The Sky Tonight

June 20, 2016

Life's first handshake: Chiral molecule detected in interstellar space
Charlottesville VA (SPX) Jun 19, 2016
Like a pair of human hands, certain organic molecules have mirror-image versions of themselves, a chemical property known as chirality. These so-called "handed" molecules are essential for biology and have intriguingly been found in meteorites on Earth and comets in our Solar System. None, however, has been detected in the vast reaches of interstellar space, until now. A team of scientists using highly sensitive radio telescopes has discovered the first complex organic chiral molecule in interstel ... read more

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