Los
Angeles Times: A research team at Johns Hopkins University
in Baltimore used the Spitzer infrared telescope to search for
hydrogen cyanide in the dust and gas swirling around 61 young
stars. Hydrogen cyanide is a component of a compound basic to
DNA, which is found in every living creature on Earth.After
breaking down the light of these stars with a spectrograph, the
researchers found hydrogen cyanide in 30% of the yellow,
sun-like stars. They found none around cooler, smaller stars,
such as M-dwarfs and brown dwarfs.Assuming that life, if it
forms, is based on DNA, "around cooler stars, there might not
be enough hydrogen cyanide" to kick-start the complex chemical
reactions necessary to form life, said Ilaria Pascucci of Johns
Hopkins, lead author of the research, which is appearing this
week in the
Astrophysical Journal.
