[HN Gopher] NASA finds water and organics in Bennu asteroid sample
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NASA finds water and organics in Bennu asteroid sample
Author : csnover
Score : 60 points
Date : 2023-10-11 21:36 UTC (23 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (arstechnica.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (arstechnica.com)
| accrual wrote:
| Huge congratulations to the teams involved in this mission.
| Having such a large quantity of prehistoric asteroid securely in
| our possession is a wild feat of engineering and science.
|
| Looking forward to more exciting news... this news is based on
| the "extra" material that was stuck outside the main chamber.
| ourmandave wrote:
| Kurzgesagt just posted a video that speculates that life was
| possible _every where_ when the entire universe was at the
| temperature range of liquid water as it cooled after the big
| bang.
|
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOiGEI9pQBs
| dredmorbius wrote:
| That is one of the more mind-bending hypotheses I've seen, and
| ... there's some plausibility to the argument. Proof would be
| exceedingly challenging to come by, though sample returns from
| extra-solar-system bodies which show evidence of common-
| ancestor biology might occur.
|
| Contradictory evidence might be the establishment of proto-
| genetic sequences which are capable of encoding at least
| _simple_ proteins, and some evidence that the development of
| such capabilities in a biologically-naive environment (that is:
| without any competition from _existing_ life forms) is more
| rapid than subsequent evolutionary development. A key concept
| that needs to be kept in mind when considering the evolution of
| _any_ system --- biological, technological, informational, etc.
| --- is that primordial species and forms need not be
| competitive against any _current_ exemplars with which we 're
| familiar, but only those which exist in their own
| contemporaneous environment. It's a lot easier to get started
| when things are just getting started....
|
| I do note that the idea that _the entire Universe on average_
| was within the Golidlocks temperature zone might well also mean
| that _localised places and times_ were subject to vastly
| greater levels of ionising or other radiation which would be
| highly disruptive to life.
|
| That said ... the idea that conditions suitable for biological
| activity literally once pervaded the Universe and are now only
| found in very localised circumstances orbiting a small subset
| of stars and limited to rocky planets with significant water
| ... is both epic and poetic. Literally sparks fading from an
| all-encompassing explosion....
|
| The main source for the hypothesis appears to be:L Loeb, A.
| (2014): "The habitable epoch of the early Universe".
| _International Journal of Astrobiology_ , vol. 13, 4."
|
| <https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/international-
| journa...>
|
| Additional sources: <https://sites.google.com/view/sources-big-
| bang-life/>
| spennant wrote:
| I just watched this video last night and thought to myself,
| "seems plausible"... then I bought a calendar from their store.
| ffffwe3rq352y3 wrote:
| Very interesting! I don't know much about this and the article
| did not go into detail: What does "organics" mean specifically?
| dieselgate wrote:
| To me it basically means carbon-based
|
| Edit: didn't see any academic paper linked in the article
| (assume they're still working on it all) but the following is
| mentioned
|
| > In a preliminary analysis of some of the dust, Lauretta said
| scientists hit the jackpot with a sample that is nearly 5
| percent carbon by mass and has abundant water in the form of
| hydrated clay minerals.
| Fezzik wrote:
| Organics would be compounds containing carbon.
| spindle wrote:
| Good question.
|
| In astrobiology (and I think also in biology and most of
| chemistry) it means any molecules that contain carbon, with a
| few exceptions (exceptions include carbon dioxide and diamond -
| they don't count as organic). Strange definition, perhaps, but
| I'm certain that's what it means in astrobiology.
|
| Organic molecules are not necessarily in living things and,
| indeed, interstellar dust clouds contain huge quantities of
| amino acids and other organic molecules which most astronomers
| believe have never been near a living thing.
| jcranmer wrote:
| There's no terribly good definition of organic molecules in
| chemistry. The traditional definition is something that
| required a living organism to produce it, until inorganic
| synthesis of organic urea ruined that idea. The typical rule
| of thumb is an organic compound contains C-C and C-H bonds,
| but there's a whole host of exceptions to that rule
| (including urea, which lacks both C-C and C-H bonds).
|
| The best I can come up with is that organic chemistry is the
| study of the interactions of a set of common structural
| motifs (called functional groups), and an organic molecule is
| something that contains those functional groups.
| jameshart wrote:
| Be grateful these astronomers even made that distinction.
| They might have just said this stuff (or at least the parts
| of it that aren't Hydrogen) was 'metallic' and left it at
| that.
|
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metallicity
|
| Seems like asteroid astrophysicists like to be a bit more
| specific about this stuff than their stellar and galactic
| astrophysicist colleagues.
| starbase wrote:
| Unspecified in this article, but organics we've found in
| meteorites (fallen asteroids and comets, mostly) include the
| same carbohydrates, fatty acids, nucleic acids, and amino acids
| that all known life is built from.
|
| In the broadest sense, organics could refer to any molecule of
| carbon and hydrogen, however I don't think that's how it's used
| here.
| jcranmer wrote:
| As best as I can tell, it means that the sample is 5% carbon,
| with no indication of whether that carbon is contained in
| glucose or in carbonate.
| dvh wrote:
| https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/nelson-tagsa...
| p1mrx wrote:
| NASA discovers new source of coal.
| adolph wrote:
| Thanks! One of the interesting features are the screws used.
|
| _The limiting factor with many fasteners - including those
| with the classic Phillips drive system - is the amount of
| torque that can be put through it. A greater torque requirement
| has traditionally meant either that larger fasteners have had
| to be used, or more of them. Either way, significant weight is
| added to a joint. . . . [T]he ACR Torq-Set Drive System . . .
| is an offset cruciform drive system that allows more torque to
| be applied._
|
| https://www.eurekamagazine.co.uk/content/technology/can-phil...
|
| _Torq-set bits are similar to Phillips-head bits, but the four
| arms of its central cross are offset from each other. This
| design helps to prevent tampering, and makes the screw ideal
| for use in aerospace applications._
|
| https://www.grainger.com/category/tools/sockets-bits/screwdr...
| grecy wrote:
| I wonder how it compares to every Canadian's favourite, the
| Robertson screw[1] ?
|
| [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robertson_screw
| adolph wrote:
| Well, (in my non-material science engineer mind) you can
| use forced surface area as an approximation of the
| theoretical maximum torque that can be applied. The
| Robertson surfaces are not perpendicular to turning force
| and has less surface area at the outermost part of the
| screw. Thus I'd estimate that offset cruciform is superior
| in that regard.
|
| On the other hand, the Roberson might be cheaper to produce
| and have sufficient torque for a particular application so
| Torq-set might be overkill.
| MikusR wrote:
| How much tampering happens in space?
| plopz wrote:
| wonder whos job it is to hunt down every little spec of dust that
| falls on the floor
| local_crmdgeon wrote:
| Is this the first time material has been brought to Earth from a
| non-Lunar body?
| pmayrgundter wrote:
| Good q. No, looks like Stardust (comet) and Hayabusa (asteroid)
|
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sample-return_mission#2000s
| dang wrote:
| Related: https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasas-bennu-asteroid-
| sampl...
|
| (via https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37846787)
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