Larger, more complex molecules have more complicated vibration patterns.
By Rakesh Agrawal
Humankind has seemingly been quite nervous at the thought of being alone in this fathomless universe and since generations, has been looking for its neighbors. Scores of sci-fi films and television serials have been looking for this ‘close encounter,’ sometimes on an UFO, sometimes on a distant planet.
But, now the scientific search has gone beyond fiction as researchers have found an organic molecule in interstellar space for the first time, and as they are the basic building blocks of a life, one day, we can find someone to shake hands with! (See: http://www.france24.com/en/20160615-groundbreaking-discovery-organic-molecule-space
Although like, we the humans, these organic molecules are chiralous: either can be left-handed or right-handed as most molecules on our planet turn left, that remains scientifically unexplained. This recent discovery is the first chiral molecule finding in the interstellar space.
The co-author of the research, Brett McGuire, a chemist in Charlottesville, Virginia, hopes, that this pioneering discovery would help their understanding of how pre-biotic molecules are formed the universe and how they affect the origins of life.
Even earlier, the scientists have found these molecules in meteorites, falling on Earth and comets in our solar system, but, using an extremely sensitive radio telescope, for the first time, they found more than 180 molecules in the interstellar space, is unprecedented as they found it near the center of our galaxy in an enormous star-forming cloud of dust and gas, the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), announced it.
By skewing left or right, molecules have a biological advantage, because the congruence helps them build more complicated structures.
Now, they are hopeful for more complex life patterns also as these molecules, basically Propylene oxide is one of the most complex and structurally intricate molecules detected so far in space, according to Brandon Carroll, a chemistry graduate student at the California Institute of Technology.
Larger, more complex molecules have more complicated vibration patterns, making them more difficult to identify.
NARO, a part of the US National Science Foundation, was involved for nearly a decade on his study, known as the Pre-biotic Interstellar Molecular Survey, using the ultra-sensitive Green Bank Telescope used in the research.
The Nation: Thailand’s independent newspaper, hopes that this discovery would help the scientists understand the chiral of molecules of the Earth, provided is they could understand the chirality of these inter-stellar organic molecules. (See: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakingnews/Groundbreaking-discovery-of-organic-molecule-in-sp-30288215.html).