BBC Media｜科学家认为一小行星含有生命诞生的基石

Asteroid contains building blocks of life, say scientists

In labs around the world, scientists have been studying tiny black specks of dust from asteroid Bennu. They were collected by a NASA spacecraft which travelled to the space rock and unfurled a robotic arm to grab a sample to bring back to Earth.

The detailed analysis has found the asteroid contains thousands of organic compounds, including amino acids, which are the molecules that make up proteins, and nucleobases – the fundamental components of DNA.

This doesn't mean Bennu ever had life on it, but the theory is that asteroids like it crashed into the Earth early in our history, delivering these vital ingredients that enabled life to start here.

Scientists think if asteroids were bringing water and organic molecules to Earth, the same was happening on other planets too. This raises the question of whether Earth is unique, or if life started elsewhere in our solar system but we just haven't found it yet.

词汇表
building block [blɒk] 基石，组成部分，构成要素
specks of dust [speks][dʌst] 尘埃颗粒，灰尘微粒
asteroid [ˈæstərɔɪd] 小行星
Bennu [ˈbenjuː] 贝努（小行星名称）
NASA spacecraft [ˈnæsə][ˈspeɪskrɑːft] 美国国家航空航天局的宇宙飞船（NASA全称为National Aeronautics and Space Administration）
unfurl [ʌnˈfɜːl] 展开，打开（帆、旗帜等）
robotic arm [rəʊˈbɒtɪk] 机械臂
sample [ˈsɑːmpl] 样品，样本
organic compound [ɔːˈɡænɪk][ˈkɒmpaʊnd] 有机化合物
amino acid [əˈmiːnəʊ][ ˈæsɪd] 氨基酸
molecule [ˈmɒlɪˌkjuːl] 分子
protein [ˈprəʊtiːn] 蛋白质
nucleobase [ˈnjuːkliəbeɪs] 核碱基
fundamental component  [ˌfʌndəˈment(ə)l][kəmˈpəʊnənt] 基本的组成部分，基本构件
ingredient [ɪnˈɡriːdiənt] （构成某物的）要素，成分；原料

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