In a groundbreaking revelation from the cosmos, NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission has unearthed molecular treasures within samples returned from the ancient asteroid Bennu: the first-ever extraterrestrial sugar, vital for life's building blocks, alongside a mysterious polymer dubbed "space gum" for its sticky resilience. These findings, announced in late 2024, illuminate the primordial soup of our solar system's origins, suggesting that the raw ingredients for biology may have hitchhiked to Earth on such carbonaceous visitors, sparking the dawn of terrestrial life billions of years ago.
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Link to article: https://www.space.com/astronomy/asteroids/nasa-discovers-space-gum-and-sugars-crucial-to-life-in-asteroid-bennu-samples-brought-to-earth-video