University of Sydney PhD candidate Linda Losurdo recreates space chemistry
Technology
Linda Losurdo, a PhD candidate at the University of Sydney, has managed to recreate the wild chemical conditions of outer space right in her lab.
By blasting gasses like nitrogen and carbon dioxide with high-voltage plasma, her team created cosmic dust, helping us get closer to understanding how the building blocks of life might have formed.
Astrophysical Journal study builds dust database
This research, just published in The Astrophysical Journal, could reveal how organic molecules first arrived on Earth, possibly hitching a ride on comets.
Losurdo's team is also building a database of cosmic dust fingerprints, which could make it way easier for scientists to analyze samples from asteroids and learn more about our galaxy's history.