Martin Cordiner, research associate, physics, was quoted in CNN, NASA, and The Register UK on his study showing evidence of a molecule that consists of 60 carbon atoms, a celebrity molecule known as Buckyballs.
..."The diffuse ISM can be considered as the starting point for the chemical processes that ultimately give rise to planets and life," said Martin Cordiner, study author and research associate in the Catholic University of America's Department of Physics, in a statement. "So fully identifying its contents provides information on the ingredients available to create stars and planets."...
Continue reading on CNN
...Life as we know it is based on carbon-bearing molecules, and this discovery shows complex carbon molecules can form and survive in the harsh environment of interstellar space. “In some ways, life can be thought of as the ultimate in chemical complexity,” said Cordiner...
Continue reading on NASA
...Scientists are particularly interested in complex carbon molecules like Buckyballs since most living matter, at least here on Earth, is made out of organic material that includes carbon. The fact that there are chunks of carbon drifting through space indicates there's perhaps carbon in other systems and on other planets, and those worlds may thus have life as we know it on them...
Continue reading on The Register UK