Meteorites are solid extraterrestrial materials that survive passage through a planetary atmosphere and reach the surface, providing direct samples of Solar System bodies for scientific investigation. As a research topic, they are categorized into stony, iron, and stony-iron types, with further subdivision into chondrites and achondrites based on texture and degree of differentiation. Meteorites preserve information on early Solar System processes, including nebular condensation, accretion, thermal metamorphism, and core–mantle differentiation. Their isotopic, mineralogical, and chemical compositions constrain models of planetesimal formation, planetary evolution, chronology via radiometric dating, and the distribution of volatiles and organic compounds in the protoplanetary disk.
In a new study, researchers say that nonbiological sources they considered could not fully account for the abundance of organic compounds in a sample collected on Mars by NASA's Curiosity rover. The paper is published in ...
Astrobiology
Feb 10, 2026
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Amino acids, the building blocks necessary for life, were previously found in samples of 4.6-billion-year-old rocks from an asteroid called Bennu, delivered to Earth in 2023 by NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission. How those amino acids—the ...
Astrobiology
Feb 9, 2026
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For a long time, scientists assumed that Earth's water was delivered by asteroids and comets billions of years ago. This coincided with the Late Heavy Bombardment (ca. 4.1 to 3.8 billion years ago), a period when planets ...
Astrobiology
Jan 25, 2026
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A 30-minute stroll across New York's Central Park separates Trump Tower from the American Museum of Natural History. If the US president ever found himself inside the museum he could see the Cape York meteorite: a 58-ton ...
Environment
Jan 12, 2026
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One of the most elegant theories about the origins of life on our planet is that it was kick-started by a delivery from outer space. This idea suggests that prebiotic molecules—the building blocks of life—were transported ...
Scientists have discovered living microbes producing methane in the fractured rocks deep inside Sweden's Siljan impact crater, offering insights into Earth's earliest life and the search for life beyond our planet.
Astrobiology
Nov 26, 2025
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On Sunday November 2, people in eastern Victoria witnessed a bright streak across the sky followed by a loud sonic boom that felt like an earthquake. The event was captured by security cameras and mobile phones.
Planetary Sciences
Nov 13, 2025
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172
In the beginning, Earth was a violent place with no atmosphere to soften the blow.
Planetary Sciences
Oct 28, 2025
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45
With help from amateur astronomers, scientists tracked how an asteroid traveled from space, broke up in Earth's atmosphere and sent fiery fragments shooting to the ground, gathering new information about how these space rocks ...
Planetary Sciences
Sep 21, 2025
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384
Buried deep in Greenland's ice sheet lies a puzzling chemical signature that has sparked intense scientific debate. A sharp spike in platinum concentrations, discovered in an ice core (a cylinder of ice drilled out of ice ...
Earth Sciences
Sep 19, 2025
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