Water, life and information

Water is an integral component of DNA. The first attempted models of the DNA molecule in a vacuum failed because the repulsive forces existing between the negatively charged phosphated groups resulted in the almost immediate fracture of the molecule (under these conditions, its stability does not exceed 50 picoseconds).

Later models, in which water molecules were included around and

within the DNA fractures, allowed greater stabilization

of the double helix structure (up to 500 picoseconds).

More recent research has shown that water molecules can interact with all the surface elements of the double helix, including the base pairs that make up the genetic code.

It has also been found that water molecules cannot penetrate

depth, and therefore do not reach the central structure consisting of hydrophobic elements.

At the surface of proteins there are narrow openings where bound water molecules have difficulty entering. It is in these grooves that the interaction between the enzymes and the binding molecules occurs. Other recent studies have confirmed that the configuration of water molecules in an active site mimics the geometry and structure of the binding molecule itself.

This ability to imitate other molecules that water has is probably the physical basis of homeopathy, an alternative medicinal discipline that is based on the treatment of diseases through the use of extremely diluted substances in water. In homeopathic preparations the solute disappears almost completely, leaving only the water. Despite this, in some of them the memory of the substance that has been dissolved seems to be preserved in some way.

These processes are little known analytically and are contested in the academic world. However, there is a long-standing empirical use in many parts of the world that is indicative of the existence of these properties.

Water and life

Life is intrinsically related to water. DNA, a gigantic molecule that forms the basis of all known organisms, requires, for its metabolism and reproduction, to be in contact with an aqueous solution of appropriate characteristics. Most organisms live in water, and those that don't, carry their own aqueous microenvironment.

In short, in this world, life cannot exist without liquid water. Conversely, in places where there is liquid water, the conditions for the development of vital processes are given.

The widespread presence of liquid water on our planet has allowed the implantation and development of vital processes, something that has not been identified, until now, in any other star.

Life is intrinsically related to water. DNA, a gigantic molecule that forms the basis of all known organisms, requires, for its metabolism and reproduction, to be in contact with an aqueous solution of appropriate characteristics. Most organisms live in water, and those that don't, carry their own aqueous microenvironment.

In short, in this world, life cannot exist without liquid water. conversely, in places where there is liquid water, the conditions for the development of vital processes are given.

We do not know if there are large volumes of liquid water on other planets.

Perhaps there is groundwater ("aquifers") on Mars or the Moon and there are indications of oceans of water covered by thick frozen layers on some of Jupiter and Saturn's moons.

Chemically, groundwater is no different from surface water, atmospheric water, or frozen water in glaciers and polar shells. In fact, there is a continuous flow of water between these areas and the planet's water volumes can be considered as a unit from a geophysical and geological point of view.

On our planet, "adeneic" life 6 has colonized practically all aquatic environments. There are living organisms in the boiling hydrothermal emanations from the ocean floor, in the condensed raindrops of tropospheric clouds, and in the melting waters of the Antarctic and Greenlandic Inlandsis.

Even in the driest regions, where atmospheric humidity never exceeds 20 or 30%, such as certain areas of the Sahara in Africa or the Rub 'al Khali in Arabia, there are numerous forms of life adapted to this situation (eg plants phreatophytes, invertebrates, reptiles, mammals, various microorganisms) that "transport" their aqueous solutions protected from external dryness by membranes, shells, skins, crusts or other insulating materials.

This widespread colonization of the liquid aqueous medium makes it difficult to differentiate water from life. Hence, we can affirm that, on Earth, liquid water and life constitute an inseparable complex.

Water generates information

Water not only contains information, but as it flows above and through the crust, it generates its own tracks in the solid materials with which it comes into contact. In its movement it produces negative micro-reliefs that can then be used by the water itself in later circumstances.

When it rains on unprotected soil, the first drops produce a

varnishing that waterproofs the ground surface. Because of this, subsequent drops cannot infiltrate and begin to drain down the slope. At the summits the volume of water is small, but as it runs towards the lower areas, the flow increases, due to the tendency of the water to concentrate in the most depressed areas.

This concentration facilitates its erosive effect, creating furrows of variable depth, which are the traces of the water's path on its way to the valleys.

When the rain stops, the landscape preserves the marks of the water flow as a record of the rain events that have occurred.

If new rains take too long, or are too sporadic, these records may be erased by vegetation, animal footprints, or layers of wind deposits, such as dunes or loess.

In many cases, the furrows produced by the water survive, and when it rains again, the water further deepens the old channels, ensuring that the next rainfall will continue to flow through these channels.

The information contained in the drainage is used and accentuated by the water that runs on its way to the valleys and seas. In this sense, it constitutes a complex morphological memory of the water history of landscapes.

In the same way that water generates superficial geomorphological features "readable" by successive water events, it also introduces modifications in the geological formations through which it circulates underground.

Thus, certain areas of greater permeability can see it increased even more, due to the dissolution and entrainment of salts or other substances that were an obstacle to the underground flow.

In areas of fissures, the continuous passage of water can produce a widening thereof, further increasing its permeability, flow rate and dissolving capacity.

From a certain width of the cavity and fracture systems, the flow velocity begins to have mechanical effects on the duct walls, ceiling and floor, accelerating the process.

The geological traces of the previous underground flow determine the future flow.

For the knowledge of local water histories, it is important to know how to “read” and interpret these codes, both superficial and underground.

These are not separate but complementary records, reflecting not only the phenomena of the site, but also the interrelationships between the two domains (surface and underground). Examples of this are the springs (discharge areas of the aquifers) and the sinkholes and cenotes (recharge areas).