This week in news from The Debrief, a new theoretical study argues that a “universal consciousness” may have predated the Big Bang and continues to influence the structure of reality itself. Meanwhile, astronauts conducting experiments outside the International Space Station found that an ancient, extremophile Earth organism survived nine months in the harsh vacuum of space, raising fresh questions about the resilience of life. And at the University at Albany, physicists have launched “UAlbany Project X,” a long-term, data-driven investigation

A new analysis of samples returned from the near-Earth asteroid Bennu has revealed a rich collection of organic molecules, including several chemical building blocks used by life on Earth, as well as the potentially historic detection of the complex amino acid tryptophan.
Discovered in 1999, Bennu is a near-Earth asteroid that passes by our planet every six years. It was the target of NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission, which aimed to collect samples from the asteroid and deliver them to Earth

Physicists at the University of Albany, New York, have announced a new research initiative—dubbed UAlbany Project X—that marks the beginning of a long-term scientific study of unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP).
The new project, officially launched last month, was made possible by an endowment gift that will provide ongoing funding for the team’s scientific investigation of aerial mysteries, which are currently also being investigated in a separate effort by the Pentagon’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO).
Kevin Knuth, Ph.D.,

The Martian atmosphere is electrically active, according to scientists, citing new French research that reveals evidence of electrical phenomena with significant implications for our understanding of the Red Planet’s atmospheric chemistry, climate, and habitability.
NASA‘s Perseverance rover has been scouting the Jezero crater for signs of life for the past four years. Unexpectedly, its instruments recently picked up something completely unexpected—“mini lighting”—as revealed in a new paper published in Nature.
SuperCam
“These discharges represent a major discovery,

When astronauts retrieved Earth moss that had been outside the International Space Station (ISS) for nine months, where it had been exposed to the harsh environment of outer space, they were shocked to find that 80% of its spores were still alive.
Once the spores were returned to Earth, scientists also discovered that most were capable of reproducing.
The Hokkaido University research team behind the unexpected discovery suggests that understanding this extreme Earth organism’s durability could help mission