Recently, a press release from German astronomers announced their discovery of two of the most complex molecules ever in space: butyronitrile and ethyl formate.

The story is important for two reasons:

1. it adds to previous findings that elsewhere in the universe there are abundant precursors to amino acids (which are precursors to life as we know it)
   
2. it points out that ethyl formate is abundant in the universe.

The implications of the first are significant, in regards to the possibilities of life out there.

The implications of the second are tastier: since Ethyl Formate is the fragrant ester molecule that gives raspberries their distinct flavor ....

It's a short leap to declaring that

• the universe tastes like raspberries ("um-m-m-m — raspberries")


• perhaps portions of it are raspberries


• maybe the entire universe is a raspberry. In that case, we humans are either druplets, seeds, or thorns (my money is on thorns).

So in the coming months, when I'm harvesting raspberries, I'll be singing
"He's got I have the whole world universe, in his my hands."
"He's got I have the whole wide world universe, in his my hands."
"He's got I have the whole world universe, in his my hands."
"He's got I have the whole world universe, in his my hands."