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The John Batchelor Show

CONTINUAL BOMBARDMENT: 4/4: Impact: How Rocks from Space Led to Life, Culture, and Donkey Kong Hardcover – by Greg Brennecka (Author)

The John Batchelor Show

John Batchelor

Books, News, Society & Culture, Arts

4.52.8K Ratings

🗓️ 3 September 2023

⏱️ 9 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

CONTINUAL BOMBARDMENT: 4/4: Impact: How Rocks from Space Led to Life, Culture, and Donkey Kong Hardcover – by Greg Brennecka (Author)

https://www.amazon.com/Impact-Rocks-Space-Culture-Donkey/dp/0063078929/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

Impact argues that Earth would be a lifeless, inhospitable piece of rock without being fortuitously assaulted with meteorites throughout the history of the planet. These bombardments transformed Earth’s early atmosphere and delivered the complex organic molecules that allowed life to develop on our planet. While meteorites have provided the raw materials for life to thrive, they have radically devastated life as well, most famously killing off the dinosaurs and paving the way for humans to evolve to where we are today.

As noted meteoriticist Greg Brennecka explains, meteorites did not just set us on the path to becoming human, they helped direct the development of human culture. Meteorites have influenced humanity since the start of civilization. Over the centuries, meteorite falls and other cosmic cinema have started (and stopped) wars, terrified millions, and inspired religions throughout the world.

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Transcript

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0:00.0

Hello, I'm Matt Ford.

0:01.2

And I'm Alice Levine and we're the presenters of British Scandal.

0:04.8

People do strange things, don't they, Alice?

0:06.9

I don't like the tone of your voice, what do you mean?

0:10.0

On our didn't mean you, I'm at the entire British public who in 2022

0:14.3

followed a live stream of a lettuce with a wig on.

0:17.5

Entirely normal behaviour.

0:19.2

There's more normal than what was going on inside Downing Street.

0:21.5

For this series on British Scandal we're taking you inside number 10,

0:24.6

covering the shocking and very short premiership of Liz Truss.

0:27.7

Listen to British Scandal wherever you get your podcasts.

0:57.7

A complex organic molecule is a molecule that contains carbon,

1:01.9

usually some hydrogen bonded to it, and then when it becomes complex,

1:06.1

I guess it gets a little bigger than just carbon and hydrogen.

1:10.0

So the definition is quite fuzzy about what complex means,

1:14.1

but it just means something that's got a little bit more to it

1:17.3

than just carbon and hydrogen, I guess.

1:19.2

And the reason we're looking at them is because the word organic is highly

1:24.0

suggestive.

1:25.2

However, we don't have the, at this point, we don't have the formula

1:31.6

that we need to put together organic molecules, amino acids,

1:36.3

and meteorites, but it would appear that you have the elements for it.

...

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