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Underwater "White Smoker" Vents: Is This Where Life Began?

2 minutes 28 seconds
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Aerial view of gray fish swimming in the shadows on the ocean floor. Text reads, "Underwater 'White Smoker' Vents: Is This Where Life Began?" NASA icon at bottom is labeled, "Jet Propulsion Laboratory. California Institute of Technology."

Some scientists think the story of life on Earth may have started around hydrothermal vents at the bottom of the ocean 4.5 billion years ago. Scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory mimicked those ancient undersea environments with a complex experimental setup. They showed that under extreme pressure, fluids from these seafloor cracks mixed with ancient ocean water could have produced organic molecules. These molecules are the building blocks that compose nearly all life on Earth.

Media Details

Runtime: 2 minutes 28 seconds

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