ABSTRACT
Life is an emergent property of our universe and the journeywork of stars from which the essential chemical elements for life are produced (Russell, 2007). The most nuclear stable of these elements is nickel (Ni), with 62Ni having the highest binding energy per nucleon of any known element and therefore is the end product of many nuclear reactions associated with stars (Fewell, 1995). Nickel, represented by ve stable isotopes, is most likely indispensable for life as known on Earth and appears to be the only element enabling certain life requisite tasks at maximum entropy, thus enabling and facilitating the organic chemistry necessary for the emergence and continuation of life (de Silva and Williams, 2006). It is divalent Ni (Ni2+) that is so important to life’s chemistry.
