interstellar chemistry

Interstellar clouds, I learned within the last two days, contain over 130 different kinds of molecules. Chemists trying to figure out how molecules can form at the extremely low temperatures of space have now developed a combination of theoretical and experimental methods allowing them to predict which reactions will still run at 20 K (in defiance of Arrhenius' Law which wants reactions to go slower at lower temperatures).
Read my story here:
http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/News/2007/July/05070702.asp


of vaguely related interest is my recent book, Astrobiology:

http://www.geocities.com/michaelgrr/abio.html