text: In March 2014, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory demonstrated a unique way to study the origins of life: fuel cells. Fuel cells are similar to biological cells in that electrons are also transferred to and from molecules. In both cases, this results in electricity and power. The study of fuel cells suggest that an important factor in protocell development was that the Earth provides electrical energy at the seafloor. "This energy could have kick-started life and could have sustained life after it arose. Now, we have a way of testing different materials and environments that could have helped life arise not just on Earth, but possibly on Mars, Europa and other places in the Solar System."