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ScienceSpace & SpaceflightMeteorite That Crashed Into Michigan Contains ‘Pristine’ Organic Compounds
The rapid recovery and analysis of a meteorite that fell onto a frozen lake in Michigan two years ago is illuminating the pivotal role these rocks played in delivering the basic building blocks for life to Earth. As the meteorite was falling toward our planet on January 16, 2018, at speeds reaching 36,000 miles per … Continued
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ScienceSpace & SpaceflightThis Could Be the First Record of Someone Getting Killed by a Meteorite
A team of scientists think they’ve found the oldest evidence of a meteorite striking and killing a person, according to a new report published in the journal journal Meteoritics & Planetary Science. Given the hype around space rocks hitting Earth, there are surprisingly few records of meteorites striking people, much less killing anyone. But scientists … Continued
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SciencePhysics & ChemistryScientists Find a Superconductor in Bits of Meteorite
Scientists have detected trace amounts of superconducting material inside one of the world’s largest meteorites, according to a new study. Superconductors are materials that can conduct electrical current without resistance, and they’re coveted by researchers who study quantum computers and companies hoping to transfer energy more efficiently. The superconductor inside the Australian meteorite is a … Continued
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ScienceSpace & SpaceflightGerman Man Finds Rock From Early Solar System in His Front Yard
Scientists have released their initial analysis of a meteorite that fell over Europe last September. They report that the rock, the remnant of a daytime bolide that impacted Earth with an energy of 0.48 kilotons of TNT (around this much), is a carbonaceous chondrite—the kind of meteor that contains material from the earliest epoch of … Continued
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ScienceSpace & SpaceflightA Spectacular Fireball Lights Up the English Sky
Check out this incredible photo of a streaking fireball, which appeared over England last week. The photo, captured by Christopher Small, was taken in Bude, a seaside resort town in northeast Cornwall, England, reports the European Space Association (ESA). The stunning sight appeared 36 minutes before the stroke of midnight on January 21, 2020. The … Continued
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ScienceSpace & SpaceflightInterstellar Stardust Found Inside Australian Meteorite Is a Staggering 7 Billion Years Old
A meteorite that crashed into Australia back in 1969 contains stardust dating back some 7 billion years, predating the formation of Earth by 2.5 billion years. The remarkable discovery offers a snapshot of the conditions that existed long before our solar system came into existence. Ancient grains found inside the Murchison meteorite have been dated … Continued
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ScienceSpace & SpaceflightThis Meteorite-Munching Microbe Might Explain How Life Emerged on Earth
Meteorites are an unappreciated food source for a specific metal-loving microorganism, according to new research. The finding could reveal an entirely new chemistry that facilitated the emergence of life on Earth—or possibly even how life got here in the first place. The beautifully named Metallosphaera sedula is capable of consuming and processing “extraterrestrial material,” as … Continued
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ScienceSpace & SpaceflightScientists Find Sugar in Meteorites, Now Let Me Lick Them
Researchers found evidence of sugar molecules in primitive meteorites, according to a new study. Now, if you please, I would like to taste the rocks. Yes, I understand that sugar is a family of molecules that consists of more than just the sucrose molecules I use to make my coffee a little more exciting. In … Continued
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EartherEarth ScienceHere’s More Evidence That Earth Got Hit by Something Huge 12,800 Years Ago
New evidence from South Africa is adding further credence to the idea that a large asteroid or comet struck Earth during the Pleistocene—an event that possibly triggered the extinction of many large animals while also disrupting human populations at a global scale. Along with locations in North and South America, Greenland, Western Europe, and the … Continued
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ScienceSpace & SpaceflightWho Protects Earth From Asteroids?
Of all the things that could end our world, an asteroid strike may be the doomsday we have the most control over. In fact, an asteroid strike is near the bottom of the list of feasible armageddons. After all, we inhabit a nuclear weapon-armed world where human activity is permanently altering habitats and changing the … Continued
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Tech NewsMysterious Glass Beads in Clams Point to Ancient Meteorite Strike Near Florida
Since their discovery 13 years ago, scientists have puzzled over the origin of tiny glass beads found inside ancient clam shells. New evidence suggests they’re microtektites—a byproduct of meteorite impacts—marking the first time these celestial remnants have been found hiding in old clam shells. Ancient clam shells uncovered at a Sarasota County quarry in Florida … Continued
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SciencePhysics & ChemistryScientists Think They Know Why So Many Meteorites Look Like Cones
You might think of meteors as flashes in the sky that result in lumpy-looking meteorites on the ground. But not all meteorites are lumps. A substantial population, like the leftovers from the 2013 Chelyabinsk airburst, are notably conical. One team of scientists thinks they know why. A group of New York University researchers study how … Continued
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ScienceSpace & SpaceflightExtraterrestrial Organic Matter Found in 3.3-Billion-Year-Old Volcanic Rock
Geologists in France and Italy have spotted what appear to be organic molecules from outer space in 3.3-billion-year-old rocks in South Africa, according to a new study. By now, we know that organic molecules, from methane to amino acids, exist in space, and perhaps some of these molecules were brought to our own planet via … Continued
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ScienceSpace & SpaceflightLunar Eclipse Meteorite Briefly Created a Spot on the Moon as Hot as the Sun
This past January, astronomers managed to capture the moment a space rock struck the Moon during a total lunar eclipse. Now we’re learning more about this unprecedented event, including the speed of the offending object and the intense temperatures reached during the impact. Our Moon gets struck by bits of debris left over from the … Continued
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ScienceSpace & SpaceflightKazakh Meteorite Reveals Signs of Ancient Solar ‘Superflare’
Scientists have found evidence of an ancient solar “superflare” hidden in a meteorite that was first found in Kazakhstan in 1962, according to a new paper. Meteorites here on Earth can be useful for telling the story the Solar System’s history, specifically through the elements they contain. By analyzing the Efremovka meteorite, a pair of … Continued
