Building blocks of life discovered outside the Milky Way for the first time 🦠 Astrophysicists from Kiel University and an international research team have detected complex organic molecules in the Large Magellanic Cloud for the first time. Using the James Webb Telescope, they identified five carbon-based compounds in the ices surrounding the forming protostar ST6: methanol, ethanol, methyl formate, acetaldehyde, and acetic acid. This marks the first time acetic acid has been detected in cosmic ice, and the first time three of the other substances have been found outside our galaxy. Scientists also detected possible traces of glycolaldehyde—a molecule linked to the formation of sugars and RNA precursors. The Large Magellanic Cloud, which contains one-third the amount of heavy elements found in the Milky Way, reflects conditions in the early Universe; this suggests that life could have emerged in the Universe much earlier than it did on Earth. 🔭