Smog on Titan Moon May Hold Ingredients For Life, New Study Says
In a simulation, a Titan-like atmosphere produces nearly all of life's building blocks Scientists studying Titan's atmosphere have learned it can create complex molecules, including amino acids and nucleotide bases, often called the building blocks of life. They are the first researchers to show it's possible to create these molecules without water, suggesting Titan could harbor huge quantities of life's precursors floating in its atmosphere. It's a breakthrough that even has implications for the beginning of life on Earth. Researchers at the University of Arizona built a simulated Titan atmosphere in a special chamber in Paris and blasted it with microwaves, simulating the effect of solar energy. The reactions produced aerosols, which sank to the bottom of the chamber, where scientists scooped them up for study. What they found was unexpected, to put it mildly: all the nucleotide bases that make up the genetic code of all life on Earth, and more...