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Primeval Earth – (Graphic Image from NASA).
Dr. Miller’s experiment was considered a “half success” as it indeed generated some amino acids, considered the fundamental building blocks of life, although the pathway for upgrading these amino acids into more complex forms remained elusive. The new study, led by Dr. Vladimir Airapetian, an astrophysicist from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, suggests that this pathway might be feasible if the lightning sparks are replaced with energy particles from the Sun, which would yield more efficient results.
The research team recreated the conditions of Earth during the Hadean Eon, also known as the “Archean Era,” which spans from Earth’s formation over 4.5 billion years ago to 3.8 billion years ago.
During that hot and ancient epoch, the Sun was about 30% dimmer than today but produced powerful energy bursts every 3-10 days.
They combined carbon dioxide, molecular nitrogen, water, and various amounts of methane in each experimental sample, exposing the mixtures to simulated lightning or proton beams imitating the Sun’s energy stream.
The results showed that energy particles from space, shot out by the Sun, produced significantly more and diverse amino acids compared to lightning sparks. This energy source proved to be more abundant than lightning.
“These experiments indicate that a young, active Sun could be a catalyst for life’s precursors, possibly easier and earlier than previously thought,” the study published in the journal Life affirmed.