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Stars Found To Produce Complex Organic Compounds
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."
The Cat: I say let's get into the jet-powered rocket pants and Junior Birdman the hell out of here.
Kryten: An excellent and inventive suggestion, sir, with just two tiny drawbacks. A, We don't have any jet-powered rocket pants. And B, There's no such thing as jet-powered rocket pants outside the fictional serial "Robbie Rocket Pants".
The Cat: Well, that's put a crimp on an otherwise damn fine plan.
- Red Dwarf "Terrorform"
Harrison's Postulate - "For every action there is an equal and opposite criticism"
So THAT's where the dinosaurs went 65 million years ago!
They built starships and flew into the sun!
Great. Now it's just a question of how long it will be before we go to war with Betelgeuse.
Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.
He said it best. We are made of star stuff!
Admit it. You post strawman arguments as AC so you get modded Insightful for refuting them, rather than Troll
The 'question' of how life started on our amazing planet gets easier to 'answer' with every new discovery.
"Just the facts, sir." (apologies to Sgt. Friday)
To me the facts are even more amazing and awesome than any myths or superstitions that persist, to explain our world and universe.
There are many times I feel humbled and awed by the scientific discoveries and technological advances I have witnessed in my lifetime. (reference: I'm coming up TOO QUICKLY! on 54 years old)
Just the amount and nature of 'former Sci-Fi' tech that has become reality in my time boggles my mind...Wow!
[disclaimer: yes, I did RTFA, please put away your torches and pitchforks] :-)
Down With Slashdot BETA!!! I've been around the corner and seen the oliphant; you can only abuse me from your perspecti
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 to be produced.
Qu'on me donne six lignes écrites de la main du plus honnête homme, j'y trouverai de quoi le faire pendre.
Just my first thought too but...
TFS is actually correct, as it is taken directly from the article.
And, no it don't says it produces it IN the star, but that the star produces it. That is, if the star produces the compounds around it, it is still the star that makes is, just not inside it.
So for a long long time in /. history, the summery is actually very correct :)
We're whalers on the moon,
We carry a harpoon.
But there ain't no whales
So we tell tall tales
And sing our whaling tune.
Well, I might have a way, but it only works on a semi spherical planet in a vacuum.
I can't wait for Fox News to bash the sun as a net-carbon-emitter.
That brings into play the hotly debated Abiotic Oil theory. Conspiracy rumors have been the Deep Horizon disaster was based on BP hitting Abiotic oil and the pressure was too great for the faulty design and faulty materials used. Rumors also have been the Russians tapped into Abiotic oil during their deep drilling experiments. If this paper is correct that complex carbon chains are common in the universe, I'm wondering if the oil companies have known about it on Earth and didn't want to tell us about it till they got the price of crude high enough? That might explain the Liberty Rig that was erected about this time last year off the North Slope on a gravel island that was also known as Gull Island. Liberty Rig can drill 8 miles for slant drilling, that might be deep enough to hit Abiotic oil locked just at or just below the Earth's crust.
"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).
Troll is not a replacement for I disagree.
Don't tell me that Velikovsky was right after all! All that blarney about biblical "manna from heaven" being edible hydrocarbons released into the atmosphere by an interplanetary event?
Parity: What to do when the weekend comes.