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The word \u201cvolatile\u201d is commonly used in the space exploration community, but it has a different meaning than when used otherwise. In space exploration, volatiles are defined as the six most common elements in living organisms, plus water. Earth had enough volatiles for life to start here, but it might not have been that way. Researchers from the University of Cambridge and Imperial College London now think they have a reason why Earth received as many volatiles as it did \u2013 and thereby allowed it to develop life in the first place.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n One characteristic of volatiles that makes them both difficult to deal with but easy to transport is that they vaporize at relatively low temperatures. Granted, a relatively low temperature could be 950\u00b0C for zinc, the volatile the researchers chose to look at.\u00a0<\/p>\n They chose zinc because it has a unique composition when captured in meteorites, allowing researchers to identify its source based on that composition. Previously, some of the same researchers had found that the zinc found on Earth had come from different parts of our solar system. About half had originated out past Jupiter, while half came from closer to home.<\/p>\n \n