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| An image of the center of our galaxy, where Sagittarius B2 is located. (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ESA/CXC/STScI) |
A peculiar new molecule hovering within a star-forming dust cloud in deep in space could help explain why life on Earth is the way it is.
The cloud, called Sagittarius B2, resides near the center of the Milky Way, and it’s there that researchers from the California Institute of Technology discovered an organic element that displays a key property shared by all life. Propylene oxide is the first element discovered outside of our solar system to exhibit chirality, or the presence of two distinct, mirror-image forms. Many complex molecules have this property, including myriad organic molecules necessary for life. The chemical formula of these two versions is exactly the same, but the structure is flipped.
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A Molecule Deep in Space Could Help Explain the Origins of Life, Nathaniel Scharping
#P4TC: Chiral Molecules...
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