Dec. 9, 2025

Bennu's Bounty: Uncovering Sugars, Space Gum, and Stardust in Asteroid Samples

SpaceTime with Stuart Gary - Series 28 Episode 145 In this episode of SpaceTime, we explore groundbreaking discoveries that deepen our understanding of the origins of life and the dynamics of our galaxy. Sugars and Stardust: Insights from Asteroid...

Show Notes
Transcript

SpaceTime with Stuart Gary - Series 28 Episode 145
In this episode of SpaceTime, we explore groundbreaking discoveries that deepen our understanding of the origins of life and the dynamics of our galaxy.
Sugars and Stardust: Insights from Asteroid Bennu
NASA's Osiris Rex mission has returned samples from the asteroid Bennu, revealing the presence of biologically essential sugars, including ribose and glucose, along with a unique gum-like substance never before seen in astromaterials. These findings, published in Nature Geoscience and Nature Astronomy, suggest that the building blocks for life were widespread throughout the early solar system. The discovery of ribose supports the RNA world hypothesis, indicating that RNA might have been the first genetic material. Additionally, the presence of glucose hints at the early energy sources available for life on Earth.
Stars Defying the Black Hole
Astronomers have observed numerous stars in stable orbits around Sagittarius A, the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy. This discovery, reported in Astronomy and Astrophysics, challenges previous assumptions that these objects were merely clouds of dust on a collision course with destruction. Instead, the new data from the ERIS Enhanced Resolution Imager and Spectrograph reveals a dynamic and stable environment around the black hole, providing a unique laboratory for studying interactions between black holes and stars.
Martian Mystery Solved?
A new radar technique employed by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has cast doubt on the existence of a suspected underground lake beneath the Martian South Pole ice cap. Initial signals that suggested the presence of liquid water have been reinterpreted as possibly being layers of rock and dust. This innovative approach opens new avenues for investigating subsurface resources on Mars, which could have significant implications for future exploration.
www.spacetimewithstuartgary.com
✍️ Episode References
Nature Geoscience
Nature Astronomy
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Geophysical Research Letters
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The Astronomy, Space, Technology & Science News Podcast.

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Ver Is Spacetime Series twenty eight, episode one hundred and

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forty five, for broadcast on the tenth of December twenty

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twenty five. Coming up on space Time, sugar's gum and

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stadust discovered in samples from the asteroid Banu. New observations

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are showing how stars can defy amongst the black hole

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at the center of our galaxy, and a new radar

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technique may have solved a longstanding Martian mystery. All that

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and more coming up on Spacetime.

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Welcome to space Time with Stuart Gary.

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Regulars collected by NASA's Osyrus REX spacecraft during its sample

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return mission to the asteroid Banu as revealed sugar's essential

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for biology, a gum like substance never seen before or

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in astromaterials, and an unexpectedly high abundance of dust produced

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by supernova explosions. The findings, reported in three studies in

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the journal's Nature Geoscience and Nature Astronomy, are providing new

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clues to scientists' biggest questions about the formation of the

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early Solar System and the origins of life itself. The

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four hundred and ninety meter wide neararth asteroid Banu, orbits

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at an average distance of two hundred and twenty five

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million kilometers from the Earth and is listed as a

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potentially hazardous object That means there's a slight chance that

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one day it could slam into the Earth. Scientists led

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by Yeshira for Kawa from Dakara University found sugars essential

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for biology here on Earth. In the BEDU samples, the

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five carbon sugar ribos and for the first time in

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an extraterrestrial sample, six carbon glucose were found in the

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regularth Although these sugars are not evidence of life itself,

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their detection, along with previous detections of amino acids, nucleo

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based tides carbacilic acids in banuz samples, show that the

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building blocks for biological molecules were widespread throughout the Solar system.

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For life on Earth, the sugar's yoxy ribos and ribos

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are key building blocks for DNA and RNA respectively. Of course,

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DNA is the primary carrier of genetic information it sells,

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RNA performs numerous functions, and life as we know it

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couldn't exist without it. Ribos in RNA is used in

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the molecule's sugar phosphate backbone, that connects a string of

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information carrying nuclear bases. For Kawa says, all five nuclear

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bases used to construct both DNA and RNA, along with phosphates,

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have already been found in the Binu samples, and these

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new discoveries of ribos mean that all of the components

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to form the molecules of RNA are present on Banu.

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Of course, the discovery of ribos in an asteroid sample

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isn't a complete surprise. Ribos has previously been found in

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two meteorites recovered here on Earth. What is important about

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the bernuze samples is that the authors didn't find deoxyribos.

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This means ribos may be more common than the oxyribos

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in environments in the early Solar System. The authors think

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the presence of ribos and the lack of the oxyribos

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supports the RNA world hypothesis, where the first forms of

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life relied on RNA is the primary molecule to store

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information and to drive chemical reactions necessary for survival. For

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Ukawa says that present day life on Earth is based

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on a complex system organized primarily by three types of

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functional bipolymers, DNA, RNA proteins. However, earlier life may have

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been much simpler. RNA is the leading candidate for the

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first functional biopolymer because it can store genetic information and

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can catalyze many biological reactions. The Bernuz samples also contain

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one of the most common forms of food energy used

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by life on Earth. That's the sugar glucose, and that's

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the first ever evidence that an important energy source for

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life as we know it was also present in the

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early Solar System. Meanwhile, a second study, this one led

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by Scott Sanford from Nassas Aims Research Center in California

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Silicon Valley and by Zach Gainsford from the University of California, Berkeley,

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have revealed a gum like material and the Bernuz samples

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never before seen in space rocks, something that could have

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helped set the stage on Earth for the ingredients of

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life to emerge. The surprising substance was likely formed in

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the early days of the Solar System as bernous young

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parent asteroid warmed, once soft and flexible, but since hardened.

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This ancient let's call it space gum, consists of polymer

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like materials extremely rich in nitrogen and oxygen. These complex

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molecules could have provided some of the chemical precursors that

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help trigger life on Earth, and finding them in Pristine's

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samples from Bernu is important for scientists studying how life

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began and whether it exists beyond our planet. It's generally

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agreed that Bnu's ancestral asteroid formed from materials in the

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solar nebula, irritating cloud of gas and dust that gave

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rise to our solar system. It contained a variety of

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minerals and ices. As bernouz perentasteroid began to warm due

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to natural radiation, a compound called carbamate form through a

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process involving ammonia and carbon dioxide. Carbamate is water soluble,

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but it survived long enough to polymerize, reacting with itself

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and other molecules to form larger, more complex chains impervious

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to water. This suggests that it formed before the parent

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body warmed enough to become a water environment. Sandford says

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that with this strained substance, scientists are looking at quite

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possibly one of the earliest alterations of materials that occurred

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in this rock. Using an infrared microscope, Sandford's teams selected

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unusual carbon rich grains containing abundant nitrogen and oxygen. They

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then used extra spectroscopy to study the samples, finding something

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no one had ever seen before. Gainsworth says the team

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knew they had something remarkable the instant the images started

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to appear on the monitor, and they were consumed for

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months by the data and theories as they attempted to

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understand just what it was and how it could have

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come into existence. The evidence suggested that this strange substance

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had been deposited in layers on grains of ice and

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minerals present in the asteroid. It was flexible, similar to

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gum or soft plastic. The authors also noted that the

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strange material was translucent and exposure to radiation made it brittle.

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Its chemical makeup includes the kind of chemical groups that

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usually occur in polyurethane, but unlike polyurethane, which is an

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orderly polymer, this one has far more random connections and

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a composition of elements that differs from particle to particle.

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A third study, this one led by Anneuwen from NASSAS

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Johnson's Space Center in Houston, Texas, analyzed pre solar grains

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dust from stars predating our solar system. They were found

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in two different rock types in the Bernuz samples, and

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they provide new information about where the parent body formed

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and how it was altered by geological processes. It's generally

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believed that presolar dust was well mixed as our solar

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system formed, but the Bernuz samples at six times more

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of the soup and ova dust than any other studied astromaterial,

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and that suggested the asteroid's parent body must have formed

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in a region of the protoplanetary disc which was enriched

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by the dust of dying stars. The study also reveals

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that while Banuze parent asteroid experienced extensive alteration by fluids,

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there were still pockets of less altered material within the samples,

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which are offering new insights into its origin. Newen says

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these fragments retain a higher abundance of organic matter and

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pre solar silicate grains, which are known to be easily

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destroyed by aqueous alteration in asteroids. Their preservation in the

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Bernuz samples was a surprise, and it illustrates that sol

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one materials escaped alteration in the parent body, and this

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suggested the diversity of pre solar materials in Banuze parent

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body must have created as it was forming. By pursuing

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clues about what went on long ago deep inside an asteroid,

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astronomers can better understand the young Solar system, revealing the

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precursors too and ingredients of life it contained, and how

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far those raw materials may have been scattered thanks to

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asteroids like Banu. Messas scientist and the Cyrus Rex co

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investigator Daniel Galvin says that a discovery of ribos and

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glucose in the Banuz samples could have major implications for

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the formation and evolution of life.

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So Cyrus Rex is NASA's first asteroid sample return mission,

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launched in twenty sixteen, rendezvous with asteroid Beanu in twenty eighteen,

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collected a sample from the surface of the asteroid in

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twenty twenty and then brought it back to Earth where

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it land in Utah in twenty twenty three. And now

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this sample is available for scientists to study around the

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world to look for chemicals and including the building blocks

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of life, which is what our team is interested in.

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So our team, which included an international group of scientists,

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discovered evidence for bio essential sugars sugar molecules essential for life,

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and the samples returned from asteroid benu. We actually found

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six different sugars, including two ribos and glucose that are

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fundamental for life as we know it. The reason that

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this discovery of ribos and glucose is so exciting is

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ribos is actually a fundamental component of nucleic acids. It

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forms the sugar phosphate backbone of RNA. Glucose is an

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important source of energy for all living organisms, and this

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is the first discovery of glucose in any astro material.

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So this is truly exciting, a very big surprise. We

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weren't expecting to find this in the venue samples. So

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in order to detect these sugars essential for life, we

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actually to take some of the menu chips and crush

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them up. We made a powder kind of like making flour.

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We used about six hundred milligrams a fair amount of sample,

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and then we basically extracted it in water at cool temperatures,

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kind of like making a cold brew a cold tea,

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and then extracted those sugars into that water. Then we

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analyzed the water by a technique called gas chromatography mass spectrometry.

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Kind of a mouthful, but basically it allows you to

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separate the individual sugars and measure them and identify them

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by their masses. This discovery really builds on some of

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the earlier findings of the mission. When we first started

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the sample analysis, we discovered amino acids, in fact, fourteen

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of the twenty protein amino acids found in life, and

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we also found the nucleobases. These are the components of

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the genetic code in DNA and RNA all five in fact,

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and phosphates. So we had all the components that we

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needed to make proteins and enzymes, and almost all the

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components we needed to make RNA. We have the phosphate

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and the nucleobase, but not the sugar, and so this

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discovery of ribose was actually really critical. It filled in

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that missing component of this nucleic acid that some believe

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was really needed for the origin of life on Earth.

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Yeah.

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So what we're learning now with the discovery of all

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the three main components the building blocks of life and

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the samples from Benu is that these actually formed very

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early on in the outer part of the Solar System

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four and a half billion years ago. You had chemical

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reactions inside the asteroid Benu parent body, this icy body

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with melting and fluid salty brines that actually formed the

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sugars and some of these other building blocks of life,

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and then the parent body was flung into the Inner

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Solar System into the asteroid belt, was eventually disrupted and

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reaccreted to have what we now have, asteroid BNU, a rebelile.

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What this means is that these building blocks of life

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were distributed from the outer Solar System all the way

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into the inner Solar System. They were everywhere ubiquitous, which

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really makes me more optimistic that not only could these

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building blocks have enabled life on Earth, but potentially elsewhere

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Mars Europa, the outer Solar System. I'm becoming much more

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optimistic that we may be able to find life beyond Earth,

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even in our own solar system. So I just want

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to make it clear that even though we found all

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of the chemical building blocks to make proteins and nucleic acids,

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we haven't found evidence for life itself. In Benu, we

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don't see nucleic acids or large polymers. And this actually

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opens up a whole new area of research. And the

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question is why why didn't we have more chemistry leading

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to the origin of life happening inside this giant parent body?

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Did we not have enough time to form them, or

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the temperatures too cold. What is the answer to that question.

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I think this is going to open up a lot

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of new areas of research for folks that try to

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figure out why didn't these building blocks advance to something

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more complex inside this giant asteroid parent body. So life,

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of course requires the right environment, liquid water, energy sources,

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but it also requires these fundamental chemical building blocks. And

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we've already talked about the amino acids needed for proteins,

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the nucleobases, the genetic components of DNA and RNA, but

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also sugars, which can act as an energy source for life.

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We found all three of those in Benu, and we've

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been looking for them and other asteroids and meteorites as well.

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So Asteroid or Yugu. We have samples returned from that

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asteroid from the Japanese Hyaboosa two mission, and we're looking

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for sugars in those samples right now. One of the

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challenges is that you need a lot more sample to

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analyze sugars. They're present at much lower concentrations than the

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amino acids and the nucleobases, and so with the Benu

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samples we've had the luxury of having more sample to

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work west to actually target these compounds. But right now

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scientists are actively looking for these sugars in the Riugu

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samples as well, and I wouldn't be surprised if we

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found them there as well. It's absolutely crucial that we

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return and bring back samples of pristine asteroid materials. We've

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got plenty of meteorites that we know are fragments of

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asteroids littered all over the Earth, but they get contaminated.

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The first thing that happens is a meteorite will come

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through the atmosphere and will be heated by atmospheric entry heating,

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potentially thermally destroying some of these fragile organic compounds. And

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then the meteorite hits the Earth and immediately it's contaminated

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by the soil bacteria, the soil organics, water, which could

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make it really hard to be able to discriminate between

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an organic compound that's a terrestrial contaminant versus an organic

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molecule that was actually formed in space. So having these

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pristine materials from asteroid Menu and asteroid Rugua is real

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a precious opportunity. We have these samples that were protected

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from the atmospheric entry heating by the shield. They were

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contained in containers to protect them from the terrestrial environment,

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and so we know that these samples are cleaned from contamination.

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Bottom line is, with these pristine asteroid materials, we can

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trust the results. When we detect these sugars and other molecules,

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we know that they were formed in space and came

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from these samples and weren't a product of trestral contaminants

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from the Earth. So one of the biggest scientific mysteries

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is how we all came to be, How did life

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start on the Earth. In order to answer that question,

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we go to these asteroids like astoid Menu and bring

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back samples to look for the chemical building blocks of

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life to try to get clues into how life may

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have started on the Earth. Of course, with this new research,

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we've now found sugars the missing component of the three

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that we need for life. So we have the amino acids,

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the nucleo bases, and the sugars needed for proteins and

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clic acids. But I think what's really key here is

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that we're showing that these compounds were widespread throughout the

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early Solar System, formed in the outer Solar System and

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then delivered to the inner planets such as Earth and Mars,

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and so I think we're really beginning to understand that

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these chemical building blocks were not only ubiquitous, but were

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also delivered to environments on the early Earth and potentially

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other planets that would have enabled the origin of life.

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And for me, this is really exciting. It really makes

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me more optimistic that if life started elsewhere in the

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Solar System, the building blocks were available to do it,

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and I think we're going to find it. So we

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found ribos in the Benu samples, which is really important

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finding because ribos is an important component of RNA as

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the sugar phosphate backbone. RNA, some have argued, was actually

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the first genetic material that started at the origin of life.

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It's called the RNA world hypothesis, and that DNA and

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the protein world thought subsequently. One of the interesting findings

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actually with the menu samples isn't what we found, but

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what we didn't find. We didn't find the oxy ribos,

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which is the equivalent sugar in DNA that forms the

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back one of DNA. Deoxyribos. We didn't see it above

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our detection limits, but ribos was present, so I think

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this supports this idea that maybe RNA did come first

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because there was more ribos available as its building block

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very early on, and perhaps DNA and deoxyribos did come

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later on. In biological evolution. Some people consider the origin

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of life just a simple nucleic acid like RNA that

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could make copies of itself and transfer information that way,

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didn't even require DNA or proteins or even a cell membrane.

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So this discovery of ribos in fact is really important

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and adds more credibility to that hypothesis that maybe the

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origin of life was just a single strand of RNA.

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One of the goals of the O REX mission was

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actually to study asteroid Benu, which has been classified as

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a potentially hazardous asteroid because its orbit crosses Earth's orbit

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every now and again, and so the mission actually determined

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that the thread of impact of Benu on Earth is

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very low zer point zero three seven percent one in

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twenty seven hundred chants of hitting the Earth in September

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of twenty one eighty two, so well in the future.

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In fact, there's zero probability that Benu will hit the

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Earth in the next one hundred and fifty years. But

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the other aspect of this mission that was important was

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actually able to touch the asteroid to see what it

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feels like. During the sampling, we actually sunk in to

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asteroid Benu, which was quite unexpected. We thought we were

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going to kind of springboard off the off the asteroid,

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so we learned just by touching it kind of how

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it was made up. But we also returned the samples.

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We have the samples in our lab to understand their

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physical and chem properties, and all of this information is

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going to be really important for designing a mission if

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we ever have to deflect an asteroid like menu in

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the future so that you'll avoid colliding with the Earth.

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That's Daniel Galvin and as a scientist with the Asiris

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REX mission, and this is space time still to come,

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Astronomers detect what appear to be numerous stars in stable

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orbits around Sagittari's a star, the super massive black hole

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at the center of our galaxy, and a new radar

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technique which may have solved a longstanding Martian mystery. All

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that and more still to come on space time. Astronomers

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have detected what appear to be numerous stars in stable

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orbits around Sagittaris a star super massive black hole the

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center of the Milky Way galaxy. The discovery, reported in

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the journal Astronomy in Astrophysics, defies earlier speculation that these

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objects are simply clouds of dust that would eventually be

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swallowed up by the black hole. Sagittarius a star is

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located roughly twenty seven thousand light years away. It's the

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center point of our entire galaxy and as a mass

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of some four point three million times that of our Sun.

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The new observations were made using the new AIRES Enhanced

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Resolution Imager and spectrograph matted on the VELT very Large

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telescope in Chile. The study focused on four of these

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unusual celestial bodies, which have been the subject of much

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discussion in recent years. Of special interest was the G

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two cloud, long regarded as a pure dust and gas cloud.

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It was thought to have initially been elongated by the

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gravitational pull of Sagittarius A star, a process known as spaghetification. However,

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the specific observations made with AIRES, which captures radiation the

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near infrared range, show that G two is on a

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stable orbit, and that suggests there must be a star

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hidden deep inside the cloud. The studies lead author Florian

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Pisco from the University of Cologne says the findings confirm

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that the center of the Milky Way is not only destructive,

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but can also be surprisingly stable. The new observation show

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that several so called dusty objects are following stable orbits

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around Sagittarius, a star. The binary star system D nine,

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which Pisco and colleagues discovered in twenty twenty four, also

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remained stable despite the enormous gravitational title forces of the

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nearby black hole. In fact, it's the first known binary

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star system to be observed so close to any super

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massive black hole. Now, in theory, the stars involved in

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D nine could merge to form a single, more massive

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star due to the strong tidal forces. However, the area's

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data shows that so far D nine remains intact as

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a binary and the same applies to other objects such

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as X three and N S, which also circles Saari's

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a star and stable orbits, and are therefore far less

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fragile than earlier models had suggested. Piscus says the fact

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that these objects are moving in such a stable manner

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so close to a black hole is fascinating. The results

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showed that Sagittari's a star is fire less destructive than

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previously thought, and this makes the center of our Milky

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Way galaxy an ideal laboratory for studying the interactions between

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black holes and stars. This is space time still to come.

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A new study suggest an underground lake at the Martian

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South Pole ice cap may just have been a layer

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of rock and dust, and later in the science report,

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palaeontologists have confirmed that Anacondas have been giant snakes for

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over twelve million years or that and more still to

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come on space time. A new study suggests that an

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underground lake beneath the Martian South Pole ice cap may

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be nothing more than a layer of rock and dust.

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The findings, reported in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, are

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based on new enhanced radar techniques employed by NASA's Mars

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Reconnaissance or but A spacecraft. The mysterious feature buried beneath

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thousands of meters of Martian ice was long suspected of

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being an underground liquid water lake. The twenty eighteen discovery

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of the suspected lake set off a flurry of scientific activity,

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as water is closely linked with life as we know it.

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While the latest findings indicate this feature is not a

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lake below the Martian surface. After all, it does suggest

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that the same radar technique could be used to check

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for subsurface resources elsewhere on the Red planet. So how

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were these new observations made well. They were made by

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using the spacecraft to undertake a special maneuver which involved

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the vehicle rolling one hundred and twenty degrees. Doing so

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enhance the power of the radio signal, allowing it to

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penetrate deeper underground and provide a clearer image of the subsurface.

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The studies authors, Gareth Morgan and Fan Putzig from the

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Planetary Science Institute, had made moudible unsuccessful attempts to observe

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the area of the South Pole suspected of hosting this

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mythical buried lake. But they then partnered with the MASA

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of Constance orbiter's operations to him at NASA's Jet Propulsion

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Laboratory in Passing to California to develop a very large

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