Science News Roundup: Textbook launch as Musk's SpaceX sends 4 astronauts to space station; Inmarsat chief warns of potentially hazardous satellite boom and more

Researchers said on Tuesday they have now identified the final two after fine-tuning the way they analyzed the meteorites. A fifth of world's reptile species deemed threatened with extinction About a fifth of reptile species - from the Galapagos tortoises to the Komodo dragon of the Indonesian islands, from West Africa's rhinoceros viper to India's gharial - are threatened with extinction, researchers said on Wednesday in the first comprehensive global status assessment for reptiles.

Following is a summary of current science news briefs.

Could key ingredients for life have arrived from space? Scientists say yes

A fresh examination of meteorites that landed in the United States, Canada and Australia is bolstering the notion that such objects may have delivered to Earth early in its history chemical ingredients vital for the advent of life. Scientists previously had detected on these meteorites three of the five chemical components needed to form DNA, the molecule that carries genetic instructions in living organisms, and RNA, the molecule crucial for controlling the actions of genes. Researchers said on Tuesday they have now identified the final two after fine-tuning the way they analyzed the meteorites.

A fifth of world's reptile species deemed threatened with extinction

About a fifth of reptile species - from the Galapagos tortoises to the Komodo dragon of the Indonesian islands, from West Africa's rhinoceros viper to India's gharial - are threatened with extinction, researchers said on Wednesday in the first comprehensive global status assessment for reptiles. The study examined 10,196 reptile species including turtles, crocodilians, lizards, snakes and the tuatara, the only surviving member of a lineage dating back more than 200 million years. They found that 21% of species are critically endangered, endangered or vulnerable to extinction as defined by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the global authority on the status of species. They also identified 31 species that already have gone extinct.

Inmarsat chief warns of potentially hazardous satellite boom

British satellite company Inmarsat warned on Tuesday of dangerous levels of space debris from satellite constellations planned by Elon Musk's Starlink, Amazon, Chinese operators and others. Inmarsat Chief Executive Rajeev Suri welcomed innovation in satellite constellations in low orbit but added that there should be better industry and regulatory co-ordination as they are launched.

Textbook launch as Musk's SpaceX sends 4 astronauts to space station

Elon Musk's rocket company SpaceX launched four more astronauts into orbit on Wednesday en route to the International Space Station (ISS) for NASA, including a medical doctor turned spacewalker and a geologist specializing in Martian landslides. The SpaceX launch vehicle - a two-stage Falcon 9 rocket topped with a Crew Dragon capsule dubbed Freedom - lifted off shortly before 4:00 a.m. EDT (0800 GMT) from Florida's Cape Canaveral.

All-private astronaut team returns safely from landmark space station visit

The first all-private astronaut team ever flown aboard the International Space Station (ISS) safely splashed down in the Atlantic off Florida's coast on Monday, concluding a two-week science mission hailed as a landmark in commercialized human spaceflight. The SpaceX crew capsule carrying the four-man team, led by a retired NASA astronaut who is now vice president of the Texas company behind the mission, Axiom Space, parachuted into the sea after a 16-hour descent from orbit.