Content tagged "astrobiology".
4 items (4 articles, 0 stories)
Erythrulose, a 4-carbon sugar, has been detected for the first time in the molecular cloud G+0.693−0.027 near the galactic center. It could be the raw material for TNA, a simpler genetic molecule than DNA. Even more surprising: the sugar wasn't built one carbon at a time — it formed by snapping two 2-carbon fragments together.
More than 130 small volcanoes have been confirmed clustered at the floor of Valles Marineris, Mars' massive canyon system. Evidence that magma and water once coexisted there makes it a compelling candidate in the search for ancient life. SORABUMI explains.
A shelf-like landform in Mars's northern hemisphere may be the strongest evidence yet that a vast ocean once covered a third of the planet. Where did all that water go — and what does it mean for the search for life?
Benzene has been found in space. Amino acids and nucleobases hitchhike on comets. Organic molecules are everywhere. So why does life seem to exist only on Earth? JWST's latest observations are forcing us to rethink the enormous gap between raw ingredients and living things.