https://phys.org/news/2020-08-compressive-life-planets.html Compressive shearing may start life on other planets: Massive compressive shearing forces generated by the tidal pull of Jupiter-like planets on their rocky ice-covered moons may form a natural reactor that drives simple amino acids to polymerize into larger compounds. These extreme mechanical forces strongly enhance molecule condensation reactions, opening a new arena of possibilities for the chemical origins of life on Earth and other rocky planets. That is the conclusion of a new study by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists who explored the hypothesis that compressive shearing may have driven prebiotic chemistry. The research appears in the journal Chemical Science and is featured on the cover of the 30th issue and as part of the 2020 Chemical Science HOT Article Collection. Mechanically driven chemistry, or mechanochemistry, is a relatively new field. "Compressive shearing forces are known to accelerate physical and chemical transformations in solid materials," said LLNL chemist Brad Steele, lead author of the study, "but little is known about how these processes occur especially for simple prebiotic molecules like amino acids, which can have a propensity to link together." As a test case, the team focused on glycine, the simplest protein-forming amino acid and a known constituent of astrophysical icy bodies. "We chose to study glycine because it is a useful reductionist model for understanding the fundamentals of mechanochemical polypeptide synthesis," said LLNL scientist Nir Goldman, one of the authors on the study. more at link................. the paper: https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2020/SC/D0SC00755B#!divAbstract Mechanochemical synthesis of glycine oligomers in a virtual rotational diamond anvil cell†: Abstract Mechanochemistry of glycine under compression and shear at room temperature is predicted using quantum-based molecular dynamics (QMD) and a simulation design based on rotational diamond anvil cell (RDAC) experiments. Ensembles of high throughput semiempirical density functional tight binding (DFTB) simulations are used to identify chemical trends and bounds for glycine chemistry during rapid shear under compressive loads of up to 15.6 GPa. Significant chemistry is found to occur during compressive shear above 10 GPa. Recovered products consist of small molecules such as water, structural analogs to glycine, heterocyclic molecules, large oligomers, and polypeptides including the simplest polypeptide glycylglycine at up to 4% mass fraction. The population and size of oligomers generally increases with pressure. A number of oligomeric polypeptide precursors and intermediates are also identified that consist of two or three glycine monomers linked together through C–C, C–N, and/or C–O bridges. Even larger oligomers also form that contain peptide C–N bonds and exhibit branched structures. Many of the product molecules exhibit one or more chiral centers. Our simulations demonstrate that athermal mechanical compressive shearing of glycine is a plausible prebiotic route to forming polypeptides
like https://www.space.com/39694-saturn-moon-enceladus-rings-cassini-photo.html and in the cold of space, a passing comet... etc ... i guess there is a terminal size requirement for a comet to carry frozen water through the burn to deliver frozen life to an ocean .. ? or a small ice meteor to tail gate a comet or meteor ? pondering geyser makes frozen rings of life/magic soup occlusion, looses orbit, lands on another planet eventually
Yes, an interesting concept certainly worthy of further research. While Abiogenesis is scientifically certain, as being the only scientific answer as to how life arose, the exact pathway and details have always been mystery.
