If you could scoop up a cloud from the center of the Milky Way, you’d find something surprising—booze. There’s a massive gas cloud near Sagittarius B2 loaded with ethyl alcohol, the same kind found in beer and wine. Sadly, it’s spread too thin to drink, but it does hint at how complex molecules form in space. Some scientists think these interstellar molecules played a role in the chemistry that led to life on Earth. So, in a way, the universe might have been brewing organic chemistry before life even began.
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