The origins of the building blocks of life may be even more widespread than we realized, as per a new discovery from the asteroid sample NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission brought back to Earth from the space rock Bennu.
At least 14 of the 20 amino acids used by life on Earth, and 19 other amino acids not used by life, have been identified in the sample from Bennu, which was delivered to Earth in September 2023. It had been thought that these amino acids had formed in warm, watery conditions close to the infant sun 4.5 billion years ago.
