New insights into the origin of life

A famous experiment in 1953 showed that amino acids, the building blocks of proteins, could have formed spontaneously under the atmospheric conditions of early Earth. However, just because molecules could form doesn't mean ...

First detection of super-earth atmosphere

For the first time astronomers were able to analyse the atmosphere of an exoplanet in the class known as super-Earths. Using data gathered with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and new analysis techniques, the exoplanet ...

'Eau de comet' is a bit of a stinker

Rotten eggs, horse pee, alcohol and bitter almonds: this is the bouquet of odours you would smell if a comet in deep space could be brought back to Earth, European scientists said on Thursday.

Cyanide ice in Titan's atmosphere

Gigantic polar clouds of hydrogen cyanide roughly four times the area of the UK are part of the impressive atmospheric diversity of Titan, the largest moon of Saturn, a new study led by Leiden Observatory, the Netherlands ...

Probing hydrogen catalyst assembly

Biochemical reactions sometimes have to handle dangerous things in a safe way. New work from researchers at UC Davis and Stanford University shows how cyanide and carbon monoxide are safely bound to an iron atom to construct ...

Hot molecule explains cold chemistry

(PhysOrg.com) -- Surprisingly, hydrogen cyanide and its far more energetic isomer, hydrogen isocyanide, are present in almost equal amounts in cold interstellar gas clouds. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear ...

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