ENTROPOLIA
CHAPTER FOUR: ENTROPOLIA'S BEGINNING OF LIFE
Entropolia formed about 4.6 billion years ago,
with no trace of life. Over millions of years, rains created oceans
in which chemical reactions took place. Entropolia was very different
from what is found today. Its surface was hot, its oceans were
boiling, and its atmosphere was unbreatheable. 
Scientists
believe that around this time meteorites fell to Entropolia from
outer space. These meteorites brought amino acids and other substances
needed for life to develop. 
Entropolia's
atmosphere was a reaction chamber for millions of years allowing
for the production of certain molecules, existing near the meteorites,
to evolve into living organisms. The energy for these reactions
was provided by ultraviolet rays from Loomy and by lightning flashes.
The energy combined gases, such as methane, hydrogen, ammonia,
carbon dioxide, and water vapor to foster the growth of amino
acids and sugars.
When the rains fell,
these newly formed substances were deposited into the warm oceans,
where further reactions took place. This produced, by chance,
larger and more complex molecules.
The first cells,
Unicos, found energy to power their life processes by using compounds
containing sulfur, nitrogen, and other elements extracted from
deep-sea volcanic vents. These unicelled organisms reproduced
by fission. Unicos have no membrane-surrounded plastids or mitochondria,
and no organized nuclei.
About 1.2 billion years ago, the great Magumba
erupted. This explosive volcano lies deep beneath the ocean surface.
When it erupted, many Unicos were pushed to the ocean surface
where they floated in the murky ocean. Many Unicos died but some
survived floating on the surface. They adapted to their new environment
by using Loomy's energy to support their life. These unicelled
organisms were no longer Unicos, they were Lumers. Lumers adapted
over millions of years. Lumers lived as an individual cell.
Each as a generalized cell; that is, the
cell performs by itself, with no help from others, all the functions
it needs to stay alive. Lumers made sugars using Loomylight energy,
water, and carbon dioxide, and released oxygen as a waste product,
photosynthesis. Then, the Lumers developed the ability to capture
energy, storing reactions through a chlorophyll enzyme. These
cells clustered together forming colonies. Individual cell walls
merged forming a gelatinous covering over the whole colony. This
covering, or cell wall, protected the organisms from drastic temperature
changes and water loss. Lumers thrived in Entropolia's marine
environment and experienced a population explosion. The Lumers
varied in shape and size. 
They lived near
the surface thriving off Loomy energy. Their jelly-like cell walls
were thin making them less dense than water, allowing them to
float at the surface. Over millions of years, they evolved into
skinny and stem-like organisms. Lumers have a large chloroplast,
and a cellulose wall. By means of their chlorophyll, they make
their own food, and reproduce through fission.
About 2.5 billion years ago, the waste product,
oxygen, had filled the atmosphere.
The Unicos and Lumers were each unicellular
organisms. The Unicos and Lumers did not prey on each other, allowing
for each to thrive in the same environments. Through mutations
during fission, new organisms evolved.
Through fission, Lumers attaching together and became dependent
on one another during cell division. These once unicellular organisms
were now multicellular organisms giving rise to Entropolia's first
aquatic plants.
Photo credits: meteor = NASA, lightning & volcano
= Grolier's, molecule = Molecule Generator, cells = Treelife