Allelochemics as Systematic Markers

Abstract

Life, as we know it, is inconceivable without hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, sulphur etc. The production of the heavier of these elements requires several billion years of “cooking” time in the interior of a star. The time lapse from the “Big Bang” to the final gravitational collapse of a universe, however, is, according to Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity, completely dependent on mass. Life is thus related, through time, with mass and cannot exist in a universe significantly heavier or lighter than our Universe’s 10²² stars (Eccles 1979). The fact that the existence of a star, which may be up to 8 billion light years from us, has a bearing on life here, makes any statement to the effect that the existence of life depends on the environment on planet Earth sound like a truism.