Accidental discoveries have always been the most groundbreaking discoveries in the entire history of science, because magnificent things were found without us thinking of them, not taking the usual way to see things, and therefore unleashing new possibilities.
A recent case of an accidental discovery was that of a molecule, a bowl-shaped molecule that can capture carbon dioxide from the surrounding air. Scientists are working to bio-engineer microbes that could produce these CO2-capturing molecules.
J.A. Tossel, a scientist from Maryland made a study revealing that another scientist discovered the CO2-capturing molecules while studying on another experiment, totally unrelated to CO2 capturing or global warming. Carbon dioxide was collecting in the molecule, and the scientist realized that it was coming from air in the lab. Tossell recognized that these qualities might make it useful as an industrial absorbent for removing carbon dioxide.
“It is also conceivable that living organisms may be developed which are capable of emplacing structurally ion receptors within their cell membranes,” Tossel’s report notes. No further details have been given on the molecule’s formula, or how it was obtained, but the August 3 issue of Inorganic Chemistry will reveal more on this discovery.
