Complex Organic Molecules: More Prevalent Than Previously Thought!

Complex organic molecules have always been conceived as originating from comets. After sending numerous probes to not just detect but also send actual specimens of comets back down to Earth, it has been confirmed that there are complex organic molecules within comets. In fact, it is theorized that complex organic molecules are the "dark surface material" of comets! Due to the high concentration of complex organic molecules within comets, scientists also believe that it is due to this fact that the Earth contained complex organic molecules within its primordial soup over 4 billion years ago, that life was able to develop on Earth. The theory was that comets carrying "payloads of organic material" crashed into the Earth's surface, increasing the amount of organic material (and of course increasing the amount of H2O as well)already present on the planet which led to the rise of life.

(http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=Comets)

However, scientists have found that complex organic molecules of "high density" exist throughout the entire universe. The source of complex organic molecules must be from a more powerful, and much more common source. Very recently, scientists have uncovered stars as having the capacity of producing complex organic material! Although the actual process of producing them is still unknown to us, it has been confirmed that the star's infrared emissions (by using the Infrared Space Observatory and the Spitzer Space Telescope) that were thought to represent polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon molecules (PAHs) actually was complex organic molecules in the first place! This helps to explain why so many solar nebula are also known to contain large amounts of complex organic molecules. Because countless stars go supernova, this helps spread the seeds of life into the entire universe.

(http://my-blackberry.net/49__Ingredients_for_Life_-_Complex_Organic_Molecules.htm)

This new information will add to the importance of stars, and their contribution to the production of life. This brings in a point that I thought of immediately after reading this article about complex organic molecules originating from stars. It seems like the older the universe gets, the higher the chance for life to occur across the universe. This is because the longer time passes by, the amount of stars that have gone through supernova since the time of the big bang will continue to increase and therefore increasingly release produced heavier elements (which help to form rocky planets like the first 4 planets in our solar system), and complex organic molecules (which contribute in forming carbon based lifeforms). Perhaps unfortunately life on Earth, due to absurd probability, accidentally formed life when the composition of the universe is not 'mature' enough for life. Perhaps the universe needs to undergo a few more billion years for life, and rocky planets like Earth, to be plentiful, and thus making us quite alone for now in this still 'immature' universe.