astrobiology

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NASA Dragonfly - a rotorcraft to explore Saturn's moon Titan
2 months ago
- Dragonfly is a NASA New Frontiers mission to Titan, designed as an airborne rotorcraft to explore diverse geological sites.
- The mission aims to investigate Titan's prebiotic chemistry and habitability, sampling surface material to analyze for compounds of astrobiological interest.
- Dragonfly will fly every 1-2 Titan days (about 16 Earth days each), covering miles across Titan during its 3.3-year mission.
- Led by Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, the mission involves multiple international partners including NASA centers, CNES, DLR, and JAXA.
Astronomers Have Found a Sugar Molecule in Deep Space for the First Time Ever
2 months ago
- Astronomers detected erythrulose, a four-carbon sugar molecule, in interstellar space for the first time.
- The molecule was found in molecular cloud G+0.693−0.027 near the Milky Way's center, a region rich in complex organic molecules.
- Sugars like erythrulose are essential for life, fueling cells and forming part of RNA and DNA, but their origin on early Earth is unclear.
- The discovery supports the idea that some sugars may have originated in space and reached Earth via meteorites, similar to ribose found on asteroid Bennu.
- Data from radio telescopes in Spain enabled the identification, marking a major advance in understanding prebiotic chemistry in space, though it does not prove extraterrestrial life.
Meteorite that crashed into a NJ home contains 'extraterrestrial' amino acids
2 months ago
- A meteorite weighing over 2 pounds crashed through a New Jersey home's roof in 2024 and was quickly recovered by homeowners, preventing contamination.
- Scientific analysis revealed it is a rare CM½-type carbonaceous chondrite, containing ancient water-rich salts, complex amino acids not found on Earth, and organic carbon, offering insights into the early solar system and the delivery of life's building blocks.
- The meteorite likely originated from an asteroid in the inner asteroid belt, with its pristine condition allowing unprecedented study of water-organic interactions, highlighting how citizen reports can aid meteorite recovery and research.
Will We Ever Find Alien Civilizations?
2 months ago
- The search for alien civilizations is a long-standing question, but remains unanswered despite occasional intriguing signals.
- David Kipping uses statistical approaches to assess habitable worlds and biosignatures, rather than chasing individual detections.
- Exomoons are considered a promising place to search for life due to their potential habitability and influence on planets.
- The Drake equation organizes the search for intelligent life but has limitations due to unknown parameters; a birth-death model simplifies it to a birth-to-death ratio.
- Statistical analysis suggests the universe is either crowded with civilizations or very lonely, with current observations favoring loneliness for technological life.
- SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) has not found clear signals, suggesting technological civilizations may be rare, though simpler life could still be common.
- UFO claims lack scientific rigor due to unknown false positive rates and reproducibility issues, making them difficult to assess.
- Exomoons can confound biosignature detection in exoplanet atmospheres, as mixed signals from moons and planets may lead to false positives.
- James Webb Space Telescope is advancing exoplanet characterization, but detecting unambiguous biosignatures remains challenging; an A/B testing method is proposed to differentiate life signals.
- The search for alien life enriches human curiosity and perspective, akin to art or poetry, and can inspire global cooperation and humility.
The Center of Our Galaxy Is More Like a Raspberry Donut Than We Realized
2 months ago
- Astronomers discovered erythrulose, the first true sugar in interstellar space, in the galactic center.
- The discovery suggests that interstellar sugars could have contributed to the origins of life on Earth.
- Erythrulose is the largest non-ring molecule and only the second chiral molecule found in interstellar space.
- The finding indicates that complex chemistry in space may be more advanced than previously thought.
Natural sugar discovered in cloud of dust and gas near centre of Milky Way
2 months ago
- A natural sugar, erythrulose, found in raspberries and fake tan lotions, was detected in a dust cloud near the Milky Way's center.
- The discovery shows life-important compounds can form in interstellar space, suggesting sugars may be more common than previously thought.
- Erythrulose likely forms from chemical reactions on interstellar dust grains, despite frigid temperatures around -250°C.
- This sugar can contribute to forming ribonucleotides, the building blocks of early genetic material like RNA.
- Millions of tonnes of erythrulose may have rained on Earth during the Late Heavy Bombardment, aiding prebiotic conditions for life's emergence.

astrobiology

NASA Dragonfly - a rotorcraft to explore Saturn's moon Titan

Astronomers Have Found a Sugar Molecule in Deep Space for the First Time Ever

Meteorite that crashed into a NJ home contains 'extraterrestrial' amino acids

Will We Ever Find Alien Civilizations?

The Center of Our Galaxy Is More Like a Raspberry Donut Than We Realized

Natural sugar discovered in cloud of dust and gas near centre of Milky Way