Latest news with #DannyGlavin
Khaleej Times
30-01-2025
- Science
- Khaleej Times
Building blocks of life found in samples from asteroid Bennu
The return capsule containing a sample collected from the asteroid Bennu in October 2020 by Nasa's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is seen shortly after touching down in the desert at the Department of Defence's Utah Test and Training Range in Dugway, Utah, US, on September 24, 2023. — Reuters Rock and dust samples retrieved by Nasa from the asteroid Bennu exhibit some of the chemical building blocks of life, according to research that provides some of the best evidence to date that such space rocks may have seeded early Earth with the raw ingredients that fostered the emergence of living organisms. The U.S. space agency's robotic OSIRIS-REx spacecraft in 2020 collected the samples from the near-Earth asteroid, a rocky remnant of a larger celestial body that had formed near the dawn of the solar system roughly 4.5 billion years ago. The samples were delivered to Earth in 2023 by parachute inside a capsule released by OSIRIS-REx that landed in the Utah desert. Two analyses of the samples were published on Wednesday. One, in the journal Nature Astronomy, found that the samples contained a diverse mixture of organic compounds. And the other, in the journal Nature, found that the samples contained minerals formed when brine - salty water - evaporated on Bennu's parent body, the type of wet environment where prebiotic organic chemistry may have brewed. Present in the samples were 14 of the 20 organic compounds called amino acids that are used to make proteins - complex molecules that play indispensable roles in the structure, function and regulation of living organisms. Present also were all five nucleobases - the genetic components of DNA and RNA in all life on Earth. In the early solar system, planets including Earth and various moons were pelted by asteroids and other space debris that carried water and chemicals including organic compounds. "The detection of these key building blocks of life in the Bennu samples supports the theory that asteroids and their fragments seeded the early Earth with the raw ingredients that led to the emergence of life," said astrobiologist Danny Glavin of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, lead author of one of the studies. "In addition, the fact that these chemical building blocks of life can be formed in space and are widespread throughout the solar system increases the chances that life could have started beyond Earth," Glavin added. Organic compounds have one or more carbon atoms that are bound to other elements, usually hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen and sulfur. All life on Earth is based on carbon and is built from organic compounds including the amino acids used to create proteins and nucleobases. A nucleobase is a nitrogen-containing compound that stores genetic information. DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) and RNA (ribonucleic acid) are biomolecular cousins that are fundamental molecules in cell biology. DNA contains an organism's genetic code. RNA carries genetic information it receives from the DNA, putting this information into practice. "All biology is comprised of organic compounds. The origin of life is related to organic chemistry, some of which is preserved in these rocks from 4.5 billion years ago," said astrobiologist and study co-author Jason Dworkin, the OSIRIS-REx project scientist. The Bennu organic compounds all have been identified previously in meteorites that have landed on Earth. But there have been lingering questions because these meteorites could have been contaminated by terrestrial sources. The Bennu samples were obtained directly from an asteroid and were kept pristine. "We can trust these results," Glavin said. Bennu's icy parent body, perhaps about 60 miles (100 km) in diameter, appears to have formed in the outer solar system and was later destroyed, possibly 1-2 billion years ago. The fragments then formed Bennu and other "rubble pile" asteroids - loose amalgamations of rocky material rather than solid objects. Early in its history, some of the ice inside the parent body apparently melted and formed brine. The minerals formed in the evaporation of this brine had never previously been detected in meteorites that landed on Earth. "The brines provide an environment in which elements and simple organics could have combined to form more complex prebiotic organics on the pathway to life," said geologist Tim McCoy, curator of meteorites at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History in Washington and lead author of one of the studies. The researchers did not find evidence of actual DNA or RNA in the samples. "The suite of simple protein amino acids and nucleobases that were found in Bennu are a long way from anything that could be considered 'living,' for example, a more complex self-sustaining chemical system that can replicate and evolve which is comprised of much larger polymers - proteins and nucleic acids - that are found in cells," Glavin said.
Yahoo
29-01-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Scientists reveal what they found in sample taken from Bennu asteroid
WASHINGTON – NASA has unveiled discoveries made from examining a sample taken from the asteroid Bennu, which sheds light on how widely the building blocks of life exist in the universe. Launched in 2016, the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security-Regolith Explorer, or OSIRIS-REx for short, traveled to the asteroid – about 200 million miles away from Earth. NASA said the spacecraft successfully collected a sample of rocks and dust from the asteroid's surface in 2020, before dropping the capsule back on Earth in 2023. The historic mission was the first successful U.s. endeavor to collect a sample from an asteroid and return it to Earth. In studies published in Nature and Nature Astronomy, researchers revealed that the sample contained amino acids along with genetic material similar to DNA and RNA. "The clues we're looking for are so minuscule and so easily destroyed or altered from exposure to Earth's environment," Danny Glavin, a senior sample scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, said in a statement. "That's why some of these new discoveries would not be possible without a sample-return mission, meticulous contamination-control measures, and careful curation and storage of this precious material from Bennu." 'Touchdown': Nasa's Asteroid Sample Comes Blasting Down To Earth, Landing In Utah Researchers stressed that the compounds suggest that the basic components for life were common throughout the early solar system, but they are not direct evidence of life. Alongside the notable molecular discoveries, the research team said they found evidence that Bennu was rich in salts and other minerals. "Although scientists have previously detected several evaporites in meteorites that fall to Earth's surface, they have never seen a complete set that preserves an evaporation process that could have lasted thousands of years or more. Some minerals found in Bennu, such as trona, were discovered for the first time in extraterrestrial samples," NASA stated. Jason Dworkin, a project scientist with OSIRIS-REx at Nasa, described the findings as adding "major brushstrokes" to the picture of a solar system full of potential for life. The agency said the spacecraft that completed the sample return is on its way to investigate asteroid Apophis. The asteroid, previously known as 99942, is estimated to be around 1,100 feet wide and was only discovered in 2004. At the time, Apophis was thought to be on a trajectory toward Earth. After additional assessments, astronomers now believe that there is no risk of a hazardous collision, at least for a century. The spacecraft, now known as OSIRIS-APEX, is expected to reach the asteroid in 2029 and begin studying its surface composition. See The Objects Humans Left Behind On The MoonOriginal article source: Scientists reveal what they found in sample taken from Bennu asteroid
NBC News
29-01-2025
- Science
- NBC News
In NASA asteroid samples, scientists discover key building blocks of life
The Summary A NASA spacecraft brought samples from the asteroid Bennu back to Earth in 2023. The first in-depth analyses of that material have revealed organic molecules, including building blocks of life. The results bolster the theory that asteroids that crashed into Earth may have delivered the ingredients for life. In samples taken from a distant asteroid, scientists have discovered a host of organic molecules, including key building blocks of life. The surprising finding suggests the chemical ingredients necessary for life may have been widespread across the early solar system. NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft, which launched in 2016, scooped up bits of dust, soil and rocks from the asteroid Bennu and then brought them to Earth in 2023. The 4.5-billion-year-old asteroid is thought to have formed in the first 10 million years of the solar system's existence. An analysis of that collected asteroid material, published Wednesday in the journal Nature, indicates that the samples included thousands of organic compounds and 14 of the 20 amino acids that life on Earth uses to form proteins. The samples also contained four 'nucleobases' — the main components of DNA and RNA, which store and transmit genetic blueprints within our cells. The researchers did not find evidence of life itself on Bennu; rather, their results bolster the theory that asteroids that crashed into Earth when it was young may have delivered the necessary ingredients for life to take hold. The findings could also mean that the chances life formed on other planets and moons in the solar system could be higher than scientists previously thought. 'The OSIRIS-REx mission is already rewriting the textbook on what we understand about the ingredients thought to be necessary for the emergence of life in our solar system,' Nicky Fox, the associate administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate, said Wednesday in a news briefing. Similar organic molecules, including amino acids, have been detected in meteorites before, but these fragments of space rocks are imperfect specimens because they are studied after enduring fiery trips through Earth's atmosphere. Whereas meteorites have been exposed to and contaminated by conditions on Earth that could skew scientific results, gathering samples directly from an asteroid in space is like peering into a time capsule from the nascent solar system. 'What's so significant about the OSIRIS-REx Bennu findings is that those samples are pristine,' said Danny Glavin, an astrobiologist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. The return canister that carried the Bennu samples shielded them from harsh conditions during atmospheric re-entry, Glavin said. 'The bottom line is: We have a higher confidence that the organic material we're seeing in these samples are extraterrestrial and not contamination,' he said. 'We can trust these results.' In the samples from Bennu, the researchers stumbled on some surprises. For one, they found exceptionally high concentrations of ammonia — 'about 100 times more than the natural levels of ammonia that you find in soils on the Earth,' Glavin said. Ammonia is an essential ingredient in many biological processes, including as a building block to form amino acids, which in turn can link together into long chains to make proteins. Another surprise was described in a second paper published Wednesday in the journal Nature: Researchers found traces of 11 minerals that were likely part of a briny mixture left behind after deposits of water evaporated off Bennu and its parent asteroid. The salty crystals left behind by the evaporated water resembled sodium-rich crusts found in dry lakebeds on Earth, such as Searles Lake in California, said Tim McCoy, curator of meteorites at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum in Washington, D.C., and a co-author of both studies. 'We now know from Bennu that the raw ingredients of life were combining in really interesting and complex ways on Bennu's parent body,' McCoy said in a statement. 'We have discovered that next step on a pathway to life.' The minerals detected included sodium carbonate compounds such as trona (sometimes referred to as 'soda ash') that the scientists said had never been observed in other extraterrestrial samples. Similar briny mixtures are thought to exist on Saturn's moon Enceladus and the dwarf planet Ceres. The two new studies represent the first in-depth analyses of the Bennu samples. In 2023, scientists announced preliminary findings, including traces of carbon and water locked up in clay minerals. The soil and rock from Bennu are the first samples NASA has collected and brought back from an asteroid, but they were not the first in history. Japan's Hayabusa mission in 2010 delivered to Earth a few micrograms of material from an asteroid called Itokawa. A second mission, dubbed Hayabusa2, delivered a small sample from an asteroid known as Ryugu in 2020. While the samples from Bennu have already yielded intriguing results, more research is needed to understand what precisely causes life to emerge on one planet or moon and not others. 'What did Bennu not have that Earth did have?' said Jason Dworkin, an OSIRIS-REx project scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. 'This is a future area of study for astrobiologists around the world to ponder, looking at Bennu as an example of a place that had all the stuff but didn't make life. Why was Earth special?'
Yahoo
29-01-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Building blocks of life found in samples from asteroid Bennu
By Will Dunham WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Rock and dust samples retrieved by NASA from the asteroid Bennu exhibit some of the chemical building blocks of life, according to research that provides some of the best evidence to date that such space rocks may have seeded early Earth with the raw ingredients that fostered the emergence of living organisms. The U.S. space agency's robotic OSIRIS-REx spacecraft in 2020 collected the samples from the near-Earth asteroid, a rocky remnant of a larger celestial body that had formed near the dawn of the solar system roughly 4.5 billion years ago. The samples were delivered to Earth in 2023 by parachute inside a capsule released by OSIRIS-REx that landed in the Utah desert. See for yourself — The Yodel is the go-to source for daily news, entertainment and feel-good stories. By signing up, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy. Two analyses of the samples were published on Wednesday. One, in the journal Nature Astronomy, found that the samples contained a diverse mixture of organic compounds. And the other, in the journal Nature, found that the samples contained minerals formed when brine - salty water - evaporated on Bennu's parent body, the type of wet environment where prebiotic organic chemistry may have brewed. Present in the samples were 14 of the 20 organic compounds called amino acids that are used to make proteins - complex molecules that play indispensable roles in the structure, function and regulation of living organisms. Present also were all five nucleobases - the genetic components of DNA and RNA in all life on Earth. In the early solar system, planets including Earth and various moons were pelted by asteroids and other space debris that carried water and chemicals including organic compounds. "The detection of these key building blocks of life in the Bennu samples supports the theory that asteroids and their fragments seeded the early Earth with the raw ingredients that led to the emergence of life," said astrobiologist Danny Glavin of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, lead author of one of the studies. "In addition, the fact that these chemical building blocks of life can be formed in space and are widespread throughout the solar system increases the chances that life could have started beyond Earth," Glavin added. Organic compounds have one or more carbon atoms that are bound to other elements, usually hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen and sulfur. All life on Earth is based on carbon and is built from organic compounds including the amino acids used to create proteins and nucleobases. A nucleobase is a nitrogen-containing compound that stores genetic information. DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) and RNA (ribonucleic acid) are biomolecular cousins that are fundamental molecules in cell biology. DNA contains an organism's genetic code. RNA carries genetic information it receives from the DNA, putting this information into practice. "All biology is comprised of organic compounds. The origin of life is related to organic chemistry, some of which is preserved in these rocks from 4.5 billion years ago," said astrobiologist and study co-author Jason Dworkin, the OSIRIS-REx project scientist. The Bennu organic compounds all have been identified previously in meteorites that have landed on Earth. But there have been lingering questions because these meteorites could have been contaminated by terrestrial sources. The Bennu samples were obtained directly from an asteroid and were kept pristine. "We can trust these results," Glavin said. Bennu's icy parent body, perhaps about 60 miles (100 km) in diameter, appears to have formed in the outer solar system and was later destroyed, possibly 1-2 billion years ago. The fragments then formed Bennu and other "rubble pile" asteroids - loose amalgamations of rocky material rather than solid objects. Early in its history, some of the ice inside the parent body apparently melted and formed brine. The minerals formed in the evaporation of this brine had never previously been detected in meteorites that landed on Earth. "The brines provide an environment in which elements and simple organics could have combined to form more complex prebiotic organics on the pathway to life," said geologist Tim McCoy, curator of meteorites at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History in Washington and lead author of one of the studies. The researchers did not find evidence of actual DNA or RNA in the samples. "The suite of simple protein amino acids and nucleobases that were found in Bennu are a long way from anything that could be considered 'living,' for example, a more complex self-sustaining chemical system that can replicate and evolve which is comprised of much larger polymers - proteins and nucleic acids - that are found in cells," Glavin said.
Reuters
29-01-2025
- Science
- Reuters
Building blocks of life found in samples from asteroid Bennu
Summary OSIRIS-REx spacecraft retrieved Bennu samples in 2020 Asteroid is remnant of 4.5 billion-year-old parent body It has amino acids and nucleobases found in DNA and RNA WASHINGTON, Jan 29 (Reuters) - Rock and dust samples retrieved by NASA from the asteroid Bennu exhibit some of the chemical building blocks of life, according to research that provides some of the best evidence to date that such space rocks may have seeded early Earth with the raw ingredients that fostered the emergence of living organisms. The U.S. space agency's robotic OSIRIS-REx spacecraft in 2020 collected the samples from the near-Earth asteroid, a rocky remnant of a larger celestial body that had formed near the dawn of the solar system roughly 4.5 billion years ago. The samples were delivered to Earth in 2023 by parachute inside a capsule released by OSIRIS-REx that landed in the Utah desert. Two analyses of the samples were published on Wednesday. One, in the journal Nature Astronomy, opens new tab, found that the samples contained a diverse mixture of organic compounds. And the other, in the journal Nature, opens new tab, found that the samples contained minerals formed when brine - salty water - evaporated on Bennu's parent body, the type of wet environment where prebiotic organic chemistry may have brewed. Present in the samples were 14 of the 20 organic compounds called amino acids that are used to make proteins - complex molecules that play indispensable roles in the structure, function and regulation of living organisms. Present also were all five nucleobases - the genetic components of DNA and RNA in all life on Earth. In the early solar system, planets including Earth and various moons were pelted by asteroids and other space debris that carried water and chemicals including organic compounds. "The detection of these key building blocks of life in the Bennu samples supports the theory that asteroids and their fragments seeded the early Earth with the raw ingredients that led to the emergence of life," said astrobiologist Danny Glavin of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, lead author of one of the studies. "In addition, the fact that these chemical building blocks of life can be formed in space and are widespread throughout the solar system increases the chances that life could have started beyond Earth," Glavin added. Organic compounds have one or more carbon atoms that are bound to other elements, usually hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen and sulfur. All life on Earth is based on carbon and is built from organic compounds including the amino acids used to create proteins and nucleobases. A nucleobase is a nitrogen-containing compound that stores genetic information. DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) and RNA (ribonucleic acid) are biomolecular cousins that are fundamental molecules in cell biology. DNA contains an organism's genetic code. RNA carries genetic information it receives from the DNA, putting this information into practice. "All biology is comprised of organic compounds. The origin of life is related to organic chemistry, some of which is preserved in these rocks from 4.5 billion years ago," said astrobiologist and study co-author Jason Dworkin, the OSIRIS-REx project scientist. The Bennu organic compounds all have been identified previously in meteorites that have landed on Earth. But there have been lingering questions because these meteorites could have been contaminated by terrestrial sources. The Bennu samples were obtained directly from an asteroid and were kept pristine. "We can trust these results," Glavin said. Bennu's icy parent body, perhaps about 60 miles (100 km) in diameter, appears to have formed in the outer solar system and was later destroyed, possibly 1-2 billion years ago. The fragments then formed Bennu and other"rubble pile" asteroids - loose amalgamations of rocky material rather than solid objects. Early in its history, some of the ice inside the parent body apparently melted and formed brine. The minerals formed in the evaporation of this brine had never previously been detected in meteorites that landed on Earth. "The brines provide an environment in which elements and simple organics could have combined to form more complex prebiotic organics on the pathway to life," said geologist Tim McCoy, curator of meteorites at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History in Washington and lead author of one of the studies. The researchers did not find evidence of actual DNA or RNA in the samples. "The suite of simple protein amino acids and nucleobases that were found in Bennu are a long way from anything that could be considered 'living,' for example, a more complex self-sustaining chemical system that can replicate and evolve which is comprised of much larger polymers - proteins and nucleic acids - that are found in cells," Glavin said.
