Dealers in an Adventure with Scientists

Although most people are probably unaware of it, buying and selling meteorites is big business, very big business. The rules of the market place apply to space rocks, just as they do for any commodity that’s in short supply. And how much is this trade worth? Well, no one really knows for sure, but you…

The virtual beauty of space rocks

Meteorites! What’s all the fuss about? They’re just boring old lumps of rock. Black or grey, rough or smooth, a rock is a rock! Of course, everyone is entitled to their opinion, but meteorites are no ordinary rocks. They are the oldest objects you can handle. Some contain grains that predate our Solar System and…

The meteorite that vanished

Everyone likes a good mystery story. Something that remains unexplained and perhaps also inexplicable. Even the most sceptical of us surely must admit that tales about the Mary Celeste, Roswell incident, or good old Nessie hold a deep fascination. In fact we often don’t want to know the truth behind such stories. A little bit…

Two Martians for the price of one

  The chances of anything coming from Mars are… well quite low, as the song says. So Martian meteorites do tend to get a lot of attention, but none more so than NWA 7034. As discussed in a recent post on my research blog, this new meteorite has an oxygen isotope composition that is very…