NASA's OSIRIS-REx Mission Reveals Amino Acids on Asteroid Bennu, Suggesting Diverse Formation Conditions
Researchers at Penn State University have analyzed samples from asteroid Bennu, brought back by NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission, and discovered amino acids, which are essential building blocks for life. The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, suggests that these amino acids may have formed in icy-cold, radioactive environments in the early solar system, challenging previous assumptions that they required warm liquid water. The research, led by Allison Baczynski and Ophélie McIntosh, indicates that amino acids can form under a variety of conditions, expanding the understanding of how life's building blocks could have originated in space. 
