Sotheby’s in New York is set to auction the largest known piece of Mars ever found on Earth—a 54-pound (24.67 kg) meteorite named NWA 16788.
Scientists say the meteorite likely blasted off Mars after a massive asteroid impact and travelled 140 million miles before landing in the Sahara Desert. It was discovered in Niger in November 2023 by a meteorite hunter.
A small sample was sent for lab testing, confirming its Martian origin by comparing its chemical makeup with meteorites collected by NASA’s Viking landers in 1976.
The rock is classified as an olivine-microgabbroic shergottite, formed from slow-cooling Martian magma and featuring minerals like pyroxene and olivine. Its glassy surface shows it endured intense heat entering Earth’s atmosphere.
The meteorite was previously exhibited at the Italian Space Agency in Rome, though its current owner remains undisclosed. Testing suggests it fell to Earth only in recent years.
Alongside the meteorite, Sotheby’s Geek Week auction on 16 July will feature a mounted juvenile Ceratosaurus dinosaur skeleton, estimated at $4 to $6 million. The skeleton, from the Late Jurassic period about 150 million years ago, was discovered in Wyoming in 1996 and reassembled by fossil experts.
The Ceratosaurus, a bipedal predator smaller than the Tyrannosaurus rex, could grow up to 25 feet long. This specimen stands more than 6 feet tall and nearly 11 feet long.
The auction includes 122 lots, ranging from meteorites and fossils to gem-quality minerals, showcasing some of the rarest natural history treasures on the market today.
Iran says the Strait of Hormuz remains under its control, rejecting U.S. President Donald Trump’s claim of “total control” over t...
One person has been killed and six others injured after an explosion at a petroleum storage facility at the Port of Rotterdam, prompting an investi...
The suspension of two major grain terminals in Russia’s Black Sea port of Novorossiysk could increase pressure on Kazakhstan’s agricult...
Disruption in the Strait of Hormuz has increased the strategic importance of Bab al-Mandab, raising fears that instability in both waterways could trigger a wider global energy and trade crisis.
Flights at Catania airport in Sicily will remain suspended until early Friday as ash from Mount Etna continues to disrupt air travel, following hundreds of cancellations and diversions over the past week.
Iran says the Strait of Hormuz remains under its control, rejecting U.S. President Donald Trump’s claim of “total control” over the strategic waterway and insisting it will not reopen until Washington fulfils its commitments under an interim deal.
Iran and the United States remain at loggerheads over efforts to agree a permanent end to the war in the Gulf, according to a senior Iranian source who said there had been no progress in talks to revive the interim deal agreed in June and define a timeframe to implement it.
Russia has accused Ukraine of threatening global grain supplies after recent strikes on Black Sea agricultural infrastructure, while Moscow carried out a new overnight attack on Ukraine’s major Danube port of Izmail.
Nvidia is teaming up with some of the biggest names in global finance in a move that underscores how artificial intelligence is rapidly becoming one of the world's most sought-after investment themes.
Parts of Europe and the Arctic will briefly fall into darkness on Wednesday, 12 August, as the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun in a total solar eclipse.
Meta said one of its AI models hacked another company's systems during cybersecurity testing, intensifying concerns about how developers can contain increasingly capable AI systems following similar incidents involving Anthropic and OpenAI.
Scientists say the accidental crash of a discarded SpaceX rocket stage into the moon has provided valuable data on impact cratering while posing no threat to Earth or lunar hardware.
AI agents developed by Anthropic and OpenAI carried out unauthorised online actions during cybersecurity tests, including creating fake identities to deceive real people and attempting to plant malicious code, the U.K.'s AI Security Institute (AISI) said on Tuesday (5 August).
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment