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Conglomerate Rock From Mars: (Much) More Precious Than Gold
An anonymous reader writes It's the oldest rock on Earth--and it's from Mars. A 4.4-billion-year-old martian meteorite, found in a dozen pieces in the western Sahara, has ignited a frenzy among collectors and scientists; prices have reached $10,000 a gram, and museums and universities are vying for slivers of it. It is the only known martian meteorite made of sediment, a conglomerate of pebbles and other clumps of minerals from when the planet was warm, wet, and possibly habitable. The story of the discovery of the rock and its significance is fascinating, as well as the details presented about the economics of rare space materials. Apropos, this older story about missing moon rocks.
I think I've seen that movie before...
Do I really have to point out that a rock that left Mars 4.4 billion years ago will potentially have different things in it than a rock from today?
Tic-Tac-Toe, Global Thermonuclear War, and relationships all have the same winning move.
I haven't read how they know it's from Mars, just how exactly do they know?
Luckily I RTFA. Isotope ratios is the main way. e.g. deuterium in water in the rock.
They compare the isotopic ratios in the rock with those observed by our various landers and crawlers on Mars.
If the round trip gets $100k/gram, I don't think anyone but the buyer cares if they're bringing rocks, meteorites or rubber ducks.
Give the technology to De Beers and we'll have brides carrying pieces of mars in a year.
Oh, you mean like Nickelback?
I have never understood why they can be convinced that a random rock they find in the desert is actually from Mars.
So, do some readingon the topic, and then you will understand. In the meantime, your lack of understanding doesn't change the fact that they can do this.
but it is magical thinking to hold that such a rock definitely came from Mars.
No, it's magical thinking to assume that science must be wrong because you know less than science does.
Given the science used, it would probably require magical thinking to hold that such a rock did not come from Mars.
systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
"However, if your belief is that the Apollo moon landings were legitimate, then please explain to me how the astronauts got through the Van Allen belt?"
Uh, really simple. It's just an electro-magnetic field that has protons and electrons. We go through stronger magnetic fields getting an MRI done.
Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.