It took two years for NASA’s OSIRIS-REx space probe to return from asteroid Bennu before dropping off a small capsule as it flew past Earth, which was then recovered in […]
A new analysis of samples from the asteroid Bennu, NASA’s first asteroid sample captured in space and delivered to Earth, reveals that evaporated water left a briny broth where salts […]
Studies of rock and dust from asteroid Bennu delivered to Earth by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification and Security–Regolith Explorer) spacecraft have revealed molecules that, on our planet, […]
Despite awe-inspiring diversity, nearly every lifeform – from bacteria to blue whales – shares the same genetic code. How and when this code came about has been the subject of […]
Mass spectrometry is one of the most effective analytical methods for unknown compound identification. By comparing observed m/z spectra with a database of experimentally determined spectra, this process identifies compound(s) […]
The current “consensus” order in which amino acids were added to the genetic code is based on potentially biased criteria, such as the absence of sulfur-containing amino acids from the […]
The mystery of why life uses molecules with specific orientations has deepened with a NASA-funded discovery that RNA — a key molecule thought to have potentially held the instructions for […]
Autocatalytic reactions driving the self-assembly of biological polymers are important for the origin of life, yet few experimental examples of such reactions exist.
Scientists have uncovered new insights into the protoribosome, a molecular fossil within the ribosome, which plays a key role in the origin of life on Earth. This research, published in […]
Collagen, a protein found in bones and connective tissue, has been found in dinosaur fossils as old as 195 million years. That far exceeds the normal half-life of the peptide […]
