Is there life beyond the earth?

There's no reason we're alone in the galaxy, at least that's what I think and you?

Here is an article that should make us think.

Scientists have just discovered in a proto-star system of our Milky Way, molecules involved in the process of the appearance of life. This news comes together with other previous discoveries concerning this star system and gives rise to the hope of observing the emergence of a form of life.

A stellar system of the most interesting

The IRAS 16293-2422 stellar system, located 400 light years from the Sun, has been of interest to scientists for some years now. In 2012, they detected "sugar" (specifically glycoldehyde related to the family of "ose" such as glucose or fructose). But sugar is one of the essential ingredients for the appearance of life. "These families of organic molecules are involved in the synthesis of peptides and amino acids that, in the form of proteins, are the building blocks of life as we know it," say researchers Niels Ligterink and Audrey Coutens.

Similarities to the appearance of life on Earth

Even more interesting for us, these "sugar" molecules would be present in the area around the stars where planets could be formed. A discovery that nurtures a hope of observing the emergence of life that is reinforced by new work to appear in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Indeed, a team has just detected in this proto-star system, methyl isocyanate, an organic compound that would be involved in the synthesis of amino acids, a key element in the birth of life.

What also strikes with the IRAS 16293-2422 system are these many similarities with the nebula that gave our current solar system. As scientists Rafael Martin-Domenech and Victor Rivilla point out, "these proto-stars are in many ways similar to the young Sun! Indeed, the conditions seem to have come together for Earth-like planets to form. " These similarities associated with recent discoveries lead us to imagine in the future the possibility of an appearance of a form of life in this group.

The mystery of life

The question of explaining the appearance of life on Earth is very complicated. Prebiotic chemistry is the discipline that focuses on this problem and tries to understand how life appeared from inert chemical molecules. Among the mysteries that remain to be explored, remains the question of the homochirality of the living. From their chemical formula, there are two distinct and non-superimposable three-dimensional representations of molecules, but only one is present in nature.

However, the area of ​​the 3 stars that we are interested in also has the special feature of having a magnetic field that causes a polarization of UV radiation emitted. What generate an excess of one or other three-dimensional variety of chiral molecules. This process could be the first step towards the emergence of a form of life. Scientists point out many parallels between this star system and the known conditions of the appearance of life on Earth, now only to observe the evolution of these stars and see whether or not we will attend the event. appearance of life.