The fundamental energy molecules that power every living cell on Earth likely formed spontaneously from minerals in deep-sea volcanic vents.

Life requires a specific process called phosphorylation to store and move energy. A mineral called native palladium found in hydrothermal vents can turn common phosphite into reactive phosphate. This reaction happens without any enzymes or complex biological machinery and creates the precursors for molecules like ADP and ATP. This suggests that the chemical battery of life was already running before the first cell ever existed. Deep-sea vents may have acted as a giant natural laboratory that pre-packaged the ingredients for the first organisms.