In “Did deadly formaldehyde give life to Earth?”, Clara Moskowitz tells us, “Scientists test the theory in their lab, and say the answer is most likely ‘yes'” (MSNBC4/4/2011):
“We may owe our existence on this planet to interstellar formaldehyde,” said researcher George Cody of the Geophysical Laboratory at the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington, D.C., in a statement. “And what’s ironic about it is that formaldehyde is poisonous to life on Earth.”
Cody and his collaborators, Conel Alexander and Larry Nittler of Carnegie’s Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, studied carbon-containing meteorites called carbonaceous chondrites for clues about where their organic compounds originated.[ … ]Since this chemical reaction could have occurred naturally, based on what scientists know of the early solar system, it seems like a good bet that it produced many of the initial organic compounds in our nearby cosmos, the researchers said.
“Establishing the likely origin of the principal source of organic carbon in primitive solar system bodies is extremely satisfying,” Cody said.
The article follows the new approach recommended to science writers of not offering a dissenting opinion, thus circumventing context. Comments?
(Note: Here are seven OOL theories.)