Solar 'superflares' millions of times stronger than anything today may have sparked life on Earth

A simulation of an enormous solar flare and coronal mass ejection (CME) blasting out of the sun. Such a storm may have contributed to the rise of life on Earth, new research suggests. (Image credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center)

Life on Earth could have been sparked by enormous superflares from a hyperactive young sun, a new study suggests. 

By firing charged particles found in the solar wind at a concoction of gases present in Earth's early atmosphere, scientists found that the combined ingredients  form significant quantities of amino acids and carboxylic acids — the building blocks for proteins and all organic life.