Icy Comet Or Meteorites Collisions Prompted Life on Earth, Study

An early comet or meteorite collision led to the production of various forms of amino acids that kick-started early life on Earth.

Scientists believe that life on Earth came from outer space or another planet. Owing to the fact that Earth was initially submerged in water, researchers have ruled out the possibility of life originating on the planet itself. Recent studies suggested that life actually came from Mars.

In a new study, scientists found that life on Earth possibly originated from collision of icy comets or meteorites that generated amino acids, known as the building blocks of life.

The concept of life originating in space was first put forward by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory researcher, Nir Goldman in 2010. He used computer simulations performed on LLNL's supercomputers to prove that life on Earth stemmed through amino acids.

Now, in 2013 Goldman collaborated with researchers from Imperial College in London and University of Kent to reconfirm his earlier observations. For the new study, the experts shot projectile into ice mixtures of comets using a gas gun. They observed that this action led to the generation of various forms of amino acids.

"These results confirm our earlier predictions of impact synthesis of prebiotic material, where the impact itself can yield life-building compounds," Goldman said in a press release. "Our work provides a realistic additional synthetic production pathway for the components of proteins in our solar system, expanding the inventory of locations where life could potentially originate."

According to the researchers, these icy comet mixtures contain raw materials which came to Earth and combined with a huge source of energy on the planet to produce amino acids. Researchers also noted that icy bodies with the same compounds may also be found beyond earth.