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Home » Note, Paper: We Read “Seeds”

Note, Paper: We Read “Seeds”

Just posted (not August) in Nature Astronomy (vol. 9? issue?):

Barnes, J. J. Nguyen, A. N. Abernethy, F. A. J. et al.  The variety and origin of materials accreted by Bennu’s parent asteroid  s41550-025-02631-6

As befits Nature, this is a quite deep dive into not just “biology” (such as it was four billion years ago), but the preconditions and changing preconditions of Bennu and the studied grains. As I keep saying: most asteroids (“chondrites” or unmelted ones) preserve the history of the Solar System, where planets and other achondrites (ahem) destroyed theirs. Recovering a sample of Ryugu, Bennu, etc. was absolutely crucial in establishing- clearly establishing (unlike meteorites contaminated by Earth landing)- the feedstocks and circumstances before life arose.

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