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1•tusharnaik•1m ago•0 comments

OpenAI is Broke and so is everyone else [video][10M]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3N9qlPZBc0
2•Bender•1m ago•0 comments

We interfaced single-threaded C++ with multi-threaded Rust

https://antithesis.com/blog/2026/rust_cpp/
1•lukastyrychtr•2m ago•0 comments

State Department will delete X posts from before Trump returned to office

https://text.npr.org/nx-s1-5704785
3•derriz•2m ago•1 comments

AI Skills Marketplace

https://skly.ai
1•briannezhad•2m ago•1 comments

Show HN: A fast TUI for managing Azure Key Vault secrets written in Rust

https://github.com/jkoessle/akv-tui-rs
1•jkoessle•3m ago•0 comments

eInk UI Components in CSS

https://eink-components.dev/
1•edent•4m ago•0 comments

Discuss – Do AI agents deserve all the hype they are getting?

1•MicroWagie•6m ago•0 comments

ChatGPT is changing how we ask stupid questions

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2026/02/06/stupid-questions-ai/
1•edward•7m ago•0 comments

Zig Package Manager Enhancements

https://ziglang.org/devlog/2026/#2026-02-06
2•jackhalford•9m ago•1 comments

Neutron Scans Reveal Hidden Water in Martian Meteorite

https://www.universetoday.com/articles/neutron-scans-reveal-hidden-water-in-famous-martian-meteorite
1•geox•10m ago•0 comments

Deepfaking Orson Welles's Mangled Masterpiece

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2026/02/09/deepfaking-orson-welless-mangled-masterpiece
1•fortran77•11m ago•1 comments

France's homegrown open source online office suite

https://github.com/suitenumerique
3•nar001•13m ago•1 comments

SpaceX Delays Mars Plans to Focus on Moon

https://www.wsj.com/science/space-astronomy/spacex-delays-mars-plans-to-focus-on-moon-66d5c542
1•BostonFern•14m ago•0 comments

Jeremy Wade's Mighty Rivers

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLyOro6vMGsP_xkW6FXxsaeHUkD5e-9AUa
1•saikatsg•14m ago•0 comments

Show HN: MCP App to play backgammon with your LLM

https://github.com/sam-mfb/backgammon-mcp
2•sam256•16m ago•0 comments

AI Command and Staff–Operational Evidence and Insights from Wargaming

https://www.militarystrategymagazine.com/article/ai-command-and-staff-operational-evidence-and-in...
1•tomwphillips•16m ago•0 comments

Show HN: CCBot – Control Claude Code from Telegram via tmux

https://github.com/six-ddc/ccbot
1•sixddc•17m ago•1 comments

Ask HN: Is the CoCo 3 the best 8 bit computer ever made?

2•amichail•20m ago•1 comments

Show HN: Convert your articles into videos in one click

https://vidinie.com/
3•kositheastro•22m ago•1 comments

Red Queen's Race

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Queen%27s_race
2•rzk•23m ago•0 comments

The Anthropic Hive Mind

https://steve-yegge.medium.com/the-anthropic-hive-mind-d01f768f3d7b
2•gozzoo•25m ago•0 comments

A Horrible Conclusion

https://addisoncrump.info/research/a-horrible-conclusion/
1•todsacerdoti•25m ago•0 comments

I spent $10k to automate my research at OpenAI with Codex

https://twitter.com/KarelDoostrlnck/status/2019477361557926281
2•tosh•26m ago•1 comments

From Zero to Hero: A Spring Boot Deep Dive

https://jcob-sikorski.github.io/me/
1•jjcob_sikorski•27m ago•0 comments

Show HN: Solving NP-Complete Structures via Information Noise Subtraction (P=NP)

https://zenodo.org/records/18395618
1•alemonti06•32m ago•1 comments

Cook New Emojis

https://emoji.supply/kitchen/
1•vasanthv•35m ago•0 comments

Show HN: LoKey Typer – A calm typing practice app with ambient soundscapes

https://mcp-tool-shop-org.github.io/LoKey-Typer/
1•mikeyfrilot•37m ago•0 comments

Long-Sought Proof Tames Some of Math's Unruliest Equations

https://www.quantamagazine.org/long-sought-proof-tames-some-of-maths-unruliest-equations-20260206/
1•asplake•38m ago•0 comments

Hacking the last Z80 computer – FOSDEM 2026 [video]

https://fosdem.org/2026/schedule/event/FEHLHY-hacking_the_last_z80_computer_ever_made/
2•michalpleban•39m ago•0 comments
Open in hackernews

Sugars, Gum, Stardust Found in NASA's Asteroid Bennu Samples

https://www.nasa.gov/missions/osiris-rex/sugars-gum-stardust-found-in-nasas-asteroid-bennu-samples/
134•jnord•2mo ago

Comments

voidUpdate•2mo ago
The title probably wants the original quotes put back in
cnnlives86•2mo ago
As I’ve been reading findings of extraterrestrial organic molecules recently, I wonder: do we know there was no contamination?

I’m going to be sad if it turns out someone sneezed into it and was afraid to tell their manager.

soco•2mo ago
I think the article does a good job clarifying in simple words those questions risen by the slightly click-baity title.
reactordev•2mo ago
>”Once soft and flexible, but since hardened, this ancient “space gum” consists of polymer-like materials extremely rich in nitrogen and oxygen. Such complex molecules could have provided some of the chemical precursors that helped trigger life on Earth”

That would be some stale big league chew if that were the case. By orders of billions of years. Making it the oldest wad of big league chew we know of in existence. ;)

foxyv•2mo ago
I'm almost certain that the gum in baseball cards originated from the big bang.
reactordev•2mo ago
Not the Big Bang, the Big Ban.

The ban of smoking or tobacco products on TV. Up until the 1980s, it was common to see a pitcher up there with a mouth full of Kodiak or Chaw. Spitting their nasty tobacco-stained split all over the mound.

IAmBroom•2mo ago
"I will assume that the experts involved have not taken any reasonable precautions, and learned nothing from the past 60 years of acquired experience in space exploration. I will then ask other non-experts in the field if the experts are minimally competent or not."
gblargg•2mo ago
I was thinking the same as parent while reading this. Mentally this activates the same thinking as on those medical tests with a high false positive rate and low incidence, so that most positives are false. I'd like to see in the article how they rule this out. Ideally I'd like to hear that they have measures in place that would allow accidental lapses in isolation to fail and they'd still be able to tell that it was Earth contamination. It's a reasonable concern and having it addressed (with something more satisfying than "they're experts, duh!") makes this kind of finding all the more interesting.
pixl97•2mo ago
I mean, it's a concern, but there are numerous other odd things in the findings that would not be caused by ground contamination such as the amount of stardust contained in these samples versus other asteroid samples, or the huge amounts of clay/water created minerals found so far.

There are plenty of other articles on the isolation procedures they've taken so far to this point including putting off opening the container for months because of a stripped screw.

sriram_malhar•2mo ago
Spot on.

"I'm just asking questions".

Normal_gaussian•2mo ago
There are papers covering contamination prevention and detection for every stage of the mission. There are papers with the designs and intentions before launch and papers with how well it went and their specific findings after return.

Here is one sick paper covering some of the clean rooms https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20230005897

tedd4u•2mo ago
Awesome -- dozens of the top people in their fields have been working on the contamination problem and publishing about it for almost two decades.

    The curation team was integrated with mission design and operations from the beginning,
    as early as 2004 (section 3.0). That integration allowed curation-specific needs such as
    contamination knowledge to be incorporated into the mission design early, when adjustments had
    minimal cost impact. Not only did this early integration inform planning for sample
    characterization, cataloging, allocation, and the development of detailed sample handling and
    containment approaches; it was also an investment in the longer term needs of the community.
    Here we describe these preparations for OSIRIS-REx, as a reference for sample scientists and
    curators and as a model for future sample return missions.
gus_massa•2mo ago
Most organic molecules are different from it's mirrored version, and living thing usually produce only one version. But inorganic reactions produce an even mix of 50% and 50%. So in most cases it's easy to spot.

Also, some sugars or amino acids are very common here and others very rare, and the commet probably has another mix.

Also, the ammount of isotopes of the atoms (like Carbon 14) is probably different.

jagged-chisel•2mo ago
> … gum-like material […] was likely formed in the early days of the solar system

> … consists of polymer-like materials extremely rich in nitrogen and oxygen.

IAmBroom•2mo ago
Asteroids sound delicious!
HPsquared•2mo ago
Come to think of it, quite a lot of sugary treats have space-themed names. Milky Way, Mars, Starburst, Orbit gum... I'm sure there are others.
KineticLensman•2mo ago
"Galaxy" (in the UK) is the obvious one. Incidentally, Mars bars were named after the Mars family who owned the company that made them, not the planet.
dylan604•2mo ago
And where did the family name originate?
throw46285•2mo ago
Same place that the family did.
esafak•2mo ago
Is this a yo mama joke?
trueismywork•2mo ago
Women are from Venus
a_shoeboy•2mo ago
With the battle-axe, sir, with the battle-axe!
arisAlexis•2mo ago
i always wanted to chew some asteroid
macrolime•2mo ago
So it's made of extraterrestrial bubblegum, got it.
snapdeficit•2mo ago
I know one theory proposes comets seeded earth with essential materials. But what seeded comets?? It’s just chance with extra steps, no?
malfist•2mo ago
The big bang did. And following it, supernovae. But there's a lot we don't know and science is always advancing!

For example, JWST observed early galaxies are both larger and more diverse materials than we expected. Means there's something new to learn!

gaoshan•2mo ago
When Carl Sagan said, "The cosmos is within us. We are made of star-stuff. We are a way for the universe to know itself" he was poetically accurate. The comets are seeded with the remains of untold countless exploded stars.
anechouapechou•2mo ago
There's a theory that at the very beginnings of the universe, as it cooled down, there was a period where the average temperature of the universe was between 0-100º C, meaning the whole universe was within a "habitable" temperature range, and this could have supercharged the creation of the building blocks of life. I think I learned about it on a Veritasium video... Maybe someone knows which one? :)
Retric•2mo ago
Veritasium videos are often extremely misleading. In this case the cooling universe lacked carbon for these organic compounds. Life cares about 0-100c because of water which depends on Oxygen would be missing etc.

Just as example in one video he refers to the field outside of the wire carrying the energy for electricity, however EM waves propagate at the speed of light and fall off at the square of distance. Electricity can travel thousands of miles without that kind of falloff but doesn’t propagate as fast because it’s electron density in the wires that causes what we think of as electricity. He then setups up an antenna and … well you get the idea.

tsimionescu•2mo ago
A "habitable" temperature range, without water and carbon, would be entirely meaningless.
lorenzohess•2mo ago
God
mollusc-engine•2mo ago
Wait till you hear about God!
snapdeficit•2mo ago
God is just an extra step. If you assume god existed forever and nobody created her, then why not just accept that the universe existed forever and cut out the middle-deity.
8bitsrule•2mo ago
>created her

Did you mean 'them' ?

andrekandre•2mo ago
idk, what does god need with a pronoun anyway?
antonvs•2mo ago
It's sorting and mixing. Comets, asteroids, and planets all had different factors governing their formation (sorting). When comets or asteroids hit planets, you get a mixture of those different compositions.
Mikhail_K•2mo ago
What, sugars and gum, but no sandwich wrappers?
airstrike•2mo ago
Bennu is just the perfect brand name for space gummy bears
troyvit•2mo ago
Space gummy tardigrades (because they can survive in space and their nickname is "water bear")!
socketcluster•2mo ago
So they found some sticky unidentified alien slime on an asteroid... This sounds like something straight out of an alien movie.
stronglikedan•2mo ago
Who doesn't like sugars and gum? It's the perfect alien incubation delivery mechanism! I wonder which will be the first scientist to get their chest popped...
vatsachak•2mo ago
Aren't we starting to figure out that life (self-organization) is the most likely outcome for planets with our conditions? Maybe "our conditions" are also too strong of a requirement

Check out Blaise Arcas on MLST and Nick Land on Dwarkesh. Self organization might just be the second law of thermodynamics in action

AIorNot•2mo ago
Yeah or Mike Levin

https://youtu.be/5MQq4n2QrNw?si=a7gFLLgQL1Soq0mt

dylan604•2mo ago
"planets with our conditions" is doing a lot of work here.

how many planets meet that criteria? most of the closest have typcially been labeled "super Earths" so their gravity will be greater than 1g. what effect will that have?

ASalazarMX•2mo ago
If life has adapted to the crushing pressure of deep ocean, I have hopes that it can adapt to not-so-crushing gravity. I'm sure a lot of our current life could adapt if our gavity was doubled. I'd feel sorry for birds, though.
dylan604•2mo ago
Can trees pull water up to the top in >1g situations? At >1g, the deep ocean pressure would be that much more.
ASalazarMX•2mo ago
Quick googling tells me that trees move water internally by capillarity, and suction caused by leave evaporation, both processes passive.

This puts limits on how high the column of water can be raised, yet at 1g we can have monstrous trees like sequoias, so maybe many kinds of trees would die, but the survivors would just grow shorter.

Abisal creatures, who knows how much pressure they can adapt to? They have populated our oceans as deep as they can go, the planet has nothing stronger to challenge them.

dylan604•2mo ago
you're focusing on sea dwelling creatures. what about land based? would animals get as large? would more calories need to be consumed for the extra effort necessary to move around in what ever >1g is around? some of these are are between 1.9x and 10x the size of earth. working twice as hard every day for everything be one thing, but 10x the effort?

what would be the atmospheric pressure at >1g? what effect would that play as well? not only would you be heavier, but you'd have to work harder to breathe.

again, lots of questions about the these differences that make it a lot more complicated than the right amino acids floating around in space.

ASalazarMX•2mo ago
Woah, I'm not focusing on anything specific, I just tried to address the two observations of your previous comment. If you keep adding more we'll never end this tread.

It's not like I am a SuperEarther cultist or something, I just think life can adapt to a wider range of gravities. If you think about it, it's amazing that Earth life can withstand constant microgravity despite no evolutionary pressure in that direction. If microgravity is survivable, why not some degree of macrogravity?

antonvs•2mo ago
It figures. The universe is held together by bubble gum and strings.
dylan604•2mo ago
the fact it is called string theory suggests it's just an idea and not known
procflora•2mo ago
Shoot, a fella could have a pretty good weekend in Vegas with all that stuff!
thedrexster•2mo ago
An eternal classic, brother, well done!
Beijinger•2mo ago
Big claims. Solid names.

"“All five nucleobases used to construct both DNA and RNA, along with phosphates, have already been found in the Bennu samples brought to Earth by OSIRIS-REx,” said Furukawa. “The new discovery of ribose means that all of the components to form the molecule RNA are present in Bennu.”"

Let's hope it is not a contamination.

metalman•2mo ago
sugars,gum, and stardust? so like, somehow,teenage girls have been getting off the planet and hanging around in space and leaving a mess behind, bet it has that wierd artificial cotton candy smell