Revisiting 1950s experiments for signs of life's origin

In the 1950s, biochemist Stanley Miller performed a series of experiments to demonstrate that organic compounds could be created under conditions mimicking the primordial Earth. Some unused samples from Miller’s research were recently uncovered by a team of scientists, including Jim Cleaves, of Carnegie’s Geophysical Laboratory. Their findings, carried out using modern techniques , indicate the possible importance of volcanoes and sulfur in the formation of amino acids, and possibly life, on earth.