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Hydrogen cyanide polymers, comets and the origin of life

Matthews, Clifford N.; Minard, Robert D.

Hydrogen cyanide polymers - heterogeneous solids ranging in colour from yellow to orange to brown to black - could be major components of the dark matter observed on many bodies of the outer solar system including asteroids, moons, planets and, especially, comets. The presence on cometary nuclei of frozen volatiles such as methane, ammonia and wat…