The molecule is glycolaldehyde, the simplest monosaccharide sugar, which can react with propenal to form ribose, which is, in turn, the central component of RNA. Researchers believe that glycolaldehyde may be a key ingredient in the origin of life, but it has previously been detected only toward the center of our galaxy, where conditions make the formation of life unlikely.

The discovery of glycolaldehyde in a star-forming region of our galaxy, roughly 26,000 light years from Earth, suggests that the molecule could prove to be wide spread throughout the galaxy, and could offer clues as to where we should focus our search for extraplanetary life.

Image from NASA via Universe Today.

[Physorg via Universe Today]

Magneto:

We said the new Magneto synopsis was much the same as the earlier leaked script, but now it turns out we were wrong. According to the Coventry Telegraph, the leaked script had Charles Xavier working at an Israeli hospital for World War II survivors, where he meets Magneto. But the new synopsis has Xavier seving as a soldier, who helps to liberate the concentration camp where Magneto is held. The hospital thing is closer to what some of the X-comics have shown in flashbacks. [Coventry Telegraph]

Fringe:

There won't be any aliens in the series, and the mysterious Observer isn't an alien, says producer Jeff Pinkner. And there may be more than one Observer, which explains why he can be in so many places. Also, his interest in Fringe stuff predates Olivia's. Meanwhile, John Scott is still in Olivia's head because she "downloaded" his brain when she contacted him in the pilot. And it doesn't sound as though the show is going to explore whether Astrid has a personal interest in Walter's work any time soon. Peter's unethical past will definitely catch up with him. And we will probably meet William Bell by the end of the season — but we haven't met William Bell yet.

Also, Peter may or may not be Walter's "son," but he is definitely Walter's "offspring." (??) We may already have met Peter's mom, and we'll definitely meet her at some point. Walter is manic-depressive, and we've only seen his manic side so far — we haven't seen any of his "dark" side yet. And you shouldn't believe anything Walter says. Walter may have a love interest at some point. We will probably meet Olivia's stepdad at some point.
[TV Guide and TV Guide]

Something big happens in an upcoming episode that alters Broyles' working relationship with Walter, says Lance Reddick. [FringeFanatic]

In episode 11, we'll meet a new recurring chararacter, an intimidating senior FBI agent named Sanford Harris. [SpoilerTV]

Heroes:

The show's producers answered more fan questions, and included some spoilers. We'll find out in two weeks what Arthur has on Daphne, and we'll see the Master train Claire. And in episode 12, Sylar will gain a new power, which helps him learn whether Angela really tried to drown Baby Gabriel. Next spring's "Fugitives" chapter will reveal more about Sylar's past, and his struggles. Meanwhile, Sylar won't sacrifice himself to stop Arthur. We'll find out what happened to Molly in the Season three DVD deleted scenes. And the Haitian will be the key to stopping Arthur — which makes sense, since he already stopped Arthur once. [Heroes Spoilers]

The "Fugitives" arc is roaring ahead — the show is already casting episode 18 of the season. And it sounds like we're going to meet a family of dark haired, brown-eyed caucasian people: a sinister father in his 30s or 40s, a mother in her late 20s or 30s trying to protect her son, and a boy aged three or four. A Petrelli flashback to when Nathan was little? Or some new characters?

We'll also meet a computer worker in his 30s, who's responsible for monitoring classified information. And a male FBI agent who's taking part in a classified military operation. And finally a reporter who's reporting on a huge story from the field. [SpoilerTV]

And Jack Coleman says episode 17, "Cold Wars," will be a huge turning point for HRG, along the lines of "Company Man" or "Cautionary Tales." There's a kidnapping and "mental interrogation," and it's a psychological thriller. "If you miss it, you will be hunted down and... rehabilitated," Coleman says. [TWOP]

Lost:

Entertainment Weekly's Jeff Jensen has a theory about those casting calls we reported the other day, for two guys who work in "corporate security," plus a hippie-ish doctor out of his league. It's a flashback to the "Purge." Jerry and Phil, the security guys, are Dharma footsoldiers, charged with protecting the weird science and stuff from "the hostiles/the Others." And it's possible the hippie-ish doctor is out of his depth because he's racing to save his cohorts from the poison gas. [EW]

Smallville:

Some spoilers for episode 14 of this season, "Requiem." As we mentioned a while back, LuthorCorp is doing some experiments on Lana. And it turns out the experiments are the only things keeping her alive. Dr. Grohl, the scientist who's turned up in a few episodes so far, is involved in the experiments, and they may be tied to Project: Ares. The only series regulars in the episode will be Clark, Chloe, and Tess. It's Lana's last episode of the series. And it'll feature Superman villain Winslow Schott, also known as the Toyman.[KryptonSite]

Pushing Daisies:

If the show does end with the 13th episode of the current season, it'll be a satisfying conclusion — if you felt that the Sopranos had a satisfying ending, that is. [EW]

Life On Mars:

Here's a new promo for Thursday's episode. Still no glimpse of the KKK.

Knight Rider:

I know your day isn't complete without a reminder of how AWESOME this show is. In episode 16, "Fly By Knight," Mike and KITT are looking for 10-year-old Danny Clark, a math whiz who's the only witness to his father's murder at the hands of Peruvian druglord Esteban Bahia. Danny's also the only one who knows where Bahia's cocaine stash is hidden. Sexy FBI agent Jesse Running is supposed to protect Danny, and when he goes missing, she mistakenly arrests Mike. But Office Of National Intelligence director Darrel Armstrong cuts Mike a deal — he'll be spared prosecution if he brings in Bahia and rescues Danny, whom Bahia has kidnapped. Meanwhile, Danny's mom Amy fears she'll be next on Bahia's list. [SpoilerTV]

Monday:

Riley and John take a not-so-joyful ride to Mexico, — and Sarah gets some much needed face time with James Ellison. Will we finally get from Ellison answers? Plus the promos are promising that tonight will be one character's "last stand." Who will it be? SCC is on Fox at 8 PM.

Sarah Connor Chronicles Promo:

And here's a clip with commentary:

Find out why everyone hates Arthur Petrelli, and what's the deal with the whole Pinehearst nonsense. Hiro travels back in time hopefully to tie some of our lose over at NBC's Heroes at 9 PM.

Heroes Promos:

Heroes Clips:

What happens when you've got split personalities due to a government implanted brain chip that switches you from murderous secret agent to suburban dad right in the middle of gunfire? Sounds like just another silly, yet predictable, predicament for My Own Worst Enemy's Christian Slater on NBC at 10 PM.

My Own Worst Enemy Promo:

NBC's mop headed hero, Chuck, has to fight off his old demons aka, the ex. Watch as hot spy lady gets all sorts of pissed this week at 8 PM.

Chuck Promo:

Preview clips:

Get your end of the world hottie anime lady fix over at the Sci Fi Channel with three back-to-back episodes of Gurren Lagann starting at 11PM.

Movies:

Who you gonna call...again? Ghostbusters 2 on Bravo and 10 and later at 12:30 PM tonight.

Tuesday:

Hooray, Fringe is back on Fox at 9 PM. This week, a parasite is taking over the bodies of FBI agents, Olivia has to go to Germany (hopefully she'll pick up a little personality while overseas) and Walter Bishop and his boy Peter try to jump start a dead guy's brain.

Fringe Promo:

Tonight is the premiere of the Sci Fi Channel "science fiction reality TV show," Cha$e where the contestants travel across a giant board game ad are constantly hunted down by hunters. The new game show airs at 10 PM.

Movies:

Enjoy our favorite web slinger's adventures, before they were ruined with bad hair and equally bad dancing techniques. Spider-Man 2 is on over at FX at 4 PM.

Wednesday:

Still no new Pushing Daisies this week.

No Knight Rider this week, either.

Thursday:

Poor Chloe — Brainiac erased all her memories, and now the only person she remembers is dreamy Sam Witwer who is also Doomsday. Why does everyone pick on Chloe? Is it because it's fun to torture her? Smallville's "The Abyss" is on the CW at 8 PM

Smallville Promo:

Smallville Clip:

This week, our favorite hot brothers who follow scary stuff, Dean and Sam, find a girl who talks to angels and they have to protect her from a demon. Catch Supernatural over at the CW at 9 PM.

Supernatural Clips:

A hostage situation pins time-traveling cop Sam Tyler against a crazed gunman. Plus, Sam's starting to get phone calls from 2008, but he's still stuck in the past. Life On Mars is on 10 PM at ABC.

Life On Mars Promo:

Hood finds a frozen body on a warm beach and it won't thaw, no matter what. Will wonders never cease on the Eleventh Hour? The science-investigation series is on CBS at 10 PM.

Friday:

Over at Cartoon Network, the conclusion of the two part droid-centric Clone Wars storyline comes to a close. Will Anakin and Ahsoka rescue R2 from the clutches of General Grievous? The Clone Wars is on at 9 PM.

Clone Wars Promo:

The Stargate Atlantis crew has to rally around Woolsey, or lose their "play by the rules" boss forever. It's performance evaluation time, people — look busy. The latest SGA airs on the Sci Fi Channel at 9 PM.

Stargate Atlantis Promo:

Genius kiddies are being kidnapped on Ben 10: Alien Force. It's up to Ben to stop them from building their mystery arch. The new episode airs on Cartoon Network at 9:30 PM.

Sanctuary field trip! Mangus goes to Rome to attend a top secret abnormals meeting. The monster goodness starts at 10 PM on the Sci Fi Channel.

Movies:

Hum along with your favorite aliens, and watch Close Encounters Of The Third Kind on AMC at 5 PM.

Don't like aliens? Fine, right afterwards is the badass demon-killer Constantine and his super awesome tattoo powers at 8 PM on AMC.

Saturday:

Movies:

It's a long Andromeda Strain fest over at A&E at 8 and 10 PM then later at 12 AM.

But if the strain doesn't tickle your fancy, Cartoon Network has the direct-to-DVD movie Superman/Doomsday at 9 PM.

Sunday:

Vampire justice is dealt on this weeks True Blood. Now that Bill is in big trouble for his Sookie obsession (and killing another vamp) it's his turn for a beating. Oh, and of course Sookie is being all sorts of ridiculous because she just can't handle not being the center of attention for more than five seconds.

Tonight is the night! We've been waiting for the Robot Chicken Star Wars spoof forever, and finally tonight we'll get our fix of ridiculous stop animation humor loaded with geek-only humor. Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode II is on the Cartoon Network at 11:30 PM, here's a clip that aired on Joel McHale's equally as funny show The Soup, (oh and yes that's Seth MacFarlane as Emperor Palpatine).

Movies:

Get double the dose of Christopher Lloyd — first, as a zany alien with Jeff Daniels on WGN at 3 PM in My Favorite Martian, and later, as the mad scientist who builds a time traveling DeLorean in Back To The Future on Encore at 8 PM.

Researchers studying data from the European Space Agency’s Huygens probe have reported that Titan’s atmosphere contains a faint electrical field, opening the door to the possibility of lightening strikes on the planet’s surface:

"As of now, lightning activity has not been observed in Titan's atmosphere," said lead author Juan Antonio Morente of the University of Granada in Spain.

But, he said, the signals that have been detected "are an irrefutable proof for the existence of electric activity."

The discovery is a significant one since many biochemists theorize that lightning triggered the reactions necessary for the creation of life on Earth. Since Titan’s atmosphere contains chemicals similar to those in Earth’s prebiotic astmosphere, it increases the possibility that life could form on Titan or in other parts of the universe:

"I look at Titan as a big, frozen, prebiotic casserole," [Jeffrey] Bada [of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography] said, referring to the state before the emergence of life.

"The idea that life could be widespread in the universe, I think, is very credible."

Electricity Found on Saturn Moon—Could It Spark Life? [National Geographic]

According to a release from Oregon State University, where some of the research took place:

While using fluorescence to illuminate organic material has been done for decades, light sources were too large and unwieldy to use for a robotic mission to another planet, said [researcher Michael] Storrie-Lombardi. However, new generations of light-emitting diodes, or LEDs, are very small, reliable and energy efficient, he added.

"Placed on a Mars rover, one of these LEDs positioned a few centimeters from a target can easily provide enough light to produce fluorescence in small polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons," Storrie-Lombardi said. "But even more encouraging is the very recent development of a small 375 nanometer laser diode that can illuminate anything a PanCam can see, including geological layers and crevices high up on an otherwise inaccessible rock outcrop."

Added [U.K. scientist Jan-Peter] Muller: "This laser is now undergoing rigorous tests in the laboratory under Mars-like conditions prior to showing that it is flight-ready, even at this late stage, to be seriously considered to be launched in only five years' time."

The instrument appears to be "an ideal initial survey tool," Storrie-Lombardi pointed out.

"It requires no sample preparation, does not destroy sample material and requires only electrical power to operate, conserving precious water and other consumable resources for sister instruments," he said.

I'm waiting for a USB version of the device to attach to my laptop or mobile. You never know where you might need to scan for lifeforms.

Laser fluorescence could find life on Mars [via Eurekalert]

• Spock in Star Trek: There's no doubt that Spock was one of the best characters on Star Trek, which is what made his death so awesome. However, when he returned to life by having his body shot onto the Genesis planet, it just lost credibility for the science-hardened. How did Spock's dead body get injected into the Genesis life matrix anyhow? Good thing he'd downloaded his brainfiles into Bones, eh?
• Ripley in Alien: Ripley was brought back to life in Alien: Resurrection as a clone, although with spotty memories of herself and a DNA strand laced with Alien bits and bobs, so she ends up as a freaky post-human mommy. It was creepy enough seeing all of the failed Ripley clones inside the vats, and the tied up Ripley who wants you to kill her, but the Ripley/Mommy clone was just devoid of everything we've loved about Ripley from the previous films. Yes, that's including Aliens 3.
• The Cylons in Battlestar Galactica: The Cylons aren't just exactly clones in BSG, they're identical copies that take on the personality of their previous self upon death, and "rebirth" into wet, gooey, slimy, and slightly sexy birth tubs. They have to fly giant "Resurrection Ships" within reach of their "bring me back to life, I'm dead" signal, which sort of defeats the purpose. Couldn't their memoryfiles just be stored until they're close enough to get zapped into a new body? Why is it a finite process? Why are we asking so many questions about a show we love?
• Just about any Jedi in Star Wars: When you die in Star Wars, and you have the power of the Force, you have the option of appearing as a glowing, transparent spectre. It's hinted that this is due to the research that Qui-Gon Jinn did sometime before he died, and it gets picked up by Obi-Wan, Yoda, and Anakin so everyone can reunite and glow with pleasure around fires and dispense knowledge to your Jedi-kin. In fact, if you're lucky, you might get your own green glowy action figure.
• The Doctor in Doctor Who: If you ever need to keep bringing in actors to play the lead in your extremely long-running BBC science fiction show, what better way to just have them die and come back as the exact same person, who just happens to look completely different? The Doctor can resurrect or "regenerate" himself up to 12 times, although we're sure the writers could figure out some way around that. They might start working on that too, since we're already on the 10th model. Maybe we can get a new Doctor altogether? What about bringing back Romana?
• Captain Kirk in Star Trek: If you remember your Star Trek storyline, then you'll recall that Captain Kirk dies in Star Trek Generations, putting an end the The Shat in the series. Or so you thought. Shatner went on to write a book called The Return, which features the Borg and the Romulans teaming up to bring Kirk back to life. Sort of like your worst nightmare. It inspired several further novels, all co-written by Shatner, proving that the man will probably never die.