All posts tagged: origin of life

New study challenges where life first began on Earth

New study challenges where life first began on Earth

Published by Jenni Sidey

A major impact can eradicate entire ecosystems. It can melt rocks, send debris around the planet, and create a dent in the crust. Additionally, the heat released from the object may provide an environment suitable for the beginning of the process of life. In their study, they examined the similarities and differences between impact craters and the associated hydrothermal systems that would have resulted from the impact. They compared these systems to deep-sea hydrothermal vents. These vents have been a focus of many scientists when trying to understand the origins of life on Earth. “We do not know, from a scientific point of view, how life could have been created out of a lifeless early Earth,” said Cinquemani. “From where did something come from nothing?” Diagram of the thermobaric phase of an impact crater and its forming hydrothermal vent system. This phase corresponds with high temperatures, high pressure, melted impact sheet, and shock effects, both local and distant. (CREDIT: Journal of Marine Science and Engineering) Hydrothermal Vents and The Origins of Life Heat, water, and …

Asteroid Bennu sample finds life’s building blocks formed in space ice

Asteroid Bennu sample finds life’s building blocks formed in space ice

Published by Jenni Sidey

Penn State researchers think a key ingredient for life may have formed in deep freeze, not in a warm asteroid puddle. A space sample with a new twist Scientists at Penn State; led by geoscientist Allison Baczynski and postdoctoral researcher Ophélie McIntosh; studied amino acids in material from the asteroid Bennu. Their work appeared in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission delivered the Bennu sample to Earth in 2023. Earlier tests found amino acids in that 4.6-billion-year-old dust. Amino acids are the small molecules that join up to make proteins. Analyzing a precious bit of space dust no bigger than a teaspoon, the Penn State team used custom instruments capable of measuring isotopes, slight variations in the mass of atoms. (CREDIT: Jaydyn Isiminger / Penn State) The big question has been simple: Where did those amino acids form? Many scientists pictured mild, watery chemistry inside an asteroid. The Penn State team says Bennu’s chemistry points somewhere colder. “Our results flip the script on how we have typically thought amino acids …

Student made cosmic dust in the lab revealing life’s early chemical origins

Student made cosmic dust in the lab revealing life’s early chemical origins

Published by Jenni Sidey

At the University of Sydney, a Ph.D. student has recreated a tiny slice of outer space and used it to make cosmic dust from scratch. Linda Losurdo, a doctoral researcher in materials and plasma physics at the University of Sydney School of Physics, led the work alongside her supervisor, Professor David McKenzie. Their findings, published in The Astrophysical Journal, show how the chemical building blocks of life may have formed long before Earth even existed. Recreating space chemistry on Earth The experiment starts with a simple setup. A mix of common gases, including nitrogen and carbon-based compounds, is sealed inside glass tubes. When high electrical energy is applied, the gases break apart and recombine under harsh conditions that resemble space environments around stars and stellar explosions. Cosmic dust analogue on a chip. The cocktail of chemicals was collected on a microchip. (CREDIT: Fiona Wolf) Over time, tiny particles form and settle onto small surfaces inside the tube. What you get is carbon-rich cosmic dust, the same kind of material that drifts between stars and later …