Microlightning
- A new study suggests that microlightning in water droplets may have played a role in the origin of life on Earth, challenging the traditional Miller-Urey hypothesis.
- Microlightning refers to tiny electrical discharges that occur when oppositely charged water droplets come close together, generating small sparks.
- The Miller-Urey hypothesis proposed that life began when lightning struck Earth's oceans, triggering chemical reactions that formed organic molecules like amino acids.
- Unlike lightning, which is infrequent and mostly occurs in open ocean, water sprays from crashing waves, waterfalls, and splashes against rocks were common on early Earth and could have sustained organic ....
