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The Conversation USA

Water was both essential and a barrier to early life on Earth – microdroplets are one potential solution to this paradox

  • Written by Nicolás M. Morato, PhD Candidate in Chemistry, Purdue University
imageWater microdroplets provide a unique interface that can significantly speed up chemical reactions.Marianna Armata/Moment via Getty Images

It’s a paradox: Life needs water to survive, but a world full of water can’t generate the biomolecules that would have been essential for early life. Or so researchers thought.

Water is everywhere. Most...

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