Asteroid samples reveal life's building blocks in space
小行星樣本揭示太空中的生命基石
In a ground-breaking milestone for astrobiology, space missions have confirmed that the fundamental building blocks of life are scattered across our solar system.
在天體生物學的突破性里程碑中，太空任務證實了生命的基本組成要素散佈在我們的太陽系中。
By analyzing pristine samples from asteroids Ryugu and Bennu, researchers have discovered that these space rocks act as ancient time capsules.
透過分析來自小行星「龍宮」(ㄌㄨㄥˊㄍㄨㄥ)與「貝努」(ㄅㄟˋㄋㄨˇ)的原始樣本，研究人員發現這些太空岩石宛如古代的時空膠囊。
Unlike meteorites found on Earth, which suffer from contamination, these samples were collected in space and returned in controlled conditions.
與在地球上發現、受到污染的隕石不同，這些樣本是在太空中採集並在受控條件下帶回的。
Scientists detected essential nucleobases and various amino acids within the samples, proving that the chemical ingredients for life exist far beyond our planet.
科學家在樣本中檢測到了必要的核鹼基和各種氨基酸，證明了生命的化學成分存在於我們地球之外的遙遠地帶。
Crucially, the discovery of a racemic mixture of amino acids confirms their non-biological, cosmic origin.
關鍵的是，發現氨基酸的消旋混合物證實了它們具有非生物性的宇宙起源。
These findings strongly support the panspermia hypothesis, which suggests that asteroids may have delivered the raw materials for life to early Earth.
這些發現強烈支持了「胚種論」(ㄆㄟㄓㄨㄥˇㄌㄨㄣˋ)，該假說認為小行星可能將生命的原材料帶到了早期地球。
