It's a very big challenge to make sure that we don't contaminate the samples that we're analyzing. It was not too long ago, but they did bring back amino acids, which is really cool. comets and asteroids contain basically the building blocks for life. They were worried it was actually contamination that had been brought about from the scientists handling the material.
Have we disproven the idea of a “goldilocks zone”? Neil deGrasse Tyson and comedian Paul Mecurio learn about space geology, magnetic fields, volcanoes, and the origins of life with cosmochemist Natalie Starkey, PhD.
NOTE: StarTalk+ Patrons can listen to this entire episode commercial-free here: https://startalkmedia.com/show/cosmic-queries-volcanoes-life-in-the-universe/
Thanks to our Patrons EmskyArt, Alex James, Mariette Kalinowski, Skye Lincoln, Matthew King, and James Senior for supporting us this week.
Photo Credit: Boaworm, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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