Everyone has a curiosity about the secrets of the birth of humanity. Photosynthetic organisms appeared on Earth about 2.7 billion years ago, absorbing CO2 and providing a large amount of oxygen. About 1.5 to 1 billion years ago, multicellular organisms appeared in the ocean. After that, around 650 million years ago, when life began to make a great leap forward in evolution, there was a time when the Earth was covered with glaciers everywhere, from the North Pole to the South Pole and even around the equator. This time is also called the Snowball Earth era. There is a theory that one hint for the birth of life lies on the ocean floor of the Snowball Earth, which is covered with glaciers.
This theory was first put forward by an American research team. They discovered a deep-sea hydrothermal activity area and seemed to have the possibility of the birth of life there. Once a clue is found in the research, many discoveries and hypotheses will emerge one after another. Since the discovery of the hydrothermal vents, the metals contained in the hydrothermal water and the ecosystem of the colony have been investigated in more detail. The hydrothermal water contains an abundance of metals (iron, zinc, etc., which are compounds with sulfur). Chemical substances such as hydrogen sulfide and methane contained in the erupting hydrothermal water have undergone chemical reactions and synthesized organic matter. When the hydrothermal vents were examined, electricity was found to be flowing over a wide area of 100m square. In addition to chemical energy, electricity also exists in hydrothermal vents as an energy source. Carbon monoxide was also produced from carbon dioxide using the electrical energy of these vents. Furthermore, ammonia was produced from nitrate ions using the electrical energy of the hydrothermal vents. Life copies DNA information into RNA and has a complex system like protein synthesis. The hypothesis was born that this complex system could be produced in the environment of a colony on the seabed.
As a maritime nation, Japan has also begun to conduct deep sea research. The secret weapons are the Shinkai 6500 and the Deep Sea cruising probe Urashima 8000. In particular, Urashima 8000 is an underwater drone called an autonomous unmanned vehicle (AUV). This underwater drone is designed to dive to a depth of 8000m, which is the deepest part of the Japan Trench. Urashima 8000 is an unmanned vehicle that can dive to a depth of 8000m and can explore 98% of Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ). This new autonomous unmanned vehicle is expected to be used for earthquake research and resource exploration by seabed surveys. In particular, Urashima 8000 is expected to be useful in investigating rare earths in muddy waters.
