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Alcohol Haze At Galactic Heart

Posted by timothy on from the cigar-smoke-too dept.

Kentai writes: "According to the BBC: 'The detection of yet more alcohol in a giant molecular cloud near the centre of our galaxy could give clues to the origin of complex organic molecules in space.' I knew my life revolved around alcohol!"

4 of 22 comments (clear)

  1. uh oh. by laymil · · Score: 3, Funny

    someones trying to raid God's liquor stash...better watch out!

  2. Mmm... beer... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    When I find myself in a cloud of alcohol, I frequently find myself emitting large amounts of organic compounds too.

  3. I think they want to be quoted out of context ... by pubudu · · Score: 3, Funny
    ... this cloud lies near an area where young stars are forming ... This would liberate the molecules from their chilly nurseries, depositing them into interstellar space ...

    Bureau of ATF officials are now on their way to the region looking for their intergalactic still. "Young adults tend to think that moonshining is a fun way to avoid their state's liquor laws, but the "Dukes of Hazaard" is not an accurate portrayal of this dangerous business," said Agt. Washington Fleming, who is leading the operation. "The quanity involved, although small by galactic standards, suggests that this is not being done just for personal use, and that makes it a Federal matter. Also, once they start selling it, they step on the heals of organized crime, and are so pitting themselves against a more ruthless foe than Boss Hog."

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    under-paid karma whore

  4. Serious comment, trust me!!! by hhe_hee · · Score: 4, Insightful
    Ok, here's a serious comment. This could reveal much of the mystery about our own origin. How life began in the first place in our solar system. And maybe life is forming right now far away in that cloud, think about that for a while. We could be watching the formation of life (at a great distance of course) in that cloud. It's like a giant Miller-Urey experiment where a mixture of methane, ammonia, water vapour, and hydrogen was circulated through a liquid water solution and continuously sparked by a corona discharge elsewhere in the apparatus. The discharge may be thought to represent lightning flashes on the early Earth. After several days of exposure to sparking, the solution changed colour. Subsequent analysis indicated that several amino and hydroxy acids, intimately involved in contemporary life, had been produced by this simple procedure.

    There are several key steps in the origins of life:
    • Formation of complex organic molecules
    • Self-replicating systems
    • Protein synthesis; DNA is the genetic material, but it requires proteins to replicate
    • Compartmentalization: the first cell

    And origins of complex organic molecules are believed to be:
    • Nucleosynthesis in stars to form complex molecules
    • molecular clouds
    • A very significant fraction of the Earth' s carbon came from extensive cometary bombardment on the primitive Earth
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    2 reptiles beneath your current threshold.