Sciencetis research

 Web Astrobiology Life's Origin and Evolution It's possible that in water droplets started life on Earth. Keith Cowing's work Press 

 Grok via Astrobiology.com shows water droplets from crashing waves on the early Earth. Life may not have begun with a dramatic lightning strike into the ocean but from many smaller “microlightning” exchanges among water droplets from crashing waterfalls or breaking waves.

 New research from Stanford University shows that water sprayed into a mixture of gases thought to be present in Earth’s early atmosphere can lead to the formation of organic molecules with carbon-nitrogen bonds, including uracil, one of the components of DNA and RNA.

 The much-discussed Miller-Urey hypothesis, which asserts that life on Earth originated with a lightning strike, is supported by the evidence and new perspective provided by the study, which was published in Science Advances. That theory is based on a 1952 experiment showing that organic compounds could form with application of electricity to a mixture of water and inorganic gases.

 The current study found that water spray, which generates small electrical charges, could perform that function without the need for additional electricity. “Microelectric discharges between oppositely charged water microdroplets make all the organic molecules observed previously in the Miller-Urey experiment, and we propose that this is a new mechanism for the prebiotic synthesis of molecules that constitute the building blocks of life,” said senior author Richard Zare, the Marguerite Blake Wilbur Professor of Natural Science and professor of chemistry in Stanford’s School of Humanities and Sciences.

 The potential and power of microlightning Almost no organic molecules with carbon-nitrogen bonds, which are necessary for proteins, enzymes, nucleic acids, chlorophyll, and other compounds that make up living things today, are thought to have existed on Earth for a few billion years after its formation. How these biological components came about has long puzzled scientists, and the Miller-Urey experiment provided one possible explanation: that lightning striking into the ocean and interacting with early planet gases like methane, ammonia, and hydrogen could create these organic molecules. Critics of that theory have pointed out that lightning is too infrequent and the ocean too large and dispersed for this to be a realistic cause.

 Zare, along with postdoctoral scholars Yifan Meng and Yu Xia, and graduate student Jinheng Xu, propose another possibility with this research. The team first investigated how droplets of water developed different charges when divided by a spray or splash. They found that larger droplets often carried positive charges, while smaller ones were negative.

 Sparks flew between the opposite-charged droplets when they got close to one another. Because the process is related to the way energy is built up and released as lightning in clouds, Zare refers to it as "microlightning." The researchers documented the light flashes, which are difficult to see with the naked eye, with high-speed cameras. Even though the tiny flashes of microlightning may be hard to see, they still carry a lot of energy. The researchers demonstrated that power by sending sprays of room temperature water into a gas mixture containing nitrogen, methane, carbon dioxide, and ammonia gases, which are all thought to be present on early Earth. This resulted in the formation of organic molecules with carbon-nitrogen bonds including hydrogen cyanide, the amino acid glycine, and uracil.

 According to the researchers, these findings suggest that the tiny sparks produced by crashing waves or waterfalls, rather than lightning strikes, were what started life on this planet. Zare stated, "Water sprays were all over the place on early Earth, into crevices or against rocks, and they could accumulate and create this chemical reaction." “I think this overcomes many of the problems people have with the Miller-Urey hypothesis.”

 Zare’s research team focuses on investigating the potential power of small bits of water, including how water vapor may help produce ammonia, a key ingredient in fertilizer, and how water droplets spontaneously produce hydrogen peroxide.

 “We usually think of water as so benign, but when it’s divided in the form of little droplets, water is highly reactive,” he said.

 Prebiotic synthesis by water droplet microlightning. (A) Schematic diagram of the prebiotic synthesis experiment. Cyanoacetylene, cyanoacetaldehyde, glycine, urea, and uracil are the green products that result from the microlightning caused by gases (N2, CH4, CO2, and NH3) surrounding a spray of larger positively charged and smaller negatively charged water microdroplets. (B to G) Mass spectrum of identified molecules marked I to VI in (A). (B) Deprotonated cyanoacetylene at m/z 50.0036. (C) Protonated cyanoacetaldehyde at m/z 70.0291. (D) Cyanoacetic acid deprotonated at 84.0094 m/z. (E) Deprotonated glycine at m/z 74.0249. (F) Protonated urea at m/z 61.0399. (G) Protonated uracil at m/z 113.0349.

 Acknowledgements

 Zare is also a member of Stanford Bio-X, the Cardiovascular Institute, Stanford Cancer Institute, and the Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute as well as an affiliate of the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment.

 This research received support from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research and the National Natural Science Foundation of China.

 Spraying of Water Microdroplets Forms Luminescence and Causes Chemical Reactions in Surrounding Gas, Science Advances (open access)

 Astrobiology

 Keith Cowing

 Explorers Club Fellow, ex-NASA Space Station Payload manager/space biologist, Away Teams, Journalist, Lapsed climber, Synaesthete, Na’Vi-Jedi-Freman-Buddhist-mix, ASL, Devon Island and Everest Base Camp veteran, 

 More on Life's Origins and Evolution Low 4.5 μm Dayside Emission Disfavors A Dark Bare-Rock Scenario For The Hot Super-Earth TOI-431 b

 The study of exoplanets and exomoons The Hot Super-Earth TOI-431 b's Dark Bare-Rock Scenario Is Disfavored by Low 4.5 m Dayside Emission. Status Report

 March 16, 2025

 HADES RV Programme With HARPS-N At TNG. XVI. A super-Earth In The Habitable Zone Of The GJ 3998 Multi-planet System

 Exoplanetology: Exoplanets & Exomoons

 HADES RV Programme With HARPS-N At TNG. XVI. A super-Earth In The Habitable Zone Of The GJ 3998 Multi-planet System

 Status Report

 March 15, 2025

 Improved Carbon and Nitrogen Isotopic Ratios for CH3CN in Titan’s Atmosphere Using ALMA

 Titan

 Improved Carbon and Nitrogen Isotopic Ratios for CH3CN in Titan’s Atmosphere Using ALMA

 Status Report

 March 15, 2025

 MIRI-LRS Spectrum Of A Cold Exoplanet Around A White Dwarf: Water, Ammonia, And Methane Measurements

 Exoplanetology: Exoplanets & Exomoons

 MIRI-LRS Spectrum Of A Cold Exoplanet Around A White Dwarf: Water, Ammonia, And Methane Measurements

 Status Update March 14, 2025

 Parameter Degeneracies Associated With Interpreting HST WFC3 Transmission Spectra Of Exoplanetary Atmospheres

 Exoplanetology: Exoplanets & Exomoons

 Interpreting HST WFC3 Transmission Spectra of Exoplanetary Atmospheres: Parameter Degeneracy Status Update March 14, 2025

 Earth As An Exoplanet: Investigating The Effects Of Cloud Variability On The Direct-imaging Of Atmospheres

 Exoplanetology: Exoplanets & Exomoons

 Earth As An Exoplanet: Investigating The Effects Of Cloud Variability On The Direct-imaging Of Atmospheres

 Status Report

 March 13, 2025

 Origin & Evolution of Life LATEST

 The Hot Super-Earth TOI-431 b's Dark Bare-Rock Scenario Is Disfavored by Low 4.5 m Dayside Emission. The Hot Super-Earth TOI-431 b's Dark Bare-Rock Scenario Is Disfavored by Low 4.5 m Dayside Emission. HADES RV Programme With HARPS-N At TNG. XVI. A super-Earth In The Habitable Zone Of The GJ 3998 Multi-planet System

 HADES RV Programme With HARPS-N At TNG. XVI. A super-Earth In The Habitable Zone Of The GJ 3998 Multi-planet System

 Utilizing ALMA, Improved CH3CN Carbon and Nitrogen Isotopic Ratios in Titan's Atmosphere Improved Carbon and Nitrogen Isotopic Ratios for CH3CN in Titan’s Atmosphere Using ALMA

 MIRI-LRS Spectrum Of A Cold Exoplanet Around A White Dwarf: Water, Ammonia, And Methane Measurements

 MIRI-LRS Spectrum Of A Cold Exoplanet Around A White Dwarf: Water, Ammonia, And Methane Measurements

 Interpreting HST WFC3 Transmission Spectra of Exoplanetary Atmospheres: Parameter Degeneracy Interpreting HST WFC3 Transmission Spectra of Exoplanetary Atmospheres: Parameter Degeneracy Categories

 Alpha Centauri

 Analog Studies

 Games and apps Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine

 Ariel

 Ariel Mission

 Artemis & Lunar Exploration

 Astrobiology (general)

 Astrochemistry

 Astrogeology

 Astronomy & Telescopes

 Astropharmacy / Biotechnology

 Atmospheres & Climate

 Away Teams & Field Reports

 Barnard's Star

 Beta Pictoris

 Organic and biochemical chemistry Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology

 Biophysics

 Biosignatures & Paleobiology

 Book, Film, Video Reviews

 Brown Dwarfs

 Budgets and Policy

 Callisto

 Career Opportunities

 Caves, Craters, Mountains & Lava Tubes

 Ceres

 Citizen Science

 Comets and Asteroids

 Commercial & Private Sector

 Conferences

 and Meetings

 Courses

 Cryobiology

 Cubesats and smallsats