8. Electric Spark Hypothesis
The Electric Spark Hypothesis, inspired by the Miller-Urey experiment conducted in 1952, posits that lightning or electrical discharges in Earth’s early atmosphere facilitated the formation of amino acids, the building blocks of proteins. (en.wikipedia.org) In this experiment, a mixture of gases—methane, ammonia, and hydrogen—was subjected to electrical sparks, simulating lightning, resulting in the synthesis of amino acids. (edu.rsc.org) This finding suggests that such electrical energy could have played a crucial role in the prebiotic synthesis of organic molecules essential for life. (scientificamerican.com)