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In a Sweet Discovery, Astronomers Find Sugar Lurking in the Space Between Stars
- On Monday, July 13, 2026, researchers reported in Nature Astronomy the first detection of erythrulose, a true four-carbon sugar, in the interstellar medium near the galaxy's center. Lead author Izaskun Jiménez-Serra of Spain's National Institute of Aerospace Technology confirmed its presence in the G+0.693-0.027 cloud.
- Using Spain's Yebes 40-meter and IRAM 30-meter radio telescopes, the team identified the sugar about 27,000 light-years away in a molecular cloud. This marks the first true sugar in interstellar space, which Jiménez-Serra described as "huge chemical factories."
- Researchers posit that erythrulose forms on icy dust grains from two-carbon molecules rather than the traditional sequential addition of single carbons. This finding defies astrochemistry assumptions, indicating complex chemical processes occur far from stars, a phenomenon researchers call "Dark Chemistry."
- Between 0.5 and 55 million tons of this sugar could have reached Earth 4.1 to 3.8 billion years ago, scientists calculated. This influx potentially assisted early metabolic processes, contributing to the "sugar inventory" available before life fully formed.
- Scientists plan to search for RNA precursors and understand the chemical inheritance of young planetary systems. "One of the most exciting next steps is to search for even more complex sugars," Jiménez-Serra told Live Science, noting the hunt for biologically important compounds.
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Near the center of the Milky Way, researchers make a decisive discovery: in a gas cloud, they detect the sugar molecule erythrulose. The discovery strengthens the hypothesis that important molecules originate from the cosmos for the formation of organisms.
Astronomers Have Detected "Natural Sugar" Found in Raspberries Within a Dust Cloud in the Milky Way.
Astronomers have discovered erythrulose, a natural sugar found in raspberries and self-tanning lotion, hidden amidst the frigid clouds of dust and gas near the center of the Milky Way.
A group of scientists identified erythrullose, a component present in raspberries and in everyday use products in an interstellar gas cloud
·Buenos Aires, Argentina
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Total News Sources107
Leaning Left26Leaning Right15Center39Last UpdatedBias Distribution49% Center
Bias Distribution
- 49% of the sources are Center
49% Center
L 32%
C 49%
R 19%
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