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.
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U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy Keith Kellogg arrived in Kyiv on Monday to begin discussions on military support, security cooperation, and sanctions targeting Russia.
Ahead of his NATO meeting, President Trump confirmed the U.S. will send Patriot missile systems to Ukraine and expects full repayment, citing rising frustration with Russia’s actions and the need to bolster Kyiv’s defences.U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed late Sunday that Ukraine will receive a
A 6.7-magnitude earthquake struck off Indonesia’s remote Tanimbar Islands on Monday, but authorities and local media said there were no immediate reports of injuries or structural damage.
More than 30 people have been killed and about 100 injured in sectarian fighting between Druze militias and Bedouin tribes in the southern Syrian city of Sweida, according to the the interior ministry on Monday.
A series of earthquakes have struck Guatemala on Tuesday afternoon, leading authorities to advise residents to evacuate from buildings as a precaution against possible aftershocks.
A deadly mass shooting early on Monday (7 July) in Philadelphia's Grays Ferry neighbourhood left three men dead and nine others wounded, including teenagers, as more than 100 shots were fired.
Australian researchers have created a groundbreaking “biological AI” platform that could revolutionise drug discovery by rapidly evolving molecules within mammalian cells.
Dozens of international and domestic flights were cancelled or delayed after Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki erupted on Monday, but Bali’s main airport remains operational.
French member of parliament Olivier Marleix was found dead at his home on Monday, with suicide being considered a possible cause.
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Iran has opened the first phase of its largest solar power plant as part of a major government programme to expand renewable energy capacity.
A rocket launched by Taiwanese company TiSpace from Japan's northern Hokkaido island failed shortly after takeoff on Saturday, falling short of its goal to become the first foreign firm to complete a successful launch from Japanese soil.
Around 2,145 senior-ranking employees at the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) are set to leave under a push to shed staff, Politico reported on Wednesday citing documents obtained by the news outlet.
A woman from Guadeloupe has become the only known person in the world with a newly discovered blood group, which French scientists have named “Gwada negative.”
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