Technologies

How Did Life Happen? NASA Says It Found Tantalizing Clues on Asteroid Bennu

It’s the first time scientists have discovered six-carbon glucose in an extraterrestrial sample.

New research announced by NASA on Tuesday details a bevy of exciting discoveries from asteroid dust that could provide clues to how life developed in our neck of the cosmos, including the sugars required for basic life forms, a mysterious gum-like substance and a surprising amount of stardust from supernovae.

NASA’s robot spacecraft, Osiris-Rex, scooped up rocks and dust from the asteroid Bennu in 2020 and delivered the sample to Earth in 2023. Since then, scientists around the globe have been studying the space rocks to gain insight into the early days of our solar system.

Yoshihiro Furukawa, a scientist from Tohoku University in Japan, led a team that found the sugar. It’s the first time scientists have discovered six-carbon glucose — a universal source of carbon and fuel for life forms — in an extraterrestrial sample. Five-carbon sugar ribose was also present in the samples, but this type of sugar has previously been found in space.

«Although these sugars are not evidence of life, their detection, along with previous detections of amino acids, nucleobases and carboxylic acids in Bennu samples, show building blocks of biological molecules were widespread throughout the solar system,» the NASA release states.

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Furukawa said in a statement that all of the nucleobases needed to build DNA and RNA have already been found in the Bennu samples, so «the new discovery of ribose means that all of the components to form the molecule RNA are present in Bennu.»

The findings were published in Nature on Tuesday, and the researchers say their work supports a hypothesis called RNA World. The hypothesis relates to the origins of life on our planet. It states that before complex life existed on Earth, there was an RNA world that predated the development of modern cells.

Ancient ‘space gum’ and supernovae dust

Aside from life-building sugars, the Bennu sample holds a few other interesting findings. A pair of researchers named Scott Sandford (from NASA’s Ames Research Center) and Zack Gainsforth (from the University of California, Berkeley) also released a paper in Nature on Tuesday about a «gum-like» material that’s never been found on space rocks before now.

Originally, the substance was soft and flexible, the researchers say, but it hardened over time. The space gum is made of «polymer-like materials extremely rich in nitrogen and oxygen.» This is a significant development, NASA says, because it could contain some of the «chemical precursors» that helped initiate life on our planet.

«With this strange substance we’re looking at, quite possibly, one of the earliest alterations of materials that occurred in this rock,» Sandford said in a statement. «On this primitive asteroid that formed in the early days of the solar system, we’re looking at events near the beginning of the beginning.»

Yet a third paper published in Nature on Tuesday from a research team led by Ann Nguyen (NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston) looked into dust found on the Bennu samples that came from stars older than our own solar system. There was a lot more supernova dust than expected.

The samples held six times more stardust than scientists have found on any other astromaterial.

«Their preservation in the Bennu samples was a surprise and illustrates that some material escaped alteration in the parent body,» Nguyen said in a statement. «Our study reveals the diversity of presolar materials that the parent accreted as it was forming.»

NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center provided overall mission management for Osiris-Rex.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Wednesday, Jan. 14

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Jan. 14.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? It’s not too tough, but 8-Across stumped me, so I had to pass on that and fill in the Down answers to solve it. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: Abruptly stop texting
Answer: GHOST

6A clue: Shaving kit item
Answer: RAZOR

7A clue: 2024 film role for which Mikey Madison won Best Actress
Answer: ANORA

8A clue: The ancient Chinese used compressed blocks of tea leaves as this
Answer: MONEY

9A clue: Shape of a round chart
Answer: PIE

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Dad’s dad, informally
Answer: GRAMP

2D clue: Capital of Vietnam
Answer: HANOI

3D clue: ___ layer, part of Earth’s atmosphere
Answer: OZONE

4D clue: How you might wake up after sleeping funny
Answer: SORE

5D clue: Cafeteria food carrier
Answer: TRAY

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Technologies

Google Could Revive Last Year’s Bright Pink Color for the Pixel 10a

Google’s upcoming Pixel 10a is expected to launch in February with some new colors, including one popular ask.

The Google Pixel 9a is one of Google’s most affordable Pixel phones, and it includes one of the most frequently requested colors — bright pink. With the Google Pixel 10a rumored to launch in February, we’re already getting a hint at the colors the new model will come in.

According to Roland Quandt, a regular mobile leaker on Bluesky, the Google Pixel is expected to be offered in obsidian (black), berry (pink), fog (light gray), and lavender colors. However, it’s the berry hue that is intriguing customers.

A representative for Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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«I always love to see phones come in vibrant colors, and it’s especially welcome in more budget-friendly options,» said Abrar Al-Heeti, senior technology reporter at CNET. «Yes, we tend to slap a case on our phones anyway, but just knowing your phone touts a bold color can make it feel like more of a statement piece, rather than a bland piece of tech.»

Pink is one of the most requested color options for the Pixel phones. CNET sister site Mashable loved the color when it debuted on the Pixel 9. Phone rivals like Apple and Samsung are usually expected to offer a pink color option in their flagship and midrange phone lineups, so it’s not surprising to see the berry color on the Pixel 10a.

«I’ll say that Google loves having Pixel phones in pink,» said Patrick Holland, CNET managing editor. «The Pixel 9 and 9a come in peony (a bright, bold pink) and the 9 Pro in rose quartz (a more muted pink). The Pixel 10 series lacks any pinkish hues.»

Quandt also says that the Pixel 10a will have 128GB and 256GB storage models, and will launch in mid-February. That’s earlier than expected compared with the Pixel 9a, which was revealed in mid-March 2025 for a launch on April 10. In terms of specifications, we expect the Pixel 10a to be a modest upgrade compared with previous generations. According to leaks, the Pixel 10 is unlikely to feature a newer Tensor G5 chip, and it’s likely to retain the same overall design as the Pixel 9a.

One leaker, Mystic Leaks on Telegram, expressed disappointment and revealed additional specs, including the absence of a telephoto lens, UFS 3.1 storage, a Tensor G4 chip, a 2,000-nit display and no Magic Cue, which is Google’s AI feature for the Pixel 10.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for Jan. 14, #948

Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle for Jan. 14 #948.

Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s NYT Connections puzzle is kind of tough. The blue category, not the purple one today, expects you to find hidden words in four of the words given in the grid. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including the number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: That’s not going anywhere.

Green group hint: End user or customer.

Blue group hint: Ask a meteorologist.

Purple group hint: Not noisy.