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CNN Arabic
Source: CNN Arabic
6 HrsCNN Arabic
Source: CNN Arabic
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A computer simulation suggests that comets, despite many containing hydrogen cyanide and organic compounds, were probably not an effective source of life’s building blocks on Earth. The speed, heat and pressure of their impacts would have been enough to destroy the molecules or prevent them from being deposited. The researchers simulated a bombardment more than 4 billion years ago involving over 100,000 comets, each more than 100 metres across. In 54% of the simulations, no impacts occurred; 46% recorded at least one impact, and only a tiny minority recorded as many as three. The findings do not rule out a role for comets altogether, but they point to alternatives, including molecules forming on Earth or arriving via asteroids. Conditions on ancient Mars may also have been more favourable for compounds to survive an impact.
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