Stars Found To Produce Complex Organic Compounds 93
InfiniteZero writes "Researchers at the University of Hong Kong observed stars at different evolutionary phases and found that they are able to produce complex organic compounds and eject them into space, filling the regions between stars. The compounds are so complex that their chemical structures resemble the makeup of coal and petroleum, the study's lead author Sun Kwok, of the University of Hong Kong, said."
Re:Startdust? (Score:5, Interesting)
Stardust is exactly right. Most of the heavy elements (non-hydrogen or helium) were produced, if not by the mechanism described in the article, in the death throes of heavy stars that go supernova. All the Big Bang gave us was a lot of hydrogen, a small amount of helium, and a negligible quantity of everything else. The rest had to wait for the stars and stellar nucleosynthesis [wikimedia.org] to be produced.
Origin of Life? (Score:5, Interesting)
"The compounds are so complex that their chemical structures resemble the makeup of coal and petroleum"
Who cares if it produced a little bit or even a lot of fuel like substances, could they have produced the organic matter needed to kick start life?
From what I understand the only real missing link in explaining how life started on this planet is the formation of some relatively simple organic compounds (not that they do not have some very good theories and promising results).