Tiny Rocks from Asteroid Bennu May Shed Light on Origin of Life

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Tiny Rocks from Asteroid Bennu May Shed Light on Origin of Life

“This is the kind of finding you hope you’re going to make on a mission.” – Tim McCoy, curator of meteorites at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History and lead author on a new paper published January 29, 2025. New analysis of samples from the asteroid Bennu reveals that evaporating water left a briny broth where the elemental ingredients of life intermingled to create more complex structures like salts and minerals. Bennu’s parent asteroid, which formed around 4.5 billion years ago, was home to pockets of liquid water. This water evaporated and left behind brines that resemble the salty crusts of dry lakebeds on Earth; this is the first time that some of these compounds have been observed in extraterrestrial samples. The discovery suggests that extraterrestrial brines provide a crucial setting for the development of organic compounds. “We now know from Bennu that the raw ingredients of life were combining in really interesting and complex ways on Bennu’s parent body,” said McCoy. “We have discovered that next step on a pathway to life.” In addition to McCoy, Smithsonian-affiliated co-authors included Cari Corrigan, Rob Wardell, Tim Gooding, and Tim Rose. Read more here: https://s.si.edu/3EgZz16 #bennu

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