Ionized molecular hydrogen can be seen evaporating from the tips of these star-forming columns of gas and dust, under pressure of ultraviolet light from the nebula's central blue giant stars.

Organisms other than cyanobacteria, such as the alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, also produce hydrogen at similar rates, says Olaf Kruse of Bielefeld University in Germany, who works with the species.

51142 work better, Lenz suggests genetically modifying the bacterium to contain a more efficient hydrogenase enzyme, so less hydrogen is lost.