A tiny universe in a bottle reveals clues to the origins of life
A PhD student has successfully recreated cosmic dust in a laboratory by simulating interstellar conditions using gases and electrical charges. This experiment helps scientists understand the chemical origins of life by analyzing how organic molecules form in space.
Why it matters
This research provides a new method for studying the building blocks of life without needing to wait for physical samples from space.
A PhD student in Sydney has produced cosmic dust from scratch by recreating a small piece of the universe inside a laboratory bottle. The experiment offers new clues about how some of the chemical ingredients associated with life could have developed before Earth even formed.
Linda Losurdo, a PhD candidate in materials and plasma physics in the School of Physics, combined nitrogen, carbon dioxide and acetylene to simulate the energetic conditions found near stars and supernova remnants.
She then exposed the gases to a powerful electrical charge. The process created carbon-rich dust resembling material that floats through interstellar space and is preserved inside comets, asteroids and meteorites.
The findings were published in The Astrophysical Journal of the American Astronomical Society .
Cosmic Dust With Life's Essential Elements
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