Sugarcoated news arrives from space

The stuff of the cosmos just got sweeter. Researchers announced last week the first discovery of a sugar in space.

The sugar bowl: Gas and dust cloud Sagittarius B2 (North). NRAO/AUI/NSF

They found it in a massive cloud of gas and dust 26,000 light-years from Earth.

Last month, the scientists searched for the simple sugar called glycolaldehyde with the 12 Meter Telescope on Kitt Peak near Tucson, Ariz.