Scientists have long wondered why life exclusively uses left-handed amino acids, and a groundbreaking NASA study has just made this puzzle even more intriguing. In a surprising twist, researchers ...

When NASA launched a spacecraft to an asteroid ... Why are all known living things only based on the left-handed forms of amino acids, the molecules that build proteins? His moment arrived ...

But real lightning would have struck infrequently—and mostly in open ocean, where organic compounds would have quickly ...

Scientists from NASA’s OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample return ... blocks” that would allow life to develop. Of the 20 amino acids in proteins made by life on Earth to form proteins, 14 have been ...

NASA considers SANS one of its ‘red risks’ for a Mars mission, owing to its potential severity and the number of astronauts ...

The scientists also described "exceptionally high abundances of ammonia", which can react with formaldehyde, also found in the samples, to form complex molecules like amino acids, NASA said.

NASA’s Osiris-Rex spacecraft returned 122 grams ... out the sodium-rich minerals and confirm the presence of amino acids, nitrogen in the form of ammonia and even parts of the genetic code.

The researchers boiled rocks and dust from Bennu in water and acid to extract organic compounds, then used mass spectrometry to identify the molecules, including 14 of the 20 amino acids that life ...