Cometary ice slams into the young Earth. The pressure at the impact point is like stacking six aircraft carriers on your thumbnail. In the lab, such conditions are reproduced by squeezing a tiny sample between two rotating anvils.

This time, adenosine monophosphate — one of the letters of future RNA — was placed under the anvils. A little water was added to mimic a moist environment, and then it was squeezed. After releasing the pressure, the molecule was studied in five different ways: probed with X-rays, observed how it scatters light, and even weighed its fragments.

They expected the molecules to link into long chains — like beads on a string. But no chains formed. Instead, adenosine monophosphate partially broke apart into pieces: adenine, sugar fragments, dehydrated and oxidized forms. So the impact didn't build; it rather broke things down.

However, the fragments are still organic. This means comets and asteroids could not only deliver ready-made substances but also reshape them into new combinations. The building blocks remain building blocks, even if the house didn't come together.