"I believe in Panspermia*, mom, not this deep hydrothermal vent gibberish you keep talking about."
Dory, a patient mom, took a deep breath, "Dear, dear Ray. Remember what your father said: you are a fish. And the origin of life comes from down there." she said, pointing down with her pectoral fin as she opened her mouth wide.
"You are old enough to know the elements in chemistry class," she went on, "deep-sea vents spew out bitter alkaline fluid, which is rich in negatively charged hydroxide ions, and that can be the basis for creating life as we know it."
Mom, you have the memory of a Goldfish. If you look atsugars, and the molecules required to form RNA, we know they can be produced in space.
"I can't let you off the hook with that Panspermia, or spermia gibberish. Any life riding on the back of a meteorite would be zapped to death with UVs, asta la vista go your RNA Ray. I suggest we go on a deep sea dive so I can show you first hand what life is out there on the bottom of the ocean."
"You hit a snag, mom. You know I'm claustrophobic, and getting into a Bathysphere is the last place you'll see me."
"Didn't you say last month you wanted "The Angler" for your Christmas present?"
"Yes, but you said I would have to pass marine biology at school"
"Well, I'll get it for you but let's go on the Bathysphere!"
Dory was a forward-thinking mom, she had already reserved a Bathysphere for the next day.
*Panspermia is the concept that life may have originated elsewhere in the universe and reached Earth through space travel, potentially by microorganisms or even advanced extraterrestrial beings.
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