3 ms·

actually a living organism is needed to produce it this way

• xrisk 2y ago
  Wikipedia says "In industry dimethyl sulfide is produced by treating hydrogen sulfide with excess methanol over an aluminium oxide catalyst”. Which part requires a living organism?
  • hidroto 2y ago
    I think they are being a little glib by saying a human is need to make the industrial processes.
  • varjag 2y ago
    Virtually all of them involve non-trivial design by sentient beings.
  • rsynnott 2y ago
    Well, someone needs to treat the hydrogen sulphide with excess methanol over an aluminium oxide catalyst. I suppose a robot could do it... For a non-life explanation, you're really looking for something that could plausibly happen in (abiotic) nature, not an industrial process.
    • mr_toad 2y ago
      The only thing that could make a nerd happier than detecting alien life would be detecting alien robots.
      • rpastuszak 2y ago
        Wait, what's the difference?
        • griffzhowl 2y ago
          Alien life could just be microbial, while alien robots would require an advanced technological civilization, I guess
          • darkwater 2y ago
            Well, there could be nanobots...
  • aurareturn 2y ago
    Which part requires a living organism? haha. Do you really need a hint?