Thursday 7th Oct - Saturday 13th Nov 2010
a collaboration between Paul B. Davis and AIDS-3D
In 1952 Stanley L. Miller, working in the laboratory of Harold C. Urey at the University of Chicago, attempted to clarify the chemical reactions that gave rise to organic compounds on primitive Earth. The experiment ran as a closed loop connecting two flasks. One flask contained water that represented Earth's ocean, a second flask contained a mixture of methane (CH4), ammonia (NH3), and hydrogen (H2) that represented a hypothetical 'reductive' atmosphere. Miller heated the water to simulate evaporation and rainfall, and used electrodes to simulate lightning, guessing that lightning was a likely energy source for ancient chemical reactions. After running the experiment for one week Miller found that as much as 15% of the carbon in the system now existed in the form of organic compounds. While the Miller-Urey Experiment did not conclusively prove the chemical makeup of primordial Earth, it became a classic experiment on the origin of life.
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