A new study by Stanford University has just proposed a revolutionary theory about the origin of life: it was not rays falling in the middle of the ocean who led to the formation of the first organic molecules, but a whole series of small … Electrical discharges, or ‘micro rays’, generated by the impact of simple drops of water pulverized by the force of the waves when breaking or falling from the top of waterfalls.
According to new research, these micro drops of water, sprayed in the gas mixture that is believed were present in the primitive atmosphere of the Earth, could be enough for organic molecules to be formed with carbon-nitrogen bonds, including the Uracil, one of the DNA and RNA components.
The work, recently published in ‘Science Advances’, It provides new data and gives new life to the classic and today almost abandoned Miller-Urey hypotheses, according to which the impact of rays on primitive oceans triggered the formation of essential organic molecules. The theory is based on a famous experiment carried out in 1953 at the University of Chicago by Stanley Miller and Harold Clayton Ulrey, which showed in their laboratory how organic compounds can be formed when applying electricity to a mixture of water and inorganic gases.
The new study, however, led by the chemist Richard Ze, has shown that the powdered water, which produces small electric charges, could do that job alone, without the need for additional electricity. The finding opens a new perspective on how the construction blocks of life could arise on our planet.
«The micro electric discharges between tiny drops of water with opposite loads- explains Zee- produce all the organic molecules previously observed in the Miller-Urey experiment, and we propose that this is a new mechanism for the prebiotic synthesis of the molecules that constitute the blocks of construction of life».
A great wave breaking
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The complex chemistry of life
During the first two billion years of land, it is believed that on our planet there was an authentic ‘chemical soup’ of elements, but with few organic molecules with carbon-nitrogen bonds, essential for the formation of proteins, enzymes, nucleic acids, chlorophyll and other compounds present in living beings. How all these molecules arose is, for decades, a real enigma for scientists.
In that context, the Miller-Urey experiment provided a possible explanation to the mystery: when hitting the ocean, the rays interacted with the first gases on the planet (methane, ammonia, hydrogen …) and created those organic molecules. But there are many critics who point out that rays are too rare, and the ocean too large and dispersed, so that this is a realistic explanation.
Zee and his team, however, explored a possible alternative: the electrical behavior of the water drops when pulverizing. Thus, they discovered that, by dividing spray or splashes, water drops develop different loads. So that larger drops tend to charge positively, while the smallest opt for negative loads. When the drops with opposite loads approach each other, sparks jump between them. Something that Ze calls ‘micro rays’, since the process is related to the way the energy accumulates and is downloaded as a ray in the clouds. Using high -speed cameras, the researchers also managed to document those fleeting flashes of light, practically invisible to the naked eye.
Although tiny, micro rays have a significant amount of energy. To demonstrate it, the equipment sprayed water at room temperature in a mixture of gases that simulated the primitive atmosphere of the Earth, composed of nitrogen, methane, carbon dioxide and ammonia. And the result was the formation of organic molecules with carbon -itrogen bonds, including hydrogen cyanide, amino acid glycine and the essential uracil.
Waves and waterfalls, the true origins?
The findings, therefore, suggest that the small sparks generated by the waves when breaking, or by the waterfalls, could have been the catalyst for the emergence of life on earth. “In the primitive earth,” says Zee, “there was water pulverized everywhere, in cracks or against rocks, and these spray could accumulate and create this chemical reaction. I think this exceeds many of the problems that people have with the Miller-Urey hypothesis.
During their work, Ze and his colleagues investigated the potential power of small water ‘bits, and explored how water vapor can contribute to ammonia production, a key ingredient in fertilizers, and how water drops spontaneously produce hydrogen peroxide. ‘Normally, “says Zee,” we think of water as something benign, but when it is divided into small drops, it becomes highly reactive.’
The study, then, ‘resurrects’ the old idea of Miller and Ulrey, and adds to other works that explore different scenarios for the origin of life. For example, some investigations suggest that hydrothermal chimneys at the bottom of the ocean could have provided the necessary conditions for the formation of the first organic molecules. These environments, rich in minerals and geothermal energy, could have acted as natural laboratories for the synthesis of the first blocks of life construction.
Not to mention the possibility that life has reached the earth from space, through meteorites that already transported perfectly formed organic molecules. The theory, a modern version of Panspermia, suggests that life could be a common phenomenon in the universe and is based on the discovery of the ‘bricks of life’ in comets, meteorites, stars and distant spatial nebulae.
Stanford’s study, therefore, provides a new and fascinating piece that is undoubtedly one of the greatest puzzles of science. And highlighting the power of the micro rays generated by water drops, opens a new route of research that will not only be relevant to basic science, but has important implications for the search for life on other planets. If micro rays can generate organic molecules on Earth, in effect, they may also do so in other worlds with atmospheres and oceans.
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