Astronomers Discover Sugar in Space: Does Milky Way taste like Raspberries? | Vantage on Firstpost

[00:00:00]What if I told you that outer space may taste like raspberries? Not all of it, but some areas near the center of our galaxy.

[00:00:08]Sounds ridiculous, right? However, some Spanish astronomers have made a discovery. They've found a type of sugar floating around in outer space.

[00:00:17]In gas clouds close to the center of the Milky Way.

[00:00:21]And the scientists say that this is the same sugar found in raspberries.

[00:00:26]Our next report has all the details.

[00:00:29]>> It exists in the space between two stars.

[00:00:33]You know that a star lies in the center of a solar system. It is orbited by planets and asteroids.

[00:00:40]But what do you find between two different stars? Between two solar systems?

[00:00:45]Well, it's mostly gas, hydrogen and helium.

[00:00:49]With some dust mixed into it.

[00:00:53]Scientists call this the interstellar medium.

[00:00:56]And now they say that some of this interstellar medium may taste like raspberries.

[00:01:02]Astronomers from the Spanish National Research Council in Madrid have discovered something sweet in the night sky.

[00:01:09]Perhaps literally.

[00:01:11]They have found the presence of a sugar called erythrulose in outer space.

[00:01:15]Amidst the gas and dust close to the center of our galaxy.

[00:01:20]This same sugar is found in raspberries.

[00:01:23]It's also a major component of self-tanning cosmetics. Think spray-on tan or tanning salons.

[00:01:31]Chances are they'll have some erythrulose in those sprays. And now scientists have discovered this same chemical in outer space.

[00:01:40]So why is this important?

[00:01:42]What difference does it make that a particular chemical was discovered floating around our galaxy?

[00:01:48]Well, this particular sugar may hold the key to understanding how and why life evolved on planet Earth.

[00:01:55]Let's take a closer look at erythrulose.

[00:01:58]For all the science students out there, the chemical formula is C4H8O4.

[00:02:04]Here's what the molecule looks like. As you can see, erythrulose has four carbon atoms in it.

[00:02:11]It has oxygen. It has hydrogen.

[00:02:14]These are the basic building blocks of life.

[00:02:17]Now think back to what you know about how the Earth formed. It was once a giant molten rock. But luckily, it cooled down. It got an atmosphere. It got oceans. And then life evolved from the seas.

[00:02:31]But there have always been questions about how the first life forms came about. How did their bodies develop? How did their DNA manage to form?

[00:02:40]Well, one theory is that chemicals from space helped create DNA.

[00:02:45]Scientists believe that some sugars from space may have traveled to Earth. Sugars like erythrulose.

[00:02:52]Perhaps hitching a ride aboard an asteroid or a comet.

[00:02:56]And once they landed, these sugars may have contributed to the evolution of life.

[00:03:02]Because the complex structure of sugars like erythrulose may have been the building blocks of DNA.

[00:03:09]Can you imagine?

[00:03:10]Perhaps the first strands of DNA were forged using chemicals from outer space.

[00:03:16]From sugars that were formed in the middle of galactic dust.

[00:03:20]Which crash-landed on Earth and laid the foundations of life here.

[00:03:24]Well, now this theory is a little bit more likely.

[00:03:28]Because of the raspberry sugar discovered in outer space.

[00:03:34]>> [music] [music] >> Woo.