From Newsgroup: talk.origins


https://www.iflscience.com/first-sugar-discovered-near-the-milky-ways-center-shows-our-galaxy-is-more-of-a-raspberry-milkshake-84088
July 13, 2026

The first detection of the sugar erythrulose has
been made in a dust cloud near the center of our
galaxy. Erythrulose is produced by raspberries
and is used in some cosmetics. From a scientific
point of view, however, the more interesting
aspect of the discovery is that it adds to
evidence the early Earth may have received sugars
from space, forming a potential resource for
early life.
...
From a chemistrCOs point of view, sugars are much
more than glucose and fructose that make up too
much of the modern diet. TheyrCOre a class of
simple molecules with two or more carbon-carbon
bonds and a specific range of ends to their
chains. Sugars require a minimum of three carbon
atoms, but the most familiar ones have six.
Erythrulose has four, and while not widespread
in nature, is popular for the way it makes skin
look tanned without exposure to sunlight.

Sugars have been found in meteorites, suggesting
they exist in space, but until this discovery,
none had been detected outside the Solar System.
Clouds of gas and dust, particularly towards the
Galactic Center, contain a rich array of
molecules, some complex enough to pose a
challenge as to how they could form with no solid
surface, let alone a biological mechanism.
...


https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-026-02905-7
Detection of a four-carbon sugar in interstellar space
13 July 2026

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