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New Scientist: Comets have long been known to contain the organic precursors necessary to create life. But how those molecules evolved into amino acids, the building blocks of proteins, has been a mystery. Because most planetary bodies in the solar system show signs of impact craters, researchers thought that the force of such potentially common collisions might be responsible. To prove it, Mark Price of the University of Kent in the UK and colleagues used ammonia, carbon dioxide, and methanol to create their own icy comet. They then shot the pseudocomet with a steel pellet, which evaporated the ice. Upon analyzing the material that remained, they found it contained two amino acids: alanine and norvaline. As a result, they propose that prebiotic molecules could form on any world, regardless of its environment.
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Comet impacts may jumpstart life processes within the solar system Free
16 September 2013