Vinyl Cyanide Life

We don t have much to go on for what life on another planet would look like.

Vinyl cyanide life.

We only have the basic definition for what life is on earth and even here such a binary system doesn t always work. The study that details their findings titled alma detection and astrobiological potential of vinyl cyanide on titan was published in the july 28th issue of the journal science advances. Life on other planets. It has a pungent odor of garlic or onions.

In terms of its molecular structure it consists of a vinyl group linked to a nitrile it is an important monomer for the manufacture of useful plastics such as polyacrylonitrile. Using those serendipitous data the scientists determined that millions of pounds of vinyl cyanide hover in titan s atmosphere. The team detected it primarily at altitudes above 120 miles which. But once scientists discovered that titan had oceans at all excitement struck.

The first suspect is of course vinyl cyanide. The cornell researchers led by professor of chemical and biological engineering paulette clancy set out to discover whether molecules that exist on titan could. And given that cells are the building blocks of life it s not too far of an extrapolation to say that the discovery of vinyl cyanide on titan one of saturn s moons could be the discovery of. Vinyl cyanide is hypothesised to join together to form a cell membrane the outer layer of a cell that creates a tiny enclosed environment.

Vinyl cyanide has yet to be proven to produce life but an earlier study by cornell university researchers that was also published in science advances made it an intriguing prospect. Why is it needed for life on titan. It is a colorless volatile liquid although commercial samples can be yellow due to impurities. The presence of vinyl cyanide in an environment with liquid methane suggests the intriguing possibility of chemical processes that are analogous to those important for life on earth dr.

Acrylonitrile is an organic compound with the formula ch 2 chcn.