Life from the Kuiper belt

Scientists have analyzed a well-preserved meterorite that contains the building blocks of life. This evidence supports the theory that meteor strikes on Earth's surface millions of years ago led to.. us. From this article in Scientific American:

The ratios of the nitrogen and hydrogen isotopes in the hollow globules, measured with a spectrometer, indicate the "organics are completely indigenous to the meteorite" and did not come from Earth contamination, according to team member Michael Zolensky.

The isotope composition also provides evidence that the globules formed at near-absolute zero. This type of "exotic environment," team member Scott Messenger says, never existed in the region of the solar system where Earth formed or near the asteroid belt; these cold temperatures, however, do persist in its outer reaches, the so-called Kuiper belt, and beyond. The globules' rare isotope composition and the presence of particles from other stars that managed to survive the chaotic environment of the early solar system indicate the organic matter likely originated in the cold molecular cloud that gave birth to the planets.