Cosmic rays may be the source of biological ‘handedness’

The video explores the hypothesis that cosmic rays influenced the development of chirality in biological molecules on early Earth. Cosmic rays, which are high-energy particles from the sun, interact with the Earth's atmosphere, creating cascades of particles. These interactions may have led to an evolutionary preference for one type of chirality in organic molecules like DNA and RNA, resulting in the dominance of a single handedness in biological life.

Which universities are associated with the researchers proposing the cosmic ray hypothesis?

• Oxford University and Cambridge University

• University of California and Yale University

• New York University and Stanford University

• Harvard University and MIT

What happens to cosmic rays when they enter Earth's atmosphere?

• They degrade into cascades of elementary particles

• They transform into light

• They disappear completely

• They become harmless

What is unique about the structure of DNA and RNA molecules?

• They can only be left-handed

• They can only be right-handed

• They can exist in both left-handed and right-handed forms

• They are not affected by cosmic rays

What did the researchers propose about the prebiotic soup on ancient Earth?

• It only produced right-handed nucleic acids

• It was unaffected by cosmic rays

• It produced both left and right-handed versions of nucleic acids

• It only produced left-handed nucleic acids

How did cosmic rays influence the evolution of chirality in biological molecules?

• They gave an advantage to one chirality over the other

• They made all molecules right-handed

• They had no effect on chirality

• They made all molecules left-handed