Left or Right? The Mirror Mystery That Took Over 100 Years to Solve

Your left hand mirrors your right — but no matter how you turn them, they never match. Molecules have the same problem, and life itself picked only one side. Why? The 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry goes jointly to Henri B. Kagan (Université Paris-Sud) and Kenso Soai (Tokyo University of Science), "for the discovery of non-linear effects and autocatalysis in asymmetric organic synthesis." Announced 7 October 2026. Their discovery: a tiny excess of one mirror form of a molecule can amplify itself, growing into a large one. That explains how single-handed molecules — the kind most medicines need — can be made, and offers a clue to one of science's oldest puzzles: how life's molecules ended up all one-handed. Sources: NobelPrize.org — press release for the 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. This video was made with AI narration and visuals.