CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida: Asteroid samples fetched by NASA hold not only the pristine building blocks for life but also the salty remains of an ancient water world, scientists reported Wednesday.
The findings provide the strongest evidence yet that asteroids may have planted the seeds of life on Earth and that these ingredients were mingling with water almost right from the start.
“That’s the kind of environment that could have been essential to the steps that lead from elements to life,” said the Smithsonian Institution’s Tim McCoy, one of the lead study authors.
NASA’s Osiris-Rex spacecraft returned 122 grams (4 ounces) of dust and pebbles from the near-Earth asteroid Bennu, delivering the sample canister to the Utah desert in 2023 before swooping off after another space rock. It remains the biggest cosmic haul from beyond the moon. The two previous asteroid sample missions, by Japan, yielded considerably less material.
Small amounts of Bennu’s precious black grains — leftovers from the solar system’s formation 4.5 billion years ago — were doled out to the two separate research teams whose studies appeared in the journals Nature and Nature Astronomy. But it was more than enough to tease out the sodium-rich minerals and confirm the presence of amino acids, nitrogen in the form of ammonia and even parts of the genetic code.
Some if not all of the delicate salts found at Bennu — similar to what’s in the dry lakebeds of California’s Mojave Desert and Africa’s Sahara — would be stripped away if present in falling meteorites.
“This discovery was only possible by analyzing samples that were collected directly from the asteroid then carefully preserved back on Earth,” the Institute of Science Tokyo’s Yasuhito Sekine, who was not involved in the studies, said in an accompanying editorial.
Combining the ingredients of life with an environment of sodium-rich salt water, or brines, “that’s really the pathway to life,” said McCoy, the National Museum of Natural History’s curator of meteorites. “These processes probably occurred much earlier and were much more widespread than we had thought before.”
NASA’s Daniel Glavin said one of the biggest surprises was the relatively high abundance of nitrogen, including ammonia. While all of the organic molecules found in the Bennu samples have been identified before in meteorites, Glavin said the ones from Bennu are valid — “real extraterrestrial organic material formed in space and not a result of contamination from Earth.”
Bennu — a rubble pile just one-third of a mile (one-half of a kilometer) across — was originally part of a much larger asteroid that got clobbered by other space rocks. The latest results suggest this parent body had an extensive underground network of lakes or even oceans, and that the water evaporated away, leaving behind the salty clues.
Sixty labs around the world are analyzing bits of Bennu as part of initial studies, said the University of Arizona’s Dante Lauretta, the mission’s chief scientist who took part in both studies.
Most of the $1 billion mission’s cache has been set aside for future analysis. Scientists stress more testing is needed to better understand the Bennu samples, as well as more asteroid and comet sample returns. China plans to launch an asteroid sample return mission this year.
Many are pushing for a mission to collect rocks and dirt from the potentially waterlogged dwarf planet Ceres in the main asteroid belt. Jupiter’s moon Europa and Saturn’s moon Enceladus also beckon as enticing water worlds. Meanwhile, NASA has core samples awaiting pickup at Mars, but their delivery is on hold while the space agency studies the quickest and cheapest way to get them here.
“Are we alone?” McCoy said. “That’s one of the questions we’re trying to answer.”
Are we all aliens? NASA’s returned asteroid samples hold the ingredients of life from a watery world
https://arab.news/cqakw
Are we all aliens? NASA’s returned asteroid samples hold the ingredients of life from a watery world
Coachella continues with Weezer, T-Pain and a Bernie Sanders appearance
- Less than an hour earlier, Charli XCX commandeered a minimalist stage where she was joined by Troye Sivan and Billie Eilish
- Billie Joe Armstrong adjusted the lyrics of Green Day’s set-opening “American Idiot” to declare he’s “not a part of the MAGA agenda“
INDIO: Coachella’s second day featured high-profile guests from Hollywood and Washington, D.C., an emotional performance from Weezer and a peaceful transfer of power between electropop stars. Then there was Flava Flav joining the Yo Gabba Gabba characters on-stage to rap “I love bugs!“
The cultural breadth of the influential Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival was on full display Saturday at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California.
Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Rep. Maxwell Frost of Florida traveled from a Los Angeles rally to the desert to introduce Clairo, praising the 26-year-old singer-songwriter’s political activism.
Less than an hour earlier, Charli XCX commandeered a minimalist stage where she was joined by Troye Sivan and Billie Eilish, with an audience that included Oscar nominee Timothée Chalamet in the front row wearing a big smile and a backpack.
As for that power transfer: After last year’s “brat summer,” the English pop star concluded her “Girl, so confusing” performance with New Zealand electropop star Lorde by declaring “Lorde summer 2025.”
Sanders’ appearance wasn’t the day’s only dose of politics. Billie Joe Armstrong adjusted the lyrics of Green Day’s set-opening “American Idiot” to declare he’s “not a part of the MAGA agenda” and changed lyrics in “Jesus of Suburbia” to “running away from pain like the kids from Palestine.”
T-Pain brought mash-ups and covers to the main stage, singing Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” and Chris Stapleton’s “Tennesee Whiskey.”
Earlier, Weezer delivered a dozen songs in a well-received performance featuring “Undone (The Sweater Song),” “Buddy Holly” and a cover of Metallica’s “Enter Sandman.”
The band played four days after bassist Scott Shriner’s wife Jillian Lauren was shot and injured by Los Angeles police. Lauren, an author of two memoirs, was arrested and later posted bail after police said she pointed a gun at them.
Band members didn’t specifically address the incident, but frontman Rivers Cuomo told the crowd, “It feels so good to get out here with you guys and let out these emotions.”
Coachella kicked off Friday with Lady Gaga headlining with a crowd-pleasing, extravagantly theatrical, five-act performance. K-pop star Lisa drew a massive crowd to the Sahara tent and Benson Boone announced his second album and sang “Bohemian Rhapsody” with Queen’s Brian May on guitar.
The festival runs through Sunday, with another round of performances April 18 to 20. Travis Scott headlined Saturday night on the main stage with Post Malone set to perform in the final slot Sunday night.
Ketchup to Moon rock: What’s the point of a World Expo?
- The huge events, which draw millions of visitors to a chosen city every five years or so, hark back to London’s 1851 Great Exhibition held inside the Crystal Palace
OSAKA: Expo 2025 kicked off Sunday in the Japanese city of Osaka but in the age of online information and mass tourism, what is the purpose of a World’s Fair?
The huge events, which draw millions of visitors to a chosen city every five years or so, hark back to London’s 1851 Great Exhibition held inside the Crystal Palace.
As 160 countries and regions show off their technological and cultural achievements at the six-month Osaka Expo, AFP looks at what it’s all about:
Expanding on national expositions in Paris at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, Imperial Britain built an immense glass Crystal Palace to host 14,000 exhibitors from 40 countries.
That marked the start of the Expo phenomenon that over the decades introduced the world to ketchup, the telephone and X-ray machines among myriad other technologies.
The Paris edition of 1889 featured the Eiffel Tower — intended as a temporary attraction — and Pablo Picasso’s anti-war painting “Guernica” was first shown at one in 1937.
Historically, World’s Fairs did not just exhibit new technologies but also included racist displays of actual people from the colonies of the time.
While World Expos still showcase future technologies, some argue that the advent of the Internet, mass media and cheaper foreign travel have made them redundant.
Middle school teacher Yusuke Nagasawa said attending was a “valuable learning experience, to be able to actually experience the realism and warmth of the people, which cannot be conveyed through a screen.”
“I’ve seen the excitement, and people from various countries have approached me for chats,” added Nagasawa, who plans to bring about 140 pupils to the Expo next month.
Among the dizzying number of displays this year are a meteorite from Mars, a beating “heart” grown from stem cells, and the world’s largest wooden architectural structure.
Since 1928, the Paris-based International Exhibitions Bureau has run the Expos. More than 180 countries are members and the host city is chosen by a vote of its general assembly.
This is Osaka’s second World Expo after the 1970 edition — featuring a Moon rock — that was attended by 64 million people, a record until Shanghai in 2010.
The United States once held frequent World’s Fairs, as they are known there, leaving behind landmarks such as the Space Needle in Seattle and New York City’s Unisphere.
But the world’s largest economy last hosted one in 1984, with some experts saying their popularity has been overtaken by the Olympic Games and attractions such as Disneyland.
Buildings often take center stage at World Expos and this year is no exception, with each country dressed to impress.
The Chinese pavilion’s design evokes a calligraphy scroll, while the Portuguese one created by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma features ropes that “evoke the movement of the ocean.”
“Expos have always acted, and continue to act, as places of architectural experimentation,” said Isaac Lopez Cesar from Spain’s University of A Coruna.
They offer a forum “where new architectural forms, new materials, new designs and structural typologies, and, in general, new technological advances applied to architecture are tested,” he told AFP.
Themes of sustainability run through the Expo, including at the bauble-like Swiss pavilion, which aims to have the smallest ecological footprint.
According to Japanese media, only 12.5 percent of the wooden “Grand Ring” — a vast structure that encircles most of the national pavilions — will be reused.
Menendez brothers case set for LA court hearing on resentencing
- The case of Erik and Lyle Menendez will go before a Los Angeles court Friday in the latest chapter of their bid to get out of jail, decades after slaughtering their own parents
LOS ANGELES: The case of Erik and Lyle Menendez will go before a Los Angeles court Friday in the latest chapter of their bid to get out of jail, decades after slaughtering their own parents.
The brothers — who are among America’s most infamous murderers — are hoping the court will agree to resentence them for the 1989 shotgun slayings that left their luxury Beverly Hills mansion soaked in blood.
During blockbuster trials in the 1990s, prosecutors said the men killed Jose and Kitty Menendez to get their hands on a $14 million fortune, initially blaming their deaths on a Mafia hit.
Supporters say the men acted in self-defense, terrified of their parents’ rage after years of sexual and emotional abuse by a tyrannical father and a complicit mother.
But despite a lengthy campaign and a seemingly sympathetic public — nourished by a hit Netflix series — Erik Menendez, 54, and Lyle Menendez, 57, face an uphill battle.
Last month, the new chief prosecutor of Los Angeles County said his office wanted to withdraw its earlier support for a resentencing hearing that supporters hoped would see the brothers walk free.
District Attorney Nathan Hochman said the pair should remain behind bars because they had never accepted their guilt and continued to rely on untruths.
“In looking at whether or not the Menendezes have exhibited the full insight and complete responsibility for their crimes, they have not,” Hochman told reporters.
“They have told 20 different lies, they’ve actually admitted to four of them, but 16 realized lies remain unacknowledged.”
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic is expected to hear arguments Friday from Hochman’s office asking to withdraw a motion filed by his predecessor George Gascon, who believed the brothers were reformed.
That motion asked for the court to resentence them, changing their current life-without-parole to a minimum term with parole that would allow them to go free, given the length of time they have been in prison.
The resentencing effort is one of three separate routes being pursued by attorneys for the brothers, who are also seeking a retrial and are appealing to California Governor Gavin Newsom for clemency.
Hochman also opposes a new trial.
The brothers’ original trials were huge events, and the case saw a surge of renewed interest last year with the release of the Netflix hit “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.”
Newsom is bound by no specific timeline and could release the men at any point, or refuse their appeal for clemency.
He has said he has not watched dramatizations of the Menendez case or documentaries on it “because I don’t want to be influenced by them.”
“I just want to be influenced by the facts.”
Boris Johnson gets a surprise peck from an ostrich in Texas
- Video shared on Instagram by his wife Carrie Johnson
- The couple visited Dinosaur Valley Park, southwest of Dallas
Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson received a memorable welcome from an ostrich at a state park in Texas when the towering two-legged bird gave him a peck, according to a video Sunday.
In the video, posted by his wife Carrie Johnson, an ostrich slowly walks toward a car before poking its head through the driver's seat window where Johnson is sitting with his son on his lap. Once in front of Johnson, the bird quickly pecks its beak toward his hand.
“Oh, Christ,” Johnson yells before driving off in the video.
“Too funny not to share,” Carrie Johnson said in the caption on Instagram.
It is not clear which wildlife park they were visiting, but other posts on the same account show the family visiting Dinosaur Valley Park, about 80 miles (128 kilometers) southwest of Dallas.
Boris Johnson, who served as prime minister from 2019 to 2022, was also spotted with his wife at a local restaurant in Lake Granbury, Texas, on Sunday, according to the restaurant's Facebook page.
“We are so honored to have him as our guest!!” said Stumpy's Lakeside Grill in a Facebook post with a photo of the former prime minister.
Nose job boom in Iran where procedure can boost social status
- Since the 1979 Islamic revolution, Iranian women have been required to dress modestly and cover their hair, and the beauty industry has become almost entirely centered on the face
TEHRAN: All of the women in Iranian model Azadeh’s family have had nose surgeries, each feeling the pressure to conform with Western beauty standards in a country where female bodies are heavily policed.
To Azadeh, smoothing out the bump in what Iranians would call the “Persian nose” she was born with proved a lucrative investment.
Since the 1979 Islamic revolution, Iranian women have been required to dress modestly and cover their hair, and the beauty industry has become almost entirely centered on the face.
Having rhinoplasty — a nose job — can make a major difference, Azadeh told AFP.
“After the operation, not only have I earned myself a modelling job with better social standing but I’m also earning three times more and I’m more respected by clients,” she said. Azadeh, 29, asked that her surname be withheld because women models can face social pressure in Iran.
According to the US-based International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, more than 264,000 cosmetic operations were performed in Iran in 2023, with rhinoplasty being the most common.
Across Tehran and other Iranian cities, brightly colored billboards advertise beauty clinics and cosmetic procedures, offering promises of sculpted noses, flawless skin and perfect teeth. Many people with bandaged noses can be seen on the streets, a testament to the popularity of rhinoplasty.
“It has become more of a cultural trend,” said rhinoplasty surgeon Hamidreza Hosnani who performs up to 20 operations a week at his well-equipped clinic in the capital.
And that trend has evolved, becoming more and more tied to social identity and status, especially as more women have defied the strict dress code.
Such defiance became more marked following the mass protests sparked by the 2022 death in custody of 22-year-old Iranian Kurd Mahsa Amini.
In Iran, where the minimum wage is around $100, basic rhinoplasty costs up to $1,000 — significantly cheaper than in other countries, Hosnani said.
Millions of Iranians have long struggled with soaring prices and a plunging currency, driven in part by years of international sanctions.
“I even had to borrow the money required for the operation from my friends and family, but the money was well spent, and it was completely worth it,” Azadeh said.
Reyhaneh Khoshhali, a 28-year-old surgical assistant, had the operation four years ago, and regrets not having it sooner.
“My nose really did not look good aesthetically and I wanted to be more beautiful,” she said.
“If I could go back, I would have had the operation earlier.”
For years, Iran has hosted highly advanced medical centers, even becoming a destination for foreigners seeking high-quality and affordable cosmetic surgery.
However, the procedures can also come with risks.
The Iranian authorities have repeatedly warned about the growing number of unauthorized clinics performing cosmetic procedures.
In February, a dozen unlicensed practitioners were arrested and several operating theaters in Tehran’s Apadana Hospital were closed because of unauthorized cosmetic procedures, the health ministry said.
In 2023, three women died in a single day — November 7 — during cosmetic surgery in three separate incidents in Tehran, media reported at the time.
Ava Goli has yet to undergo her rhinoplasty operation, and said that finding a reliable doctor involved some research.
“I saw some people whose nose job did not look good... and yeah, it really made me scared at times,” the 23-year-old told AFP.
Yet the demand for cosmetic surgery in Iran remains high — and the pressure to keep up is not limited to women.
Bahador Sayyadi, a 33-year-old accountant, said he had to borrow money so he could have a hair transplant.
“My financial situation isn’t great, but thanks to a loan I got recently, I will be doing the procedure just in time before my wedding,” he said.
“Men should also take care of themselves these days, just like women.”
