Meteorite that crashed into New Jersey home contains "alien world chemistry," scientists say
Scientists have discovered that a meteorite that struck a New Jersey home contains rare prebiotic molecules and evidence of ancient salty fluids. This finding suggests that parent asteroids may have delivered the essential building blocks of life to early Earth.
Why it matters
The discovery provides new insights into the origins of life on Earth and the chemical composition of extraterrestrial bodies.
A meteorite that crashed into a New Jersey home held prebiotic molecules and other "building blocks of life," astronomers said in a newly published paper. The meteorite struck the home in July 2024. The homeowner preserved the fragments in glass jars using disposable gloves and aluminum foil, allowing an international team of experts to study them in detail, the researchers said in a paper published Wednesday in the journal ScienceAdvances. When scientists examined the preserved fragments, they were able to determine the meteorite was made of a rare, primitive material called CM1/2 carbonaceous chondrite. This is only the second observed fall of such a meteorite, making it "one of the most scientifically valuable meteorites ever recovered," according to a news release from the SETI Institute, a nonprofit research organization based in California.
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