When NASA launched a spacecraft to an asteroid, scientists patiently waited for their chance to look at bits of the space ...

All forms of Earth life have specific chemicals in their makeup, such as amino acids and sugars. Scientists have known that ...

If we're looking for life as we don't know it, the best solvent out there may be concentrated sulfuric acid — the stuff ...

Researchers found 14 of the 20 amino acids that life on Earth uses to make proteins. NASA makes it clear that its findings do not show evidence of extraterrestrial life itself, but that under the ...

This raises questions about how and why life on Earth "turned left" in its amino acid preference. NASA launched the OSIRIS-REx mission to asteroid Bennu in 2016 to gain insights into the early ...

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 ...

Samples contain all five nucleobases of DNA and RNA, supporting theory that asteroids may have seeded Earth with life's essential ingredients. NASA's Bennu asteroid samples reveal building blocks ...

A groundbreaking study has revealed a surprising biochemical connection between plant immune responses and human neurological health. Researchers have discovered that the metabolic pathways regulating ...

Scientists from NASA’s OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample return ... or “handedness,” of the amino acid molecules in the samples. On Earth, the chirality of molecules in life is typically “left ...

Vimentin is a type III intermediate filament (IF) protein normally expressed in cells that develop into connective tissue, ...

"Even very complex organic chemistry is compatible with concentrated sulfuric acid." Life as we know it ... important molecules like lipids and amino acids. Related: Alien life could thrive ...