Scientists Have No Agreed Theory Of The

No Attempt To Explain The World, Either Scientifically Or Theologically, Can Be Considered Successful Until It Accounts For The Paradoxical Conjunction Of The Temporal And The Atemporal, Of Being And Becoming. And No Subject Conforms This Paradoical Conjuction More Starkly Than The Origin Of The Universe.

The Origin Of Life Is One Of The Great Outstanding Mysteries Of Science.

When I Was A Student, The Laws Of Physics Were Regarded As Completely Off Limits. The Job Of The Scientist, We Were Told, Is To Discover The Laws And Apply Them, Not Inquire Into Their Provenance.

So How Can We Test The Idea That The Transition From Nonlife To Life Is Simple Enough To Happen Repeatedly? The Most Obvious And Straightforward Way Is To Search For A Second Form Of Life On Earth. No Planet Is More Earth-like Than Earth Itself, So If The Path To Life Is Easy, Then Life Should Have Started Up Many Times Over Right Here.

Cancer Cells Come Pre-programmed To Execute A Well-defined Cascade Of Changes, Seemingly Designed To Facilitate Both Their Enhanced Survival And Their Dissemination Through The Bloodstream. There Is Even An Air Of Conspiracy In The Way That Tumours Use Chemical Signals To Create Cancer-friendly Niches In Remote Organs.