It was a bit of a shock last week to find that the Open University had decided to go all festive. Christmas already! Oh no! Not yet, surely? But yes! In the Berrill Cafe the staff are now wearing pixie hats, Santa is in his grotto and the air is filled with the sound of…

It’s not easy trying to figure out the origin and early evolution of the Solar System using just a bunch of smashed up space rocks. A bit like trying to study an ancient civilization when all you have are a few bits of broken pottery and a rusty broach. Yes, making sense of the meteorite…

On September 21st 2013 at about 3pm local time a 1.5 kg stone fell less than one metre away from where Mr Adeildo Silva was standing in the village of Borracha, near Vicência, Brazil. It was a lucky escape! The stone turned out to be an ordinary chondrite, type LL3.2. Should we be interested? Well…

Meteorite scientists are generally a happy, friendly bunch of people. They love nothing better than getting together at meetings and conferences to discuss their latest research results. The mood is always relaxed and laid-back, unless that is, someone brings up the difficult issue of chondrules. Then things can start to get dark and a bit…