Many news media report that organic molecules have been found on Comet 67P. However, news media report that the organic molecules are “our abiological ancestral material” (note 1), “precursors of life” (note 2). In fact, those organic molecules are chemical fossils– the remains of life, not the precursors of life, not our abiological ancestral material, for the following reasons:
1. Numerous organic molecules have been found in rocks on Earth, in Martian meteorites and even in rocks on Mars. These organic molecules are billions of years old and called chemical fossils. No one says they are precursors to life.
2. Many scientists claim the organic molecules found on Comet 67P were precursors to life (prebiotic), because they theorize that comets are the material that condensed from cosmic cloud and remain pristine (note 2).
5. New York Times reports: “Jean-Pierre Bibring, the lead scientist for the Philae lander, highlighted the discovery of large dark grains, a millimeter or more wide, which appeared to be made of complex light-absorbing organic molecules. “This is fundamental,” Dr. Bibring said. “We didn’t know that.” (Quoted from
6. The large dark grains of a millimeter width mentioned in point 5 should be macro fossils, just like the macro fossils mentioned in point 4.
Then, why do scientists say the molecules were our ancestral material? Answer: They hope to prove the theory of evolution, especially the part about life arising from non-living matter (note 3). This hope of scientists explains a lot of strange things in space exploration.