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Chichachachi t1_j1zl6ch wrote

Reply to comment by Austiniuliano in Earth was brought to life by ancient water-rich asteroids from the outer Solar System by marketrent

All the oxygen on earth was pulled out by bacteria. The earth was anaerobic until about 2.5 billion years ago, when bacteria started to excrete oxygen as waste. We got to high levels by about 2 bya. Also, oxygen is toxic and it's why things rust and why our skin ages so quickly. But it's like rocket fuel so life took advantage.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Oxidation_Event

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HerbaciousTea t1_j205ob8 wrote

The great oxidation event likely also triggered a massive planet wide extinction event, since oxygen is so reactive.

I think there's a pretty good argument that an oxidation event is one of the hard steps that could comprise the Great Filter.

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guynamedjames t1_j205odu wrote

Yup, while free atmospheric oxygen is technically stable it's very reactive with most things, especially when you give it a little energy. Since life requires a ton of complex and ever changing chemical reactions to take place it really helps to have a reservoir of a very reactive substance around at all times. This also means that most atmospheric oxygen is one half of a reaction to free up chemical potential energy. So having an atmosphere made of half a battery isn't a bad thing either when talking about complex life.

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kobeyoboy t1_j1zwitr wrote

So Stop Breathing to keep skin young? Thanks

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-BrilliantParking- t1_j206x2l wrote

More like cover yourself in cling film to keep your skin young

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GeauxAllDay t1_j20bk2o wrote

Oxygen is good for your lungs but bad for your skin

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PeakFuckingValue t1_j20kjz0 wrote

Maybe going aquatic will dilute it enough. It's gill time

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fyigamer t1_j23rp7i wrote

Oddly enough several sea creatures do live a very long time. I wonder if this is why

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dion_o t1_j213bpx wrote

Been doing that for years boss.

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Dantexr t1_j27fz60 wrote

I think that if you stop breathing you will not age anymore

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Rhondajeep t1_j22zjqs wrote

What would happen if we transplanted those organisms to Mars, could we ADD oxygen to another planet?

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Austiniuliano t1_j24mik1 wrote

There is a cool animated explanation and that is one of the steps. https://youtu.be/HpcTJW4ur54

Short answer is we would need to to Teriform mars but one downside is that a disease could wipe out a whole species and throw off the balance. So it would be doable but difficult

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Frankeman t1_j283l5m wrote

To my understanding: yes, but there are two major problems:

  • You'll need a huge number of bacteria to make a difference. Even doing that on Earth will be tricky. What helps of course us that they multiply themselves, but it will take a while nevertheless
  • The atmosphere of Mars is very thin due to the absence of a magnetic field. Even if you are able to produce much oxygen, most of it will get ionised by radiation and will be lost eventually

However, the bacteria themselves should be able to survive out there on Mars, if not thrive. They are crazily resilient

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Yellow_XIII t1_j225kd3 wrote

So you're telling me the very atmosphere we need to sustain life and the very air all animals breathe... is nothing more than bacteria farts?

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Bascna t1_j22bw0o wrote

Yep. Those little critters were serious terraformers.

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Maezel t1_j26xn8z wrote

Oh the circle of life... Bacteria oxygen waste triggers a massive extinction. A few billion years later, lifeforms that benefit from oxygen and produce co2 waste trigger another massive extinction.

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