Icy objects such as comets may have helped start life…

Icy objects such as comets may have helped start life on Earth by 1 water and carbon-based molecules to the young planet. Because putting something on ice doesn't 2 keep it from changing: a new study finds that even in frigid, deep space environments, simple hydrocarbon molecules can react to become more complex ones. The process even works when 3 drop to near absolute zero. But just what kind of 4 molecules would exist on the icy bodies of a forming solar system? Researchers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, investigated how organic molecules might evolve toward greater 5 even in the cold of interstellar space. The scientists found that ultraviolet light, which radiates from stars and galaxies, can 6 rapid changes in icy hydrocarbon molecules cooled to 5 kelvin—that's a frosty minus 451 degrees Fahrenheit. The chemical reactions resulted in molecules of more complexity— which is the right 7 to go if you want to eventually make amino acids and biological molecules. The study appears in the Astrophysical Journal Letters. It just goes to show—if you really want to 8 something in place, you'd better encase it in carbonite.