A laboratory simulation suggests that a shock wave of X-rays and gamma rays
fused material in a cloud of gas and dust to make the seeds from which the
planets grew. The shock wave could have come from a gamma-ray burst, one of the
massive explosions that astronomers believe happen somewhere in the Universe
about twice a day.
To test the idea, a team led by Lorraine Hanlon of University College Dublin
put together a mixture of dust from various oxides and silicates suspended in
hydrogen and helium gas, and zapped it with radiation from high-energy
electrons. The dust grains…
