Life as we know it may have its roots in an old, cold cosmic cloud

[Admin]

The discovery is another step along the road to showing that the stuff of life originally came to Earth from space.

Life as we know it may have its roots in an old, cold cosmic cloud : Read more

 

[rod]

Interesting report. Perhaps this is the kick start for abiogenesis. Seems a long way from 1871 Charles Darwin with the warm little pond or his 1882 letter where nothing worthwhile was shown for abiogenesis creating life from non-life. Then we have reports like this too, another hope in the galaxy for life evolving somewhere, other than here on Earth.

Earth-like planets may form even in harsh environments, James Webb Space Telescope finds

The James Webb Space Telescope has found water and organic carbon molecules in the vicinity of a massive, active young star. Earth-like planets may form even in harsh environments, James Webb Space Telescope finds : Read more

forums.space.com

 

[rod]

I just read this report, https://phys.org/news/2023-12-life-molecular-clouds.html

"Our search for life beyond Earth is still in its infancy. We're focused on Mars and, to a lesser extent, ocean moons like Jupiter's Europa and Saturn's Enceladus. Should we extend our search to cover more unlikely places like molecular clouds?"

It seems Charles Darwin warm little pond in 1871 can now be extended in the cold gas clouds of space, perhaps a good place for abiogenesis to work too (or not).

 

[Torbjorn Larsson]

Amino acids are easily produced, yes. So the important contributions are likely domestic, such as in subseafloor rocks [https://www.earthmagazine.org/article/abiotic-amino-acid-found-subseafloor-rocks/ ].

 

[billslugg]

Molecular clouds can certainly have large volumes at STP, liquid water can't be ruled out. One thing lacking is UV to make it all happen. These would be very dense and dark. Maybe cosmic rays could get the party going?