The chemistry of outer space

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The only chemistry we know is what we can experience on our planet, or is it? Brett McGuire is among the pioneers looking beyond the Earth’s atmosphere and discovering a surprising and fascinatingly complex chemical world that defies imagination and provides intriguing new insights into the origin of the chemistry we know. 

In one of our most fascinating episodes yet, Paolo and Brett discuss astrochemistry, the study of chemistry in outer space. Chemistry in space is unique because it is atmosphere and solvation free, and temperature is really low. By scanning radio telescope spectra, astrochemists are discovering hundreds of complex organic molecules in the spaces between stars and are developing intriguing new theories on the origin of our chemical reservoir, the reasons for biological L- chirality, and how life could vary in different parts of the universe. 

If you’re tempted to dismiss this as mere curiosity, you will be surprised by how efforts to study chemistry happening light years away from our planet are often the key to revolutionizing chemistry here on Earth.

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