Scientists uncover the 'strongest evidence yet' for aliens: Breakthrough study confirms asteroid Bennu contains the building blocks of life
Scientists uncover the 'strongest evidence yet' for aliens: Breakthrough study confirms asteroid Bennu contains the building blocks of life
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Experts have unearthed the 'strongest evidence yet' for aliens on other planets after pieces of an asteroid were found to contain the building blocks of life. In 2020, a NASA spacecraft collected a sample from an asteroid called Bennu as part of a nail-biting mission that took place more than 200 million miles away.
![[In 2020, a NASA spacecraft collected a sample from an asteroid called Bennu as part of a nail-biting mission that took place more than 200 million miles away. Once it had returned to Earth samples of the dust were sent to laboratories around the world, including in the UK, to be studied by scientists]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/29/14/94633481-14337625-In_2020_a_NASA_spacecraft_collected_a_sample_from_an_asteroid_ca-a-60_1738161555615.jpg)
Once it had returned to Earth samples of the dust were sent to laboratories around the world, including in the UK, to be studied by scientists. Now, analysis has revealed that traces of ancient brine within the sample contain minerals crucial to life and which kicked off the chemical processes that led to a lush and fertile Earth.
![[Analysis has revealed that traces of ancient brine within the sample contain minerals crucial to life and which kicked off the chemical processes that led to a lush and fertile Earth]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/29/14/94633471-14337625-Analysis_has_revealed_that_traces_of_ancient_brine_within_the_sa-a-61_1738161563414.jpg)
And experts say this is the 'strongest evidence yet' that the building blocks for life as we know it are spread across the solar system – and have been there for billions of years. The discovery has been published across two papers – one which indicates Bennu was part of a long-lost wet, salty world which originated at the dawn of the solar system, and another which reveals a 'suite' of organic materials that were detected in the sample.
![[Scanning electron microscope images of trona found in samples of the asteroid Bennu returned by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/29/14/94633475-14337625-Scanning_electron_microscope_images_of_trona_found_in_samples_of-a-62_1738161582581.jpg)
Among them are all five nitrogenous bases - molecules required for building DNA and RNA - and amino acids, which are the building blocks of proteins. Professor Sara Russell, from the Natural History Museum, was one of the scientists studying the 'dust'.
![[Earth-originating examples of minerals found in Bennu samples. Foreground, left to right: calcite, gaylussite, sylvite with halite, villiaumite]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/29/14/94633473-14337625-Earth_originating_examples_of_minerals_found_in_Bennu_samples_Fo-a-63_1738161608671.jpg)
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