Tholins are simple organic compounds made of CHON. They were first made in Carl Sagan's lab (remember him?) in the 1970s to attempt to match observations of Saturn's moon Titan. (Tholins are also sometimes called "Titan tholins.")

http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/

Tholins are made by taking CHON gases (H2, N2, etc) and mixing them, and then shooting an electric charge through the mixture. Sound familiar?

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