An organic molecule found in the material that forms the basis for the formation of stars could shed light on the origin of life on Earth
![The structure of the substance glycolonitrile and the celestial gram in which it was found [Courtesy: Víctor M. Rivilla & Ben Mills & Herschel-SPIRE 500 microns]](https://www.hayadan.org.il/images/content3/2019/01/PROTO-RNA-IN-SPACE.jpg.webp)
The structure of the substance glycolonitrile and the celestial gram in which it was found [Courtesy: Víctor M. Rivilla & Ben Mills & Herschel-SPIRE 500 microns]
The new study, conducted by scientists from Queen Mary University of London, describes the first ever discovery of the substance glycolonitrile (HOCH2CN), a pre-life molecule that existed even before the formation of life on Earth, in a protostar in the star system IRAS16293 -2422 B. This hot and dense space region contains young stars in the earliest stage of their development surrounded by a mantle of dust and gas - conditions similar to those that existed when our solar system was formed. The detection of pre-life molecules in protostars in the solar system increases our understanding of the formation of the solar system since it implies that the planets that formed around the star could have formed due to the supply of the chemical components required for the existence of some form of life.
These findings, published a long time ago in the scientific journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters, constitute a significant step in the progress of the field of astrochemistry of pre-living materials, since glycolonitrile is considered a key precursor for the production of the substance adenine, one of the nuclear bases that make up DNA and hydrogen "A in living beings. The celestial gram IRAS16293-2422 B is a known protostar in the constellation Ophiuchus, in the star formation region known as Ophiuchi, and is 450 light-years from Earth.
Explains the lead researcher: "We showed that this important pre-life molecule can be formed in the material that causes the formation of stars and planets, a finding that brings us even closer to identifying the processes that may be involved in the formation of life on Earth." The researchers identified the material using the ALMA telescope located in Chile. With the help of the measurements made with this telescope, the researchers were able to identify the chemical signature of glycolonitrile and determine the conditions under which this molecule exists. The researchers also performed chemical modeling that allows them to estimate the processes that could help in understanding the origin of this molecule. These findings come after an earlier identification of the substance methyl isocyanate using the same telescope by researchers from the same university. Methyl isocyanate is what is defined as an isomer of glycolonitrile - the substance consists of the same atoms, but in a slightly different structural organization, meaning it has different chemical properties.
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I think it is very arrogant of humanity to think that only it alone exists. that we are the only intelligent beings in the entire apparently infinite universe.
As Conan noted, we don't know if intelligent beings will be as carbon-based as we are. There are countless compounds and components on which they can be based. And as far as I know, NASA is looking for planets with conditions similar to those of Earth in order to locate more intelligent life.
We are still before the "nappy" stage of space and universe exploration. We are before the beginning of the road. We know very little today.
Drake equation? Fermi paradox and its solutions? You exaggerated! It's too long and more in English. All that is needed is a story of Moses about a game cube (like backgammon).
Conan, do you know the Drake equation?
One fine day, I was listening to some guy in his 70s talking about the history of the universe.
Immediately after the impressive and interesting lecture (about a month later) a thought came to me, where you take the entire sequence of events he talked about and turn them into probabilities, you inevitably come to the uninspiring and somewhat frustrating realization that... we are alone.
And we are alone, not only here for the milk, but alone in the entire universe.
Just for comparison, if we take a game cube (like backgammon) and use it every second for, let's say 14 billion years, we will not get the same result 100 times in a row (not even 30 times). And this is in the case of a cube.
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For the benefit of a (significant) part of the readers of this site, below is an explanation of concepts that appear in this response.
Backgammon: a cube game popular mainly in the distressed neighborhoods and... in the reserves (those who do, necessarily know)
Disgusting: a kind of general feeling of exhaustion that makes you want to live, but not for too long.
Nachas: a misfortune that mainly relates to an event or an object located in the area where the misfortune occurs. For example: 'You brought me the nakhas' means: as you came, his (good) luck flew away and now I am all soaked with bad luck (or something like that).
Conan
Now I understand - and I agree. Indeed - the problem is not the science, it is the sensation of the journalists. This is no different from the "God particle" - again the gibberish of a media person. Higgs himself objected to this name.
Miracles,
First of all: I unequivocally support any scientific research whatsoever!!! Every research advances the human race and empowers it, sometimes even in ways different from what was originally planned.
But what I wrote below is completely different from what you understood from me: every scientific research must definitely be conducted, and in this context - without a doubt the search for alien life forms must be continued. The problem is that every time a discovery of one or another organic material is published - immediately they start talking about the possibility of extraterrestrial life - we simply all miss the real understanding and interpretation of the research conducted; There is no connection between the existence of intelligent life and the fact that an organic molecule has been observed in some location in the universe, hundreds of light years away from other essential molecules for the existence of life!
Beyond all this, who "put a spoon next to us" that extraterrestrial life will be carbon-based? Maybe they will be based on silicon? Or phosphorus? Or even different essential metal ions (eg an internal system where there are green rather than red blood cells, where the hemoglobin contains copper ions instead of our iron ions)? It is also possible that these aliens generally live in a different temperature range (for example, ammonia-based life instead of water, around minus 33 degrees Celsius, which is the melting point of ammonia or in the gallium fusion zone - that is, around 35 degrees Celsius), or under different pressures (for example, creatures on Jupiter will form at pressures of hundreds or even thousands of atmospheres), etc.?
As mentioned, what bothers me is that every time a simple organic compound is discovered in the universe (by the way, complex molecules of real life have never been found in the universe - such as proteins, DNA, not to mention the existence of simple peptides which have never been discovered!) - immediately The populists of sorts talk enthusiastically about how "easy" it is to sustain life and the "high probability" of its creation in our universe.
Conan
Your guess is as good as any other guess. The more you search, the more planets you discover closer to ours. You may be right, but it is equally possible that any planet similar to ours will have life. And of course - there may be life forms that get along in very different conditions (even in our solar system).
In any case - shouldn't we continue to investigate?
Every time there are publications about one or another organic molecule that was discovered at a certain point in space, immediately people talk about the possibility of life and how common and easy it is to occur.
The problem is not finding and identifying an organic molecule here and another molecule there - the trick is for all the building blocks to be concentrated in a single point, and equally important is the ratio in quantities between each and every one of these building blocks.
So in the meantime, we know that there are a lot of organic molecules in the universe, but if they are not all together and in the right amounts - there will be no life. Sorry to now shatter the common knowledge that life can thrive in all corners of the universe - but as long as there are not all the necessary conditions, all the chemical ingredients, all the appropriate weather and temperature conditions, location and number of primordial planets, etc. in one narrow point - it cannot be said that life In the universe they are possible.
Bottom line: we (humans) have been extremely lucky - probably much more than we imagine - so let's stop saying that life is a reasonable possibility in the universe and understand the great magic of a life that probably happened only once. What to do, we "beat the house" against all the odds in the mighty casino of life - and this is a spectacular and unbelievable achievement in all respects.