Building Blocks of RNA Spotted at the Center of the Milky Way
A team of researchers say they’ve found some building blocks of RNA in a molecular cloud close to the center of the Milky Way. The discovery has implications for theories about how life began on Earth—and perhaps elsewhere.The molecular cloud is named G+0.693-0.027. The team of astrophysicists, astrobiologists, and chemists conducted a survey of the cloud using two telescopes in Spain to unpack details of its chemistry.Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is a molecule present in all living cells that behaves similarly to DNA, though…