Were hot, humid summers the key to life`s origins?
(PHYSorg.com Chemistry)

Uncovering how the first biological molecules (like proteins and DNA) arose is a major goal for researchers attempting to solve the origin of life. Today, chemists at Saint Louis University, in collaboration with scientists at the College of Charleston and the NSF/NASA Center for Chemical Evolution, published a study in the journal Nature Communications that suggests deliquescent minerals-which dissolve in water they absorb from humid air-can assist the construction of proteins from simpler building blocks during cycles timed to mimic day and night on the early Earth.