All of life’s essential molecules, from amino acids to the sugars in DNA, exist in only one of two possible mirror-image forms. This universal “handedness” has long puzzled scientists, but a new hypothesis suggests it wasn’t a random accident. Instead, life’s specific chirality may be a direct consequence of a fundamental asymmetry in physics, delivered to early Earth by cosmic rays.
- amino acids
- astrobiology
- asymmetry in physics
- biochemistry
- chirality
- cosmic rays
- DNA
- enantiomers
- extraterrestrial life
- fundamental forces
- homochirality
- meteorites
- Miller-Urey experiment
- mirror symmetry
- muons
- Noemie Globus
- origin of life
- origin of life's handedness
- particle physics
- pbs space time
- prebiotic chemistry
- RNA world hypothesis
- Roger Blandford
- spacetime symmetry
- spin-polarized muons
- weak interaction
- why is life left-handed
- youtube
