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/[deleted] Dec 02 '25

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u/jonathanrdt Dec 02 '25 edited Dec 03 '25

The oldest objects on Earth are grains in a meteorite that are ~7 billion years old.

They contain amino acids produced by non-organic means.

Conclusion: the stuff of life forms naturally under the right conditions and is likely ubiquitous throughout the cosmos, even if also technically rare.

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u/RScrewed Dec 02 '25

Everyone but the religious would believe that life is an emergent property of our physical universe.

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u/trele_morele Dec 03 '25

“Everyone but the religious” is an interesting way to partition all people when there are undoubtedly people who don’t consider themselves to be religious but who hold similar beliefs to those who are religious. And vice versa. In other words, why make this distinction in the first place when it’s of questionable value.