More Evidence That Life Started in Space

Nobody knows how life on Earth began, but the primordial soup likely got a lot of its ingredients from space.

Scientists have discovered concentrations of amino acids in two meteorites that are more than 10 times higher than levels previously measured in other similar meteorites.

Amino acids are organic molecules that form the backbone of proteins, which in turn build many of the structures and drive many of the chemical reactions inside living cells.

The production of proteins is believed to constitute one of the first steps in the emergence of life.

So the finding suggests that the early solar system was far richer in the organic building blocks of life than scientists had thought.

The researchers speculate that rocks from space may have spiked Earth's primordial broth.

It's an argument that's been made before. In fact, the hypothesis of "panspermia" has been around for more than a century. But the prevalence of amino acids strengthens the reasoning.

Pictured: Artist conception of what primitive, early inhuman life might have looked like.