Tiny Bolts of Lightning Produced by Water Droplets May Have Sparked Life on Earth

Learn more about how these experiments show that those small electrical charges can trigger the chemical reactions necessary to form organic molecules.

By Paul Smaglik
Mar 14, 2025 7:50 PMMar 14, 2025 9:13 PM
Lightning striking the ocean
(Image Credit:muratart/Shutterstock)

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Art and literature have often depicted the creation of life with big, dramatic moments — often involving electricity.

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein got zapped into action. Michelangelo’s God (after six REALLY busy days) seemed to send an invisible but palpable spark into Adam’s extended finger, waking him into existence on the Sistine Chapel’s ceiling.

The same is true for one scientific theory of life’s creation on Earth.

Lightening and Life Creation

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