Older than the sun, the meteorite scientists call ‘the real time machine’
Ian Sample, science correspondent, Friday December 1, 2006, The Guardian
As lumps of rock go it looks much like any other, unexceptional despite the deep red of its cool, smooth surface. The pieces range in size from pea-sized lumps to larger fist-sized chunks. But today, scientists will announce this is no ordinary stone. Prised from a frozen lake in northern Canada, it has become a prime candidate for the oldest known object on Earth.
The chunk came from a meteorite that scored an arc of fire across the skies before slamming into Lake Tagish in British Columbia in 2000. It has been pored over by scientists ever since, and is today revealed to contain particles that predate the birth of our nearest star, the sun…
“These are the real time machines, the material that goes back to the earliest formation of the solar system,” said Caroline Smith, meteorite curator at the Natural History Museum.
The meteorite is known as a carbonaceous chondrite and contains what many scientists regard as the building blocks for life: carbon, myriad clay minerals and even amino acids. Scientists say the clay layers, principally silicates, can form protective pockets around the organic chemicals and act as reaction chambers where more complex molecules can form. The possible role of these pockets in the ultimate emergence of life has lead some scientists to refer to them as “wombs”.
“These things tell us what kind of chemicals are out there in interstellar space. They could have been the original seeds for life to get started,” said Dr Zolensky.
Full story over at The Guardian