"Unlocking the Secrets of Life's Origins: A Pathway to Alien Worlds"

Scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have compiled a cookbook of hundreds of chemical recipes that could potentially give rise to life on other planets. By focusing on autocatalytic reactions, which are chemical reactions that produce molecules that encourage the same reaction to happen again and again, the researchers have identified 270 combinations of molecules with the potential for sustained autocatalysis. These recipes could help guide the search for life on distant, inhabited planets by identifying the most likely conditions for the emergence of life.