A recent study has shed new light on the origin of life on Earth, suggesting that micro-lightning may have played a crucial role in providing the raw materials needed for life. According to Richard Zare, senior author of the study, his team’s research identified a previously unknown electrochemical process that could have triggered the formation of essential chemical compounds used by present-day life.
The process involves tiny droplets of water spray and micro-lightning discharges between them, which produce chemicals like glycine, uracil, and urea. These findings are significant as they provide a plausible mechanism for the emergence of life on Earth. Zare’s team demonstrated this process using gases replicated to mimic the early Earth atmosphere.
The concept of gradual chemical evolution was first proposed by scientists Aleksander Oparin and J.B.S. Haldane in the 1920s, who suggested that energy from the Sun or lightning strikes could have led to the formation of life’s building blocks, such as amino acids. This idea was later tested in a groundbreaking experiment conducted by Stanley Miller and Harold Urey in 1953.
However, new research has raised questions about the Miller-Urey hypothesis, which suggests that these chemical compounds were formed through a lightning strike on Earth. Zare acknowledges this objection but notes that his team’s discovery provides an alternative explanation for how life’s building blocks could have emerged.
Source: https://arstechnica.com/science/2025/03/who-needs-lightning-key-biochemicals-form-from-static-sparks