Apparently finding alcohol and sugar in a comet is exciting to scientists for reasons other than getting absolutely space-wasted.
Nicolas Biver, a scientist at the Paris Observatory, said the aptly-named comet Lovejoy was “releasing as much alcohol as in at least 500 bottles of wine every second during its peak activity,” and that the surprise presence of ethyl alcohol – that’s the drinkable one, folks – and a few different types of sugar on the comet could reveal a lot about the history of life on Earth.
The current theory goes that complex molecules such as alcohol and sugar were smashed onto a young Earth via comet collisions. Add some heat, shake and stir, rest for several hundred million years and presto: life!
The presence of these “building blocks” on Lovejoy (officially named C/2014 Q2, in case you were wondering) is pretty exciting. Also exciting: the discovery of an enormous alcoholic cloud hanging around in space. Add astronauts getting the all-clear to drink to the equation, and space travel could be getting a whole lot messier.
Story via Phys.org.
Image: Universal Images via Getty.
Image: Universal Images via Getty.
