The discovery that cyanoacetylene (HC 3 N) is formed as a major nitrogen-containing product when mixtures of methane and nitrogen are subjected to an electrical discharge )-among other plausible geochemical synthesis routes -has long motivated the study of this linear cyanopolyyne as a potential prebiotic feedstock molecule. Indeed, cyanoacetylene is now considered to be the first ingredient in the synthesis of activated pyrimidine ribonucleotides in the "RNA world" hypothesis ). As such, the ongoing study of cyanoacetylene will play an important role in extraterrestrial exploration and the search for life in space.