Curious Minds "Stars R Us: How the building blocks of life were formed in Space” by Prof. Martin McCoustra, Heriot-Watt University

Life on Earth probably began in some “primordial soup” but where did the ingredients of that soup come from? The geology of early Earth didn’t contain amino acids and other organic chemicals. Recent research on meteorites has show that they contain thousands of chemical compounds, including many key organics. Martin’s research deals with how chemistry occurs in space. Gas phase chemistry and chemistry on dust and ice created the organic building blocks that were ultimately responsible for the evolution of life on Earth and, very probably, throughout the Universe.