The mystery of how complex molecules essential to life first formed may have been solved by a new study involving UCL's Dr Paola Pinilla.
Planetary scientists believe that organic macromolecules that make Earth suitable for life, including elements such as carbon, nitrogen and oxygen, initially came from a type of meteorite known as a chondrite - but how chondrites acquired these molecules in the first place was unknown.
The study, published in the journal Nature Astronomy, used computer modelling to conclude that macromolecules could have formed in a short time in discs of dust around young stars.
The researchers found that intense starlight irradiating dust traps - areas where dust and ice accumulate in the disc - could have formed organic (carbon-containing) macromolecules in just a few decades.
