Miller-Urey Experiment/creation of biological life
Methane, water, ammonia, hydrogen and carbon are the building blocks of life throughout the Universe. The above experiment enables us to recreate biological life.
Experiments show that membranes can form by themselves when lipids are added to water.
A new research shows that the interaction of titanium oxide with water could produce oxygen in the atmosphere of an exoplanet without the involvement of living organisms.
the only reason Earth has oxygen is because Earth has plants that do photosynthesis.
Previous research suggested that oxygen could build up on lifeless planets only if they are outside of or on the edge of the habitable zone. But by definition, the best chances for finding aliens are on worlds squarely inside the life-friendly zone, and it was thought that these planets could have oxygen-rich air only if something was alive on the surface to keep pumping it out. That’s because chemical modelling suggested that in the warmer atmospheres of these habitable planets, the highly reactive oxygen molecule would quickly get locked up in other compounds.
Finding the right mix of chemical clues will increase confidence that we are seeing evidence of life.
Oxygen can also be formed by photodissociation of water molecules (H2O) by ultraviolet light.
Oxygen is the most abundant heavy element in the Universe. It is the most direct testimony of the history of star formation. The oxygen abundance is easily measured up to high redshifts through emission lines produced in the interstellar medium of star forming galaxies and through absorption lines observed on the linesight of bright, high redshift sources. Recently, there has been a large amount of studies on the determination of oxygen abundances in the local Universe, both in young and old stars, which have brought interesting constraints but also many questions. Among others, the oxygen abundance in the Sun is still lively debated. Studies of oxygen abundances from absorption lines in the local ISM as well as from emission lines from planetary nebulae and HII regions in Galactic and extragalactic Milky Way have also developed significantly.
The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, due for launch in 2017, is intended to look for Earth-like planets around nearby stars. To do this it will look for biomarkers, chemical signs thought to be indicative of life, in the atmospheres of any planets that it finds. One of the most obvious such biomarkers to look for would be molecular oxygen (O2) which makes up 20% of the atmosphere on Earth.
