Ice analogs mimicking interstellar ice behave like liquids at temperatures between -210°C and -120°C according to Hokkaido University researchers. This liquid-like ice may enhance the formation of organic compounds including ...
Condensed Matter
Sep 29, 2017
4
265
The primordial soup that sloshed around billions of years ago, and eventually led to first life on our planet, might have been teeming with primal precursors of proteins.
Biochemistry
Sep 4, 2017
9
525
The original recipe for gene soup may have been simple—rain, a jumble of common molecules, warm sunshine, and nighttime cooling. Then add a pinch of thickener.
Biochemistry
Oct 10, 2016
19
294
The phosphate ion is almost insoluble and is one of the most inactive of Earth's most abundant phosphate minerals. So how could phosphate have originally been incorporated into ribonucleotides, the building blocks of RNA, ...
Biochemistry
Aug 18, 2016
9
600
Kinetic and thermodynamic considerations reported by researchers at the Tokyo Institute of Technology suggest that thioesters at the heart of many theories on the origin of life are unlikely primordial contributors. The research ...
Biochemistry
Jul 28, 2016
0
200
Like a pair of human hands, certain organic molecules have mirror-image versions of themselves, a chemical property known as chirality. These so-called "handed" molecules are essential for biology and have intriguingly been ...
Astronomy
Jun 14, 2016
23
3975
The crucibles that bore out early building blocks of life may have been, in many cases, modest puddles.
Biochemistry
Apr 25, 2016
25
498
On the early Earth, light came not only from the sun but also from the incessant bombardment of fireball meteorites continually striking the planet. Now, the recent work of University of South Florida (USF) associate professor ...
Biochemistry
Dec 16, 2015
2
682
(Phys.org)—A combined team of researchers from Italy and Russia has shown that prebiotic compounds can be synthesized by irradiating liquid formamide (aka methanamide) mixed with meteorite dust. In their paper published ...
(Phys.org) —Scientists may not know for certain whether life exists in outer space, but new research from a team of scientists led by a University of South Florida astrobiologist now shows that one key element that produced ...
Earth Sciences
Jun 4, 2013
18
2
