Microlightning in mist may have sparked life on Earth

The energy from ‘microlightning’ might have powered chemical reactions that formed the building blocks for life on Earth. When water sprays as a fine mist — after the crash of a wave, for example — it forms minute, charged droplets. The proximity of oppositely-charged droplets to one another generates an electrical discharge and a tiny flash of light. Researchers found that in the presence of gases including nitrogen, methane and carbon dioxide, microlightning caused the synthesis of molecules such as the amino acid glycine and uracil, a key component of RNA.