypotheses and the accumulating weight of evidence for each site is described and analyzed. Keywords: hydrothermal fields; hydrothermal vents; origin of life; polymerization by condensation; protocells; Introduction

• ramifications of possible answers for life detection missions to other planetary objects in the solar system. We can begin with two conjectures and then attempt to turn them into alternative hypotheses. The first conjecture follows from the discovery of hydrothermal vents and observations related to their

Biocatalysis for the application of CO₂ as a chemical feedstock

• Apostolos Alissandratos and
• Christopher J. Easton

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2015, 11, 2370–2387, doi:10.3762/bjoc.11.259

• contribute significantly to the global carbon cycle, particularly with regard to the oceanic section [50][51]. This is due to the extensive global distribution of many oceanic chemolithoautotrophic organisms, and the estimated carbon fixation in deep-sea hydrothermal vents, the meso- and bathy-pelagic ocean