Scientists recreate cosmic dust to understand life's building blocks
Scientists at the University of Sydney have managed to recreate cosmic dust in the lab, hoping to figure out where life's building blocks—carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen (CHON)—actually came from.
The big question: did these key molecules form here on Earth, or did they hitch a ride on comets and asteroids from space?
How did they do it?
To pull this off, the team mimicked conditions around dying stars by mixing gasses like nitrogen and carbon dioxide in a vacuum tube and zapping them with a 10,000-volt current.
This created plasma that formed dust similar to what's found in meteorites.
Their findings could help explain how organic compounds may have formed in space—and how they might have played a role in kickstarting life on Earth (and maybe even other planets).
The study just dropped in the Astrophysical Journal.