The presence of oxygen and organic compounds on planets may not necessarily mean that they harbour life, according to a study. In their search for life in solar systems near and far, researchers have often accepted the presence of oxygen in a planet's atmosphere as the surest sign that life may be present there. Simulating in the lab the atmospheres of planets beyond the solar system, researchers successfully created both organic compounds and oxygen, absent of life. The team found multiple scenarios that produced both oxygen and organic molecules that could build sugars and amino acids -- raw materials for which life could begin -- such as formaldehyde and hydrogen cyanide. "People used to suggest that oxygen and organics being present together indicates life, but we produced them abiotically in multiple simulations.

Source: dna December 18, 2018 06:56 UTC