Irradiating formamide with meteorite dust can lead to synthesis of prebiotic compounds
Tuesday, April 14, 2015 - 08:00
in Astronomy & Space
(Phys.org)—A combined team of researchers from Italy and Russia has shown that prebiotic compounds can be synthesized by irradiating liquid formamide (aka methanamide) mixed with meteorite dust. In their paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the team members describe their experiments, the results they found and what their findings suggest about the origins of life on Earth.