Meteorites might have created life's building blocks

By Chemistry World2018-02-12T12:25:00

Source: Shutterstock.com / Marc Ward

Did cosmic impacts start life on Earth?

There are various theories on how simple chemicals were transformed into complex compounds such as amino acids on ancient Earth. New evidence shows that friction between rocks can catalyse reactions which form amino acids. This supports the theory that meteorite impacts could have created the building blocks of life on Earth.

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