Amino acids found in asteroid samples collected by Hayabusa2 probe

I've been meaning to rewatch The Andromeda strain anyway hope nothing else hitched a ride back this time

And this is why there will be life out in the Galaxy. Seeded by asteroids through time there must be life teeming in unimaginable amounts throughout the universe.

We are made of star stuff.

Bring it back to earth and study what it does to ecosystems, flora and fauna and humans. Maybe interesting.

“Hayabusa2 delivered more than 5.4 grams of surface material”

More than 5.4 grams? What does that mean? As much as 5.5 grams?

Hopefully quarantined to the yin yang!!!

This is science!

Take a theory.

Conduct experiments to confirm or detract .

And learn.

Well done JAXA, and to all of the scientists who have put their minds and backs into the mission.

Now that explains the real reasoning of some of the responses from the post that I read here from time to time. We are made of rocks!!

@ William Livingstone

I agree. Also, have you seen the movie LIFE?

Equally disturbing as well.

All of this is supposed to be in the name of science, but who knows what we have brought back to this planet, or will in the future, that may affect the lives of all of us.

We need to proceed with caution.

I have little doubt that the Universe is full of life.

I also have little doubt that travel between very distance parts of the local area in our galaxy is very unlikely. Some back of the napkin calculations say that getting to our closest star neighbor is 2000 yrs of travel. If we learn to travel at 20%c, that drops to 20 yrs and doesn't include the acceleration/deceleration times. 20 yrs of travel, without externally provided energy (space is cold and black) is well beyond our current technology. We might be able to get tiny unmanned probes going at 10%c using huge solar sails. For that to work, a 1 kg payload would need a sail the size of Texas.

These are very hard problems.

Regardless, confirmation of believes (theory) is another step in the scientific method. There's almost never 100% proof in something, but each piece of data that confirms a theory is also important.

We are made of star stuff.

Definitely. The first generation of stars were needed to make the elements everything else uses (besides H₂). Their supernova explosions spread those elements around to allow combining in to molecules, larger chains of molecules, and eventually, us. Without nuclear fusion, there wouldn't be O₂, Carbon, or any elements larger than He. That's nearly everything, since H₂ isn't exactly plentiful on planets, without being tied to Oxygen or methane, CH₄.

We came from outer space

All of this is supposed to be in the name of science, but who knows what we have brought back to this planet, or will in the future, that may affect the lives of all of us.

About 500 meteorites are estimated to reach the surface our planet every year. Most are not recovered. Who knows what they contain. I don't think a few more grams will make much difference.

That's interesting, I thought amino acids were formed on earth.

World class science. Well done JAXA.

For all the hypochondriacs - this stuff has to be kept air tight or it could be contaminated. Watch less SF and read more science.

Just visiting from an alternate reality, (we dont have the 50 year gap in manned planetary exploration that your reality has), all samples from exo-missions are returned to moonbase Delta for examination, been almost 25 years since first sample arrived and, so far, no scientists have grown tentacles.

"Amino acids found in asteroid samples collected by Hayabusa2 probe"

These compounds are formed SPONTANEOUSLY in space by the action of photons exciting the precursor elements and the chance encounters of elements floating around in the ashes of a supernova, a so-called 'stellar nursery' and are the precursors of the process that is inherent in matter that we call LIFE. And amino acids are the the only organic molecules found in space. In our case, mix those precursors with liquid water and add a constant source of 'heat' (momentum) and LIFE spontaneously (over millions of years) appears as an accumulation of molecules with both persistence and mutual CO-OPERATION. Understand that 18ml of H₂O contains 6.02X10²³ molecules of Water and you may begin to understand the ENORMOUS cauldron of chemical evolution that the HOT early ocean covered Earth was and that a trillion to one chance in a trillion to a trillion power number of molecules and the most basic process of Life, natural selection, and constant input of momentum produces CERTAINTY. And all of the most BASIC life processes were probably present within a hundred million years of the Earth's condensation. And amino acid chains, given what we can see now, were probably add-ons to spontaneously produced chains of self-reproducing RNA molecules which manage the processes of all Life.

Question: Is it a blasphemy when a person who believes that 'science' is JUST another 'religion' steps into an aircraft?

For those who have a G-d in their perception, please note that 'science' is the deep study of the 'Creation' made by that G-d and is the MOST Holy activity among us self-absorbed meat sacks given that it studies the WORK of that G-d and not some one of 10,000 psychotic and blasphemic versions of the WORD of that G-d.

Just sayin'...

The 'design' we are just beginning to see is actually fairly simple and seems to have a direction. Start simple and the system runs itself toward greater and greater complexity of which we represent a VERY early stage and, for us, seems to have gone off track and will likely, for this particular Terrestrial instance, involve yet another global reset and trial and error redesign. Each 'stage' represents an increase in the capacity to store information and express it as behavior. An 'element', for example, is a compilation of Hydrogen molecules including those compressed into 'Neutrons, the glue holding Protons together. Collections of elements comprising 'molecules'. Collections of molecules comprising momentum powered Life. Collections of Life comprising...? Can an ant 'recognise' a Human? Can we recognise the equivalent to us?

We really, collectively, don't know ANYTHING about this weird place we have all been extruded or extracted into yet and the majority are satisfied with THEY 'know' post programmed 'education'. If one examines history, we see that it's our lot to wander through this weirdness as blind as any in the past were with only the still very dim light of accumulated 'knowledge' to help us. Shouganai ne...