Sydney Scientists Create Cosmic Dust in Lab to Probe Life’s Origins

Scientists say recreating cosmic dust could reveal how organic matter reached Earth and helped spark life.
Cosmic dust, formed around dying stars, carries carbon-based molecules that underpin biology.
At the University of Sydney, researcher Linda Losurdo has produced synthetic cosmic dust from scratch.
She recreated space conditions in a vacuum tube and energised star-like gases with high voltage plasma.
The resulting dust mimics the infrared signature seen in meteorites and interstellar space.
Researchers hope this work will clarify how organic compounds formed and travelled to early Earth.
The study appears in the Astrophysical Journal published by the American Astronomical Society.