Theoretical origin of life; another article example (Introduction)

by David Turell , Tuesday, September 03, 2019, 20:42 (1908 days ago) @ David Turell

The lab produces the wanted result and touts it is possible near stars. How did it get to Earth? Not told:

https://phys.org/news/2019-09-reveals-radical-wrinkle-complex-carbon.html

"A team of scientists has discovered a new possible pathway toward forming carbon structures in space using a specialized chemical exploration technique at the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

"The team's research has now identified several avenues by which ringed molecules known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs, can form in space. The latest study is a part of an ongoing effort to retrace the chemical steps leading to the formation of complex carbon-containing molecules in deep space.

"PAHs—which also occur on Earth in emissions and soot from the combustion of fossil fuels—could provide clues to the formation of life's chemistry in space as precursors to interstellar nanoparticles. They are estimated to account for about 20 percent of all carbon in our galaxy, and they have the chemical building blocks needed to form 2-D and 3-D carbon structures.

"In the latest study, published in Nature Communications, researchers produced a chain of ringed, carbon-containing molecules by combining two highly reactive chemical species that are called free radicals because they contain unpaired electrons. The study ultimately showed how these chemical processes could lead to the development of carbon-containing graphene-type PAHs and 2-D nanostructures. Graphene is a one-atom-thick layer of carbon atoms.

"Importantly, the study showed a way to connect a five-sided (pentagon-shaped) molecular ring with a six-sided (hexagonal) molecular ring and to also convert five-sided molecular rings to six-sided rings, which is a stepping stone to a broader range of large PAH molecules.

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The conditions required to produce naphthalene in space are present in the vicinity of carbon-rich stars, the study noted.

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"'The radicals are short-lived - they react with themselves and react with anything else around them," Ahmed said. "The challenge is, 'How do you generate two radicals at the same time and in the same place, in an extremely hot environment?' We heated them up in the reactor, they collided and formed the compounds, and then we expelled them out of the reactor."

"Kaiser said, "For several decades, radical-radical reactions have been speculated to form aromatic structures in combustion flames and in deep space, but there has not been much evidence to support this hypothesis." He added, "The present experiment clearly provides scientific evidence that reactions between radicals at elevated temperatures do form aromatic molecules such as naphthalene.'"

Comment: the usual hype. Most proteins for life arrived in various meteorites and space rocks and do not show these compounds when analyzed.