A new study suggests that life on Earth may have originated from 'microlightning' created by crashing waterfalls and ocean waves. Unlike the long-held Miller-Urey hypothesis which emphasized lightning strikes, researchers at Stanford University found that microscopic electrical charges generated when water droplets collide could produce the organic molecules necessary for life. This discovery opens possibilities for chemical reactions happening consistently across prehistoric Earth, as early water sprays could generate life-building reactions. The study identified uracil, a molecule crucial for DNA construction, formed through this process, reframing our understanding of life's origins.
On early Earth, there were water sprays all over the place - into crevices or against rocks, and they can accumulate and create this chemical reaction.
The new 'Microlightning' theory opens the door to these chemical reactions happening all the time and everywhere there was water on prehistoric Earth.
Previous studies hypothesized that lightning produced the energy necessary for life, but the rarity of lightning strikes made this hypothesis hard to believe.
Over 70 years later, Zare's team discovered that one of the organic substances formed by microlightning was uracil - an organic molecule with carbon-nitrogen bonds.
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