Teamwork: (From left) Affan Adly Nazri, Dr Zulfazli Rosli and Nursyazela from RCL Star Formation Group and Prof Zamri.
In a breakthrough that challenges long-held scientific assumptions, researchers from Universiti Malaya (UM) have detected a key life-building molecule – formaldehyde (H2CO) – in one of the most hostile environments in our galaxy: near the Milky Way’s centre.
Led by the Radio Cosmology Research Laboratory (RCL) under the Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics Research (CAAR), the UM team observed formaldehyde in dense molecular clouds just 0.2 kiloparsecs from the galactic core – a region long considered too violent and unstable to support the chemistry needed for life.
