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Study claims long-held theory of origin of life on earth could be completely wrong
New York Post • • science
Key Points:
- A new study from the University of Cambridge challenges the century-old theory that comets delivered the building blocks of life to Earth, finding it unlikely that prebiotic molecules survive comet impacts.
- Researchers found that the high-speed, sharp-angle impacts of comets typically vaporize carbon- and nitrogen-bearing molecules, making the survival and concentration of life-building molecules on Earth improbable.
- The study suggests that even if some molecules survived a comet impact, the conditions needed for life to originate would require an extremely rare “one-in-a-million” event.
- Alternative sources for the molecular seeds of life, such as asteroids which impact Earth more frequently, may be more plausible contributors to life’s origins.
- The findings imply that comets could have delivered prebiotic molecules more effectively to Mars, due to its smaller size and thinner atmosphere, potentially making Mars more habitable in early solar system history.
