http://sciencenews.org/20031220/fob1.asp

Cool Cosmos: Orbiting telescope views infrared universe

[...]

Peering at a brilliant but dust-shrouded galaxy more than 3 billion light-years
from Earth, Spitzer detected an abundance of organic compounds, including frozen
carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, water, methane, and polycyclic aromatic
hydrocarbons. The telescope recorded the organic compounds in the galaxy as it
appeared 3.25 billion years ago, a time when primitive life had just gained a
foothold on Earth.

The new finding suggests that "the building blocks [of life] are spread around
the universe," says Spitzer astronomer James R. Houck of Cornell University.