The Universe Is Teeming With Complex Organic Molecules
3 months, 1 week ago

The Universe Is Teeming With Complex Organic Molecules

Wired  

The original version of this story appeared in Quanta Magazine. Ten years ago, the European Space Agency’s Rosetta probe pulled up alongside a dusty, icy lump the size of a mountain. They’re often called the building blocks of life, and for good reason: Carbon atoms can chemically bond to four other atoms and easily form long, stable chains that serve as “carbon backbones” for complex biological molecules. When Hänni and her colleagues processed just one day’s worth of the probe’s data in 2022, they uncovered 44 different organic molecules. “It’s just everything possible from which life could emerge,” said Philippe Schmitt-Kopplin, an organic geoscientist at the Technical University of Munich.

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History of this topic

Curiosity rover detects large organic molecules on Mars that may point to the building blocks of life
5 days, 13 hours ago

Curiosity rover detects large organic molecules on Mars that may point to the building blocks of life

CNN  

Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. CNN — The NASA Curiosity rover has detected the largest organic molecules found to date on Mars, opening a window into the red planet’s past. “And because now we know that Mars can preserve these complex and fragile molecules, it means that we could detect ancient life on Mars.” The finding also …

’Life’s ingredients’ likely formed in deep cold space? What new study says
1 year, 3 months ago

’Life’s ingredients’ likely formed in deep cold space? What new study says

Live Mint  

Scientists analysing the sample from 'organic-rich' Asteroid Ryugu said they found something that opens "new possibilities for studying life beyond Earth and the chemistry of objects in space". They found that certain are PAHs "likely to be formed in the cold areas of space between stars, rather than in hot regions near stars as was previously thought", Curtin University said …

From Darwin to Mars: Why life's origins are disputed
1 year, 7 months ago

From Darwin to Mars: Why life's origins are disputed

Hindustan Times  

Understanding how life began is one of the most profound areas of science. Charles Darwin, the British naturalist, thought that life began in "some little warm pond" filled with inorganic chemicals that became complex organic chemicals or molecules. Holler's aim in a study published in the journal PNASwas to understand the stage just before life began, when inorganic chemical structures …

Fresh evidence of organic molecules found on Mars by NASA’s rover
1 year, 8 months ago

Fresh evidence of organic molecules found on Mars by NASA’s rover

The Hindu  

Evidence is mounting about what may be a wealth of organic molecules - a potential indicator of life - on Mars, with new findings from NASA's Perseverance rover suggesting the presence of a diversity of them in rocks at a locale where a lake existed long ago. The latest evidence comes from an instrument called SHERLOC mounted on the six-wheeled …

Alien life in our galaxy could be 100 times more likely than scientists previously thought, new research suggests
3 years, 6 months ago

Alien life in our galaxy could be 100 times more likely than scientists previously thought, new research suggests

The Independent  

Sign up to our free weekly IndyTech newsletter delivered straight to your inbox Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy There are “significant reservoirs” of the large organic molecules needed to form life …

Scientists Discover Complex Molecules in Dark, Interstellar Clouds, Call it a 'Major Breakthrough'
4 years ago

Scientists Discover Complex Molecules in Dark, Interstellar Clouds, Call it a 'Major Breakthrough'

News 18  

Scientists are always looking for compounds in space that can be found on Earth. According to Dr. Brett McGuire, an astronomer at the Harvard & Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, MIT and National Radio Astronomy Observatory, around 25% of the Universe’s total carbon is contained in PAHs. “Now, for the first time, we have a direct window into their chemistry that …

The Curiosity rover found organic molecules on Mars. This is why they’re exciting
5 years ago

The Curiosity rover found organic molecules on Mars. This is why they’re exciting

CNN  

CNN — During its time on Mars, NASA’s Curiosity rover has focused on understanding the planet’s potential habitability in its ancient past, drilling into rocks and studying their dust to determine possible conditions for life. They probably aren’t evidence of white truffles on Mars, but the researchers think that thiophenes are likely consistent with the presence of life on Mars …

Organic matter found on Mars, Nasa reveals in major announcement
6 years, 9 months ago

Organic matter found on Mars, Nasa reveals in major announcement

The Independent  

Sign up to our free weekly IndyTech newsletter delivered straight to your inbox Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Nasa’s Curiosity rover has found organic matter preserved on Mars, in a discovery …

Molecular ingredients for life may have originated in outer space, study finds
7 years, 3 months ago

Molecular ingredients for life may have originated in outer space, study finds

The Independent  

Sign up for our free Health Check email to receive exclusive analysis on the week in health Get our free Health Check email Get our free Health Check email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. The experiments, carried out by a team at the University of Sherbrooke, showed organic molecules …

Philae has discovered organic molecules on comet 67P - but what does that really mean?
10 years, 4 months ago

Philae has discovered organic molecules on comet 67P - but what does that really mean?

The Independent  

Sign up for our free Health Check email to receive exclusive analysis on the week in health Get our free Health Check email Get our free Health Check email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy The Philae comet lander has discovered organic molecules on comet 67P, …

When Science Beats Fiction
11 years, 2 months ago

When Science Beats Fiction

NPR  

When Science Beats Fiction Last week, something amazing happened: after hibernating for 31 months while cruising through space hundreds of millions of miles from Earth, the European Space Agency probe Rosetta woke up from its slumber and sent a message home: "Hello, world!" Sponsor Message We also know that comets have organic matter, that is, stuff related to living organisms, …

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