The missing link on TV

May 24, 2009 Letters

Dear Editor,
The Guyana Chronicle must be credited for covering one of the most important science stories so far for this year; that of the transitional fossil called “ida”.
The world will be introduced to this 47-million-year-old human ancestor on Monday May 25th when the History Channel airs the much anticipated documentary called simply, “The Link.” I humbly request our local TV stations air the programme, which starts at 9pm Eastern standard time.

The other science story of massive implications is that scientists have figured out the chemistry that sparked the beginning of life on Earth. The new findings reveal a series of simple, efficient chemical reactions that could have formed molecules of RNA, a close cousin of DNA, from the basic materials available on earth more than 3.85 billion years ago.
The scientific trace is becoming clearer: billions of years ago we had chemicals forming RNA, millions of years ago we had “Ida” and today we have modern humans.
Justin de Freitas