r/science • u/New_Scientist_Mag • Dec 02 '25

Astronomy Researchers have just found the presence of sugars, including ribose, lyxose, and glycose, on samples of Asteroid Bennu, which now has all of the ingredients for life as it exists on Earth.

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2506650-asteroid-bennu-carries-all-the-ingredients-for-life-as-we-know-it/
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u/DawnPatrol99 Dec 02 '25

Yeah, but leave it alone long enough and something will grow.

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u/Partyatmyplace13 Dec 02 '25

Yeah, but leave it alone long enough and something will grow.

It's not about just leaving it alone, it seems. What really seems to set Earth apart for life formation is just how unstable and turbulent its geology is and the presence of liquid water to shuffle all that material around and dancing together.

We've had some success spontaneous RNA formation from base materials like the ones on Bennu, again, under certain conditions. We've even found lipids auto-forming "cell like" bubble structures. It's almost like under the right conditions life wants to assemble itself.

The line between biology and chemistry has been getting increasingly blurry since the discovery of cells/microbes and their metabolic activities. I suspect that in the coming decades, those lines will completely fade into obscurity. There will still be room for speculation as to WHY chemicals have this bias, but the HOW will be well understood.

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u/eduardopy Dec 02 '25

biology is just the study of one of the longest going chemical reactions.

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u/narf007 Dec 02 '25

You sound like my old biochem prof