CNN —

A key chemical building block of life has been found on Saturn's moon Enceladus.

Phosphorus was detected in salty ice grains that were released into space by plumes that erupt between the cracks of the moon's ice shell.

An ocean exists beneath the thick, icy surface of Enceladus, and plumes of material regularly release from geysers at the moon's south pole.

That material becomes incorporated into Saturn's outermost E ring.

Video above: James Webb Telescope spots icy moon spewing massive water plume

Scientists used data from NASA's Cassini mission, which studied Saturn and its moons between 2004 and 2017. The spacecraft flew through the plumes of Enceladus and Saturn's E ring many times, and Cassini's Cosmic Dust Analyzer detected minerals and organic compounds necessary for life.

Previously, researchers detected the presence of sodium, potassium, chlorine and carbonate compounds in the ice grains collected and analyzed by Cassini. Now, scientists can add phosphorus to the list. A study detailing the findings was published Wednesday in the journal Nature.

"Phosphorus in the form of phosphates is vital for all life on Earth," said lead study author Dr. Frank Postberg, a professor of planetary sciences at Freie Universität Berlin, in a statement. "It is essential for the creation of DNA and RNA, cell membranes, and ATP (the universal energy carrier in cells) for example. Life as we know it would simply not exist without phosphates."

It's the first time that phosphorus has been discovered in an ocean beyond Earth.

"Previous geochemical models were divided on the question of whether Enceladus' ocean contains significant quantities of phosphates at all," Postberg said. "These Cassini measurements leave no doubt that substantial quantities of this essential substance are present in the ocean water."

A habitable ocean on another world

The data revealed high concentrations of sodium phosphates, or molecules that chemically bind sodium, oxygen, hydrogen and phosphorus together, inside the ice grains.

The collective detection of phosphorus and other organic compounds in Enceladus' ocean suggests that it could be habitable for life, if it exists on the icy moon, the researchers said.

"By determining such high phosphate concentrations readily available in Enceladus' ocean, we have now satisfied what is generally considered one of the strictest requirements in establishing whether celestial bodies are habitable," said study coauthor Dr. Fabian Klenner, postdoctoral researcher at the University of Washington, in a statement.

Although the ocean exists beneath an ice shell, there are indications of hydrothermal environments along the seafloor that keep the ocean at a warmer temperature.

"The important part for habitability is that we found phosphates that have been dissolved in Enceladus' ocean and, with that, are readily available for the formation of potential life," Postberg said.

"In most cases, phosphates (on Earth and elsewhere in the solar system) are locked up in rocky minerals, but on Enceladus, they are dissolved in large quantities (as salts) in the ocean."

The researchers also conducted lab experiments to model Enceladus' salty ocean, and they determined the phosphate concentrations are at 100 times and possibly up to 1,000 times higher than in Earth's oceans. That's because "soda oceans," or those rich in carbonates and carbon dioxide like the one on Enceladus, can dissolve large amounts of phosphates that are otherwise locked inside rocky minerals, Postberg said.

"High phosphate concentrations are a result of interactions between carbonate-rich liquid water and rocky minerals on Enceladus' ocean floor and may also occur on a number of other ocean worlds," said study coauthor Christopher Glein, a planetary scientist and geochemist at Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, Texas, in a statement. "This key ingredient could be abundant enough to potentially support life in Enceladus' ocean; this is a stunning discovery for astrobiology."

Some of the additional ocean world moons around Jupiter and Saturn include Europa, Titan and Ganymede. Future missions to Europa, like the European Space Agency's Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer and NASA's Europa Clipper, could determine more about the ingredients within these oceans.

Searching for signs of life

Although the Cassini mission ended by intentionally burning up in Saturn's atmosphere in 2017, the data collected by its instruments is changing the way scientists understand Enceladus and similar ocean worlds, which may be the best bet for finding life beyond Earth across our solar system.

"This latest discovery of phosphorus in Enceladus' subsurface ocean has set the stage for what the habitability potential might be for the other icy ocean worlds throughout the solar system," said Linda Spilker, planetary scientist and Voyager project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, in a statement. Spilker, who served as Cassini's project scientist, was not involved in the study.

"Now that we know so many of the ingredients for life are out there, the question becomes: Is there life beyond Earth, perhaps in our own solar system? I feel that Cassini's enduring legacy will inspire future missions that might, eventually, answer that very question," Spilker said.

Although the building blocks of life and conditions for habitability exist on Enceladus, no actual life has been detected yet.

"Having the ingredients is necessary, but they may not be sufficient for an extraterrestrial environment to host life," Glein said. "Whether life could have originated in Enceladus' ocean remains an open question."

"The next step is clear — we need to go back to Enceladus to see if the habitable ocean is actually inhabited," said study coauthor Dr. Nozair Khawaja, a planetary scientist and postdoctoral researcher at Freie Universität Berlin.

Video below: A new supernova has appeared in the night sky

Sending a dedicated mission to Enceladus is a priority for astronomers. Plans are underway to design the Enceladus Orbilander, which would both orbit the moon and land on the surface. If the mission were to launch later this decade, it would likely arrive at the distant moon in the early 2050s.

A spacecraft capable of landing on plume deposits on Enceladus could perform a chemical analysis to further investigate the subsurface ocean, said planetary geochemist Mikhail Zolotov, a research professor at Arizona State University and author of an accompanying News & Views article to the Nature study. Zolotov did not participate in the study.

"Those plume deposits could be taken inside a lander, melted, and analyzed for dissolved salts, gases, organic compounds, and possible biosignatures that all will characterize oceanic chemistry and habitability," Zolotov said.

If you haven’t experienced it yourself, you probably know someone who lost their sense of taste or smell from COVID-19.

“This virus has receptors including the ACE-2 that it binds to. And the ACE-2 receptor is particularly found in the olfactory epithelium, which are the areas the cells in the nose, deep inside the nose where the sense of smell fibers descend down from the brain,” said Dr. Carol Yan, a Rhinologist at UC San Diego.

She has been working with patients who have a loss of taste and smell from COVID-19.

“We’ve known for many years that all viruses have the potential to cause smell loss, and it is, in particular with this virus, that we’ve seen a much higher incidence of smell and taste loss,” said Dr. Yan.

We haven’t known until recently that the loss of smell, at least in the case of COVID, might be tied to your genetics.

“We compared people who had COVID-19 who did have a loss of smell versus people who didn’t, and we found a very clear genetic association with that particular symptom,” said Janie Shelton, an epidemiologist with 23&Me.

In a recent study, the company claims it can identify the genetic trait linked to the loss of smell in COVID patients.

“When we looked across all the chromosomes in the genome, we saw one really particular region in the genome that appeared to be strongly associated with loss of smell and so that region of the genome governs the expression of enzymes in your nose that clear smells out of your nose,” Shelton said.

If you’re like me, you’re probably wondering which types of people have this trait. But Shelton says it’s not that simple.

“What we saw was that this was relevant across all the different race-ethnic groups that we had in our sample,” said Shelton.

So, anyone can have this genetic trait. They still don’t know what may cause long-term loss of smell in people.

“Those people, you know we don’t really know why they specifically haven’t recovered and whether or not there’s a genetic component to that an immuno component or something different,” said Dr. Yan.

But 23&Me is looking into that next.

“Of the people who reported COVID to us, we went back and asked them to fill out another web-based survey about whether or not they’ve had symptoms of long COVID,” said Shelton.

Hoping to uncover more answers for the people suffering from long-term symptoms.

Two separate research groups in the U.K. and Denmark have come up with the same idea for a study that could help save endangered species, and have gotten the same results.

It involves sucking environmental DNA from the air that animals leave behind.

"We use a really small pump that pulls the air through, and we hope the DNA gets caught on the filter," said Elizabeth Clare, a professor of molecular biology at York University in Toronto. "It's a bit like making coffee. You make coffee by sucking water through a filter and leaving the coffee grounds behind. That's basically what we're doing; we're just sucking the air through and hoping that the DNA gets lost behind."

Clare says the concept has been used for years in different ways.

Scientists sample pathogens from the air, which has been used to help track COVID-19. Environmental DNA can also be collected from water to help mitigate invasive species.

A big goal for both research teams with the new study is to be able to locate endangered species and help save them.

It is important to note that this type of DNA sampling can only pick up if a species was in the area, so if there were two of the same animal, scientists would not be able to tell which one the DNA came from — they would only be able to tell that specific animal was there.

Both research groups also reported certain DNA samples not showing up when they knew an animal had been in the area.

The team in the U.K. missed maned wolves at the zoo they were studying at, and the team in Denmark missed the hippos at their zoo.

Clare says they also can't tell yet how long an animal's DNA will stick around after it's been in one area. She says she'd like to plan more research to get these answers.

But one thing is for sure after conducting the study, Clare says she has a whole new perspective on taking a deep breath.

"As you know, I'm walking through a jungle or the park or taking my dog for a walk or my kids out to play, and I take a deep breath; I think I just inhaled information about all the things that have been here before, and as a scientist, that's exciting to think that the information that I'm trying to gather is literally hanging in front of me," she said.

A brother and sister are connecting for the first time after finding out they are related.

Days after a tornado took out most of Mayfield, Kentucky, Sean Lynch, and Judy Saxton finally met after ancestry.com DNA tests led them to one another.

In October, they discovered they shared the same father. Lynch says he never met his biological father, who started another family with Saxton's mother years later.

"I thought I was an only child after my biological brother was killed in 1994 in a car accident," Lynch said.

Saxton's daughter discovered the relation through an online DNA test after tracing their family tree.

"She got ahold of him and told him. He thought I was her grandmother," Saxton said. "But then she told him, 'That's my mom, so that's your sister. You're my uncle."

Between COVID-19 concerns and their distance — one in Colorado and the other in Kentucky — the slight chance of meeting in person. Then the tornado hit.

Lynch says he drove 14.5 hours from Littleton, Colorado, just to see his sister and deliver essentials like generators, a space heater, food, water, and love that only family can provide.

"I told my wife when I found out about her, the only thing I want for Christmas is to hug my sister," he said.

Judy is 67 years old, and Sean is 74, so the siblings have a lot to catch up on now that they've been reunited.

Stephanie Sandoval at Newsy first reported this story.

A homeless man from Miami was charged with the murder of 14-year-old Ryan Rogers, who was found stabbed to death in Palm Beach Gardens.

Semmie Lee Williams Jr., 39, was taken into custody in Miami on Wednesday, according to police.

Palm Beach Gardens police charged Williams with first-degree murder with a weapon. His first appearance in court was Thursday morning, where he was told he will be held without bond.

Officials said there is no motive at this time and they believe this was a completely random incident with "an innocent child victim."

"It appears to be an absolute chance encounter between a child on a bike and an animal that probably should not be out on our streets," said Chief Clint Shannon.

The investigation

Rogers was found dead on Nov. 16 just south of the I-95 overpass on Central Boulevard with his bike nearby. He was found two dozen feet from the sidewalk in a wooded area out of plain sight. He had gone missing one day earlier after his mother said he had left his home on his bike and not returned, according to police.

Data from Rogers' phone revealed he was traveling south on the I-95 overpass and stopped at about 7:31 p.m. Williams was seen on surveillance video walking northbound on Central Boulevard at 7:20 p.m. The two would have crossed paths at about 7:31 p.m., according to investigators.

"He has no ties that we can determine to Palm Beach Gardens or Palm Beach County — none whatsoever. It’s a mystery to us why this man was in our community but we have evidence that places him on the scene and makes him responsible for the murder of this child," Chief Clint Shannon said.

The autopsy results showed Rogers was stabbed multiple times in the head and face, police said. His cause of death was ruled a homicide.

Police said headphones were found at the crime scene that did not belong to Rogers. A DNA sample produced a positive match belonging to Williams.

When Williams was located in Miami, a bloodstained bandana was found in his backpack, investigators said. Further analysis showed the two contributors to the bloodstains were Rogers and Williams.

When he was interviewed by law enforcement, Williams denied any interaction with Rogers.

Officials said while he was located in Miami, there is evidence that he traveled to Palm Beach County on Nov. 15 and returned to Miami the following day.

Officials said the investigation was "extremely challenging" from the beginning, and there was a lot of information that couldn't be released to the public without endangering what they were doing. The investigation moved very rapidly, with a lot of local and federal departments helping, according to Palm Beach Gardens police.

Earlier this week, police said parents should remain vigilant and take steps they feel are appropriate with regard to their children's activities in public.

Palm Beach Gardens Police said they increased patrols in the community amid the investigation. The chief said that while people should always be vigilant, the community is safe, they "removed a dangerous monster from the streets," and this incident could have happened in any location.

Shannon said he met with Ryan's parents Thursday morning to offer condolences in this "unimaginable tragedy."

The investigation is ongoing at this time, and police said there are still many details that can't yet be revealed.

JACKSON COUNTY, Miss. —

For decades, the two little grave markers sat side by side in a Mississippi Coast cemetery, identified only as Baby Jane and Baby Jane II.

The infants, both "Jane Does," were found on different occasions, in 1982 and 1988, in Jackson County rivers and buried by community members, after investigators found no leads in either case.

Then late last year, investigators were able to identify Baby Jane through DNA testing, almost 40 years after her death. This week, investigators exhumed Baby Jane II from her resting place in Jackson County Memorial Park in Pascagoula, with hopes of finding her true name.

Jackson County Sheriff Mike Ezell said in a news release that the remains of the infant have been sent to the Mississippi Crime Lab. Once her DNA is collected, investigators hope to use it to build a family tree.

Baby Jane II was found in the Pascagoula River on June 28, 1988, by two men fishing near the wildlife management area in Wade. The child was found tangled in a fishing line.

An autopsy showed that the baby, 3 to 5 weeks old at the time, had died by drowning.

The case has had a devastating impact on the community, even years later.

Gina Marshall was just a young girl at the time, living a couple of miles from where Baby Jane II was found. She remembers crossing the bridge over the Pascagoula River to get to summer school that day. Shortly after she arrived at school, the infant was found.

From that day on, Marshall said, she always had a sickening feeling when crossing the bridge or visiting the river with her family.

"This is something I have carried with me many years, and still to this day tear up over it," she said. "I pray they can find her identity."

Related video: Baby in Wisconsin exhumed who died in 1989

What made the case more painful is that the baby girl was the second child found in a Jackson County river in a decade.

Baby Jane, an 18-month-old infant, was found on Dec. 5, 1982, floating in the Escatawpa River wearing a pink and white checkered dress and a diaper.

In December 2020, DNA testing finally identified her as Alisha Ann Heinrich. Heinrich had gone missing from the Joplin, Missouri, area around Thanksgiving 1982, along with her 23-year-old mother, Gwendolyn Mae Clemons, according to the Jackson County Sheriff's Department. Clemons was planning to start a new life in Florida.

Clemons is also believed dead but her body has never been found. A man who was traveling with the mother and daughter was a suspect in their disappearance, the Jackson County Sheriff's Department said last year. The man has since died.

Season of Justice Corporation, a Baltimore, Maryland, nonprofit, is covering the cost of the lab work for Baby Jane II. Redgrave Research Forensic Services in Athol, Massachusetts, will attempt to build a profile of the child's family history.

The owners of the Jackson County Memorial Park donated the cost of the baby's exhumation.

Marshall said seeing Baby Jane identified has given her hope that DNA testing will be the key to finding out the identity of the second anonymous child.

"It's going to be bittersweet, I'm sure," she said. "The thought of her not having an identity, I think, makes this the saddest. She wasn't a nobody — she belonged somewhere. She would be approximately 33 right now, probably with children of her own, had she been given the chance."

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Willingham is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

A man accused of raping a 10-year-old girl in 2018 was found guilty on Tuesday.

Investigators arrested 28-year-old Leonardo Ramirez, of King City, California, after DNA taken from his face mask linked him to the 2018 rape of a girl under 14 years old.

A jury found Ramirez guilty of the sexual assault of his distant relative.

"He showed up and he was wearing a mask but they offered him a fresh mask and he accepted that mask and then subsequently discarded the mask he had been wearing into a bag which had been pre-staged," said Boyd.

The used mask was then submitted to the Department of Justice for DNA analysis.

"And subsequent to that analysis we were able to obtain a positive match from the sample in that mask and the sample initially obtained during the investigation two years ago," Boyd.

Soon after the results came back, Ramirez was arrested.

Ramirez will be sentenced at a later date.

Video above is from a previous broadcast.

CINCINNATI —

New research by scientists in Cincinnati is looking at whether different Food and Drug Administration emergency-approved COVID-19 vaccines can be mixed if there’s a need for boosters.

Cincinnati Children’s Hospital is researching the possibility of using the mRNA Moderna vaccine as a booster for the one-shot DNA Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

Children’s Hospital will soon be looking at other combinations of approved vaccines too.

“We know people are going to go do this, so we want to have data to inform the community. It may not be the greatest idea, or maybe it looks fine, it doesn’t cause any problems,” said Dr. Robert Frenck of Children’s Hospital.

Frenck led the Pfizer vaccine research at Children’s and is now leading the research on COVID-19 vaccines for children. He’s also part of the new research into boosters and combining vaccine platforms.

Frenck said there are lots of unknowns about mixing vaccines for boosters right now.

“Does that make any difference in the side effects? Does it have any effect in their immune response? Does it go up compared with people who stayed with the same vaccine?” Frenck said.

Another series of studies are being done by the global company CTI, headquartered in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky.

CTI is studying a Johnson & Johnson vaccine with a Johnson & Johnson booster.

Another important question is if boosters will be needed at all.

Frenck said the most current data shows the vaccines are as effective at six months as they were at two months.

“We were concerned that the vaccine would only last a few months and we would need a booster. Right now, if things stay the way they are, we may not need one,” Frenck said.