Ancient asteroids brought building blocks of life to Earth, study finds

mirror.co.uk:

Ancient asteroid impacts created the building blocks of life on Earth - and Mars, according to new research. Seabed craters hold the secret to how meteorites brought vital organic molecules to both worlds - billions of years ago.

It's known the Red Planet was once covered in water - and was bombarded with space rocks billions of years ago, say scientists.

Now a study has shown when space rocks splash down they make amino acids - the basic components of proteins. It explains how life got kick-started on Earth.

The same phenomenon quite possibly happened on Mars - before it got stripped of its atmosphere. The findings, published in the journal Scientific Reports, is based on lab experiments simulations of asteroids crashing into the ocean.