Why was there moss in the opening scene

My simple answer would be. To create intelligent/complex life, you'd need a base food chain. Hence the moss being there, to help sustain the life that the sacrificial Engineer died to create :)

I do not think they placed much importance on maintaining scientific integrity this film. Just take into account the fact that it happens to feature zombifying black goo, giant squid monsters, and God aliens that punch people across rooms. The green of the moss probably added to the scene and Ridley is all about the visuals not about the science behind everything.

Yes... The moss was a sign that the planet/atmosphere WILL support more complex life. The Engineers, I don't think, would sacrifice themselves to create one-cell organisms...that would be dumb. More likely the Engineers sacrifice themselves to a planet containing the building blocks and basic necessary environment for COMPLEX life to thrive. So, the Engineer sacrificed himself on a viable Earth to create a complex lifeform...human beings, animals, etc.

I think it is incorrect to assume that just because plant life does not fit into what we would describe as intelligent, does not mean it is not incredibly complex. If life already existed on our planet before the Engineers got here, then the entire point of the film goes out the window.

I agree sticking purely to science was not a real objective. I think it was mostly designed to thought provoking. So they achieved that. I will go with the moss was there demonstrated that the planet was sufficiently well along to generate an atmosphere capable of sustaining complex life forms. Note the sacrificial engineer was breathing the air well at least prior to drinking the black mutagen which the black mutagen is apparently pretty powerful stuff so to speak it is the mutation accelerant that keeps on giving apparently even when diluted significantly.

@drakeequation "I do not think they placed much importance on maintaining scientific integrity this film" i agree entirely. But if you really want you can say the goo & engineer dna mixed in with the simple life on earth in the scene at the start and helped create complex life blah blah in this movie its as simple as "alien spunked their seed and earth pooped out humans." no thinking required or desired.

This is not a film to go hunting for good science in. You'll be looking an awfuly long time if you do....

Actually this IS a good film for good science. And more specifically the scientific method and why it's important. [u]This is apparent by the smug comment one scientist when he said "You're basically throwing out 300 years of Darwinism."[/u] and also flagged by "big things have small beginnnings" (Nothing small about gods is there?) [u]So my question is if the opening scene is the seeding of life on a primordial earth, but life already existed on earth, and all life stems from the same ancestor where does this sacrificial engineer fit in? Does this scene really depict the seeding of life on earth and did Scott just make a huge careless mistake?[/u] Or did YOU just make a huge careless mistake that most of us also did (including me for a while). Ignore the possibility for an alternative explanation to the observation. [u]The green of the moss probably added to the scene and Ridley is all about the visuals not about the science behind everything.[/u] Blasphemy ! ;) You are incorrect Drake Equation. [u]The Engineers, I don't think, would sacrifice themselves to create one-cell organisms...that would be dumb.[/u] The 'Engineers' strictly speaking, do not sacrifice themselves at all. [u]. Note the sacrificial engineer was breathing the air well at least prior to drinking the black mutagen[/u] Yes. The would seem to be a science error wouldn't it? If there's meant to no life, it's primordial earth... and he's breathing ammonia and methane. But if it's not primodrial earth, the DNA will mix with other stuff... almost like the goal is to create life, but it doesn't have to be a copy of what is sacrificed. Does that suggest anything? [u]in this movie its as simple as "alien spunked their seed and earth pooped out humans." no thinking required or desired.[/u] And conversely, if you don't put your thinking cap on the highest setting you will think that this movie is that simple. I will say this folks, go look at the continuity image between sacrificial scene and the scene where Shaw and Holloway are on Skye. When you spot that, and realise what it is, you will get why the film is like it is. But you will still have a bit of work ahead of you. [u] This is not a film to go hunting for good science in.[/u] Not just biology, but psychology in this film.

I know I'm gonna get ripped for even suggesting it because I have seen some of the reviews of the movie over the past week, but what if, what if there is a God. Now before you attack me I believe that the title prometheus is analagous to the engineers trying to be like God. In an effort to defy God they try to destroy life on earth by sacrificing one of themselves (or to claim that they are the creators as you would expect something defying their master) and then they pay for it by becoming a desolate race overrun by their own attempt to create life. The humans go searching for their creators and simply believe the engineers are just that, and although missguided the similarity of their DNA cause them to come to this conclusion. Remember the line let us create in our own image. When watching this film this is how I see it based on my point of view of reality. So moss on the opening scene makes sense for me. I am now ready for folks to bash my perception of the film although I seriously doubt my interpretation will be altered as I don't trust science as ABSOLUTE truth.

Moss has DNA and roughly 22k species of it cover almost every biome on earth. It just doesn't have a vascular system, but please don't hold that against it. Ridley: "It's a movie, not a science lesson." It's most convenient for me to think of the Engineers as tamperers. They manipulate what we'd call Darwinism (which is philosophically not an issue, ’cause their having evolved the ability to do that is also Darwinism; just like we can build skyscrapers and [url=http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/04/120425193056.htm]put lights on towers that disorient and kill bazillions of birds[/url]). There is no way that the Engineers are responsible for all life in the universe. In my mind they tinker and tamper. It's unclear yet as to why. They also lack omniscience and omnipotence. So there! PS: I also challenge whomever writes the next film(s) to keep them ostensibly 'evil' and turn them into the good guys at the same time. THAT would be enigmatic. Oh, and put a bunch of moss on their home world, please.

Drakeequation: There is a vast difference between bacteria and humans. Just because there is evidence of bacteria, that doesn't mean humans exist or are coming down the pipe without help. Think of what Fluke said...the Engineer DNA mixed with the goo progressed the bacteria organisms to the next level = humans. Hadley's Hope: What is your argument regarding my comment...or did you just want to be annoying and make a gripe? lol What is taking place in that scene is widely regarded and accepted to be the "sacrificial Engineer", so if you have a better option...tell us what it is, don't just call foul...strictly speaking, of course. BTW, that is what he is doing, whether it be by his own will, or someone elses...which I'm leaning towards...either way its a sacrifice of an engineer...strictly speaking.

@Hadley's Hope: Or did YOU just make a huge careless mistake that most of us also did (including me for a while). Ignore the possibility for an alternative explanation to the observation. [b]An alternative explanation to the evolutionary process by natural selection? We determine the validity and reliability of scientific theory by experimentation and careful scientific scrutiny. Darwinism has stood up to scientific scrutiny for hundreds of years and is demonstrably true. The Chariot's of the gods hypothesis has been discounted time and time again. If Abiogenesis and Darwinian evolution are already at play, then assumedly the Engineer's sacrifice is at most a catalyst for advanced life and certainly not a cause.[/b] The 'Engineers' strictly speaking, do not sacrifice themselves at all. [b]They don't?[/b] And conversely, if you don't put your thinking cap on the highest setting you will think that this movie is that simple. I will say this folks, go look at the continuity image between sacrificial scene and the scene where Shaw and Holloway are on Skye. When you spot that, and realise what it is, you will get why the film is like it is. But you will still have a bit of work ahead of you. [b]It's hard to take a narrative's literary and symbolic significance into account when it's so riddled with plot holes. If you want me to take a film seriously, first make sure the plot makes sense. [/b] Not just biology, but psychology in this film. [b]Psychology is the study of human behaviour. Biology is in the broadest sense the study of living organisms. They do allude to biology in the film and even briefly delve into biological hypotheses like Panspermia and the Ancient Astronaut hypothesis as well as theories like Darwinian evolution. Where is the psychological aspect?[/b]

1. There is a vast difference between humans and viruses as well, but you should see how they interact when the genetic strands do battle with each other. Smallpox has evolved the a viral protein called G1R which inhibits a human protein called human nuclear factor kappa-B1, which is part of our inflammation response of the immunse system. The comment was not that it's not a sacrifice, but that it's not an Engineer. i.e. the guy doing the dying doesn't understand, or belong to the race, whose technology is about to kill him. [u]lol What is taking place in that scene is widely regarded and accepted to be ...[/u] an argument from popularity? Irrelevant. Tetrarch42. You have misunderstood what I was hinting at. I was not suggesting that evolution didn't took place. I was suggesting that the sacrifice in scene 1 had (almost) nothing to do with Earth, and thus nothing to do with development of life on this planet. The plot won't make sense UNLESS you take it seriously. This isn't a horror sci fi. It's a murder mystery set in space. The psychological aspect is "Why do these biologists make so many errors?" Why do others believe them... things life confirmation bias... tunnel vision... affected scientific apprasial. No peer review in this movie other than "bullshit" as Milburn calls it. And they hadn't given him their paper before sticking him in stasis. He probably wouldn't have gone if they did. Syphonox.... if you want me to spell it out for you, are you sure you won't 'head-desk' at how you missed it? Would you prefer (as I would) to work it out yourself. That's why I am not simply stating what I theorise. Although if you ask I will PM you.

But I must admit I think it is another thing with no resolve as of now - possibly they took Neandertals and made them homo sapiens or ape from other ape something like that. And maybe they came more than once - first time was to set up single celled organisms to pre pair the planet then they gradually alter life as it evolves? They better reveal all this shiz or hint at what happend or its gonna end up looking like a complete mess of a film :P ...

Beating around the moss... I like the hypothesis that the Engineer in the opening scene is feeding a new soup to the evolutionary chain. I'm still not sure about these things though. Feel free to throw me some bones. - How old is Earth in the opening scene? Old enough for moss obviously. :) - Do humans exist yet? Most people know we are much older than 35,000 years. In fact, my mother-in-law is at least that old. - The opening mutagen is much different than the mutagen encountered later. Right? - Is the mutagen meant to bring about the next human genetic change? - Shaw's notes state that the Engineers leave things at different dates in human history. Those items seem to be mutagen related. - The dates of the visits correlate to changes in human evolution and in civilizations. - That takes me back to Scott's comment that relegated the Engineer in the opening scene to "plant life" or a "gardener". I don't think he was talking about moss. I know why I plant things.

And... I'm assuming the opening scene is Earth because the agency hired to do the DNA effects calls it Earth.

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It could of course be the same answer as why there is a camera man with jeans on in a scene from gladiator - a mistake :O ...