Nuke Sand, Get Life

Glowing sand was your cradle, claimed The Telegraph.  “The sifting and collection of radioactive material by powerful tides could have generated the complex molecules that led to the evolution of carbon-based life forms –including plants, animals and humans.”
    The article acknowledged that “radiation may seem an unlikely candidate to kick-start life because it breaks chemical bonds and splits large molecules,” but thought some of the energy could be used productively.  Radioactive grains in the sand could provide the chemical energy to build sugars, amino acids and soluble phosphates needed for life as we know it.
    This scenario is the brainchild of Zachary Adam, an astrobiologist at the University of Washington.  His idea can “be added to the existing long and varied list of hypotheses.”  Reporter Nick Fleming listed the usual suspects: Oparin, Miller, the clay hypothesis, panspermia, “and the intervention of a divine, intelligent designer.”
    The article is accompanied by a picture of humans at the beach.  No claim was made whether the energy from sunlight was helping them evolve.

Somebody else needs a kick-start.  At least intelligent design wasn’t excluded from the list of possibilities this time.  It’s the only contender that isn’t deaf, dumb, blind and lazy from the starting gate.  (Clarification: speaking of the hypotheses, not their proponents).