logo
Meteorite from Mars sells for record $6.8m at auction

Meteorite from Mars sells for record $6.8m at auction

Straits Times7 days ago
Find out what's new on ST website and app.
The meteorite - known as NWA 16788 - was discovered in 2023 by a meteorite hunter in the Sahara Desert, in Niger's remote Agadez region.
NEW YORK - A 24.5kg Martian meteorite that is the largest known piece of Mars found on Earth has sold for US$5.3 million (S$6.8 million) at Sotheby's, setting a new auction record for a meteorite.
The auction on July 16 for the rock known as NWA 16788 sparked a 15-minute bidding war between online and phone bidders.
'This is an amazing Martian meteorite that broke off of the Martian surface,' said Ms Cassandra Hatton, Sotheby's vice-chairman and global head of science and natural history, ahead of the auction.
The fragment was discovered in November 2023 by a meteorite hunter in the Sahara Desert, in Niger's remote Agadez region.
'The people there knew already that it was something special,' said Hatton. 'It wasn't until it got to the lab and pieces were tested that we realised, 'Oh my gosh, it's Martian.'
'And then when those results came back and we compared and saw, 'OK, it's not just Martian, it is the biggest piece of Mars on the planet'.'
About five million years ago, an asteroid or comet slammed into Mars so hard that rocks and other debris launched into space.
Top stories
Swipe. Select. Stay informed.
Singapore Driverless bus in Sentosa gets green light to run without safety officer in first for S'pore
World US strikes destroyed only one of three Iranian nuclear sites, says new report
Business 5 things to know about Kuok Hui Kwong, tycoon Robert Kuok's daughter and Shangri-La Asia head honcho
Asia Air India probe into Boeing 787 fuel control switches finds no issues
Singapore Man charged over manufacturing DIY Kpods at Yishun home; first such case in Singapore
Singapore Sex first, then you can sell my flat: Women property agents fend off indecent proposals and harassment
Singapore Two women jailed for submitting fake university certificates to MOM for employment passes
Singapore Fatal abuse of Myanmar maid in Bishan: Traffic Police officer sentenced to 10 years' jail
'So it comes hurtling... 140 million miles (225 million km) through space, makes it through Earth's atmosphere,' said Ms Hatton, noting that most things burn up in our planet's atmosphere.
'It's incredible that it made it through and then that it crashed in the middle of the desert instead of the middle of the ocean, in a place where we could find it, and that somebody who could recognise what it was found it.
'So there's a whole kind of process or a layer of things that have to happen in order for this to become reality and be here in front of us.'
Just like its mother planet, NWA 16788 has a distinctly reddish hue, as well as signs of fusion crust from its violent descent through Earth's atmosphere.
There are about 400 officially recognised Martian meteorites on Earth, of which NWA 16788 is by far the largest. AFP
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Fir forests dying in Greece, as heat peaks and snow cover wanes
Fir forests dying in Greece, as heat peaks and snow cover wanes

Straits Times

time31 minutes ago

  • Straits Times

Fir forests dying in Greece, as heat peaks and snow cover wanes

Find out what's new on ST website and app. Forest entomologist Dimitrios Avtzis (right) talking to Katerina Kolirou, the head of the local forest service near the village of Kalavryta, Greece, on July 9. KALAVRYTA, Greece - On the wooded slopes surrounding the village of Kalavryta in southwestern Greece, hundreds of dying fir trees stand out among the dark green foliage, their brittle, reddish needles a stark reminder of how drought slowly drains the life from nature. Fir trees are known to need cooler, moist climates. But prolonged droughts in recent years linked to a fast-changing climate in Greece are leaving them exposed to pest infestations, scientists and locals said. 'In the past, we used to see a few dead trees scattered amongst the healthy ones,' said Ms Katerina Kolirou, head of the local forest service in Kalavryta, a village famed for its forests of the Greek fir species Abies cephalonica. 'Now, unfortunately, among the dead ones, we try to spot the few remaining healthy green firs.' Less water and moisture mean that fir trees become more vulnerable to attacks by pests that bore into their bark to lay eggs and create tunnels, disrupting the trees' ability to transport nutrients between roots and branches and leading to their death. 'These are wood-boring beetles,' said Dr Dimitrios Avtzis, a forest entomologist and research director at the Greek agricultural organisation Demeter, a state research agency, as he cut into the bark of a decaying tree in Kalavryta and found a beetle that he later placed in a vial for examination. 'They don't form populations as large as bark beetles, but they are just as destructive to the tree.' Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Asia 11 Thai civilians killed as Thai and Cambodian militaries clash at disputed border: Reports Asia Singapore urges all parties in Thailand-Cambodia border dispute to exercise restraint Asia Deadly Thai-Cambodian dispute puts Asean's relevance on the line Life Hulk Hogan, who helped turn pro wrestling into a billion-dollar spectacle, dies at 71 Singapore Avoid water activities around Tuas Second Link, Raffles Marina after chemical tank accident: NEA Singapore Khatib Camp to make way for housing, with its functions moving to Amoy Quee Camp Singapore Mindef to set up new volunteer management unit to grow volunteer pool Singapore Primary 1 registration: 29 schools to conduct ballot in Phase 2B Across the globe, 2024 was the warmest year on record, with the average temperature exceeding 1.5 deg C above the pre-industrial era for the first time. A drone view shows dying fir trees among the healthy ones, near the village of Kalavryta in Greece. PHOTO: REUTERS Temperatures in Greece rose by the same amount between 1991-2020, but in some northwestern mountain areas there was a larger 2 deg C increase, said director of research at the National Observatory of Athens, Dr Kostas Lagouvardos, who led a study on rising temperatures and snow cover. This, in turn, reduced the number of days the soil was covered by snow, another vital source of moisture for fir trees. He estimated a 30-40 per cent snow-cover decrease over the years. Dr Dimitrios Avtzis removing a bark beetle from an infested fir tree in Greece. PHOTO: REUTERS Fir forest decline, also seen on the Greek mainland and the Ionian Islands, is not unique to Greece. In the province of Huesca in Spain, also in the Mediterranean region, a different species of fir in the Pyrenees mountains, the Abies Alba, has also shown signs of declining in recent years, a development that scientists link to extreme heat. In Kalavryta, authorities plan to remove dead and infested trees to limit the damage. But this might not be enough to save the forests. 'We cannot stop climate change,' Dr Lagouvardos said. 'What we can try to do is mitigate it, or find solutions. But we cannot create snow.' REUTERS

Tides could help predict when huge icebergs break loose: Study
Tides could help predict when huge icebergs break loose: Study

Straits Times

time4 hours ago

  • Straits Times

Tides could help predict when huge icebergs break loose: Study

Find out what's new on ST website and app. Iceberg calving is a natural process which balances out the massive amount of snow that falls on Antarctica every year. PARIS – Ocean tides can trigger city-sized icebergs to break off from Antarctic ice shelves, scientists said on July 24, offering a potential way to predict these dramatic events in the future. It is not normally possible to forecast when icebergs break free, or calve, although the timing is important because these behemoths change the shape of ice sheets and affect global sea levels. Yet when a chunk of ice the size of Greater London suddenly broke off the Brunt Ice Shelf in 2023 and started drifting away, glaciologist Oliver Marsh was not surprised. Dr Marsh told AFP he had predicted that a huge iceberg breaking off was 'imminent within the next weeks to months'. The British Antarctic Survey researcher had spent years studying the huge crack that would create the 550sq km iceberg named A81. As Dr Marsh had anticipated, the calving occurred at the peak of spring tide, when there is the biggest difference between the ocean's high and low tide. New research led by Dr Marsh, published in the journal Nature Communications on July 24, used modelling to show that the calving was triggered by the tide, along with high winds and stress on the ice. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Asia Live: People evacuated from border regions amid deadly Thailand-Cambodia clash Asia 11 Thai civilians killed as Thai and Cambodian militaries clash at disputed border: Reports Asia Deadly Thai-Cambodian dispute puts Asean's relevance on the line Singapore Singapore says prolonged suffering of civilians in Gaza is 'unconscionable' Singapore Khatib Camp to make way for housing, with its functions moving to Amoy Quee Camp Singapore First BTO flats in Greater Southern Waterfront, Mount Pleasant to go on sale in October Singapore Mindef to set up new volunteer management unit to grow volunteer pool Singapore Primary 1 registration: 29 schools to conduct ballot in Phase 2B After A81 broke off, Dr Marsh visited the ice shelf to see how open water had replaced what had previously been 'ice as far as you could see'. 'It was sad to see it go, in a way,' he said. A81 is currently drifting up the eastern side of the Antarctica Peninsula towards the Weddell Sea. It remains to be seen whether it will come close to South Georgia island, which is an important breeding ground for penguins, seals and other animals. 'Out of balance' The world's biggest iceberg, A23a, ran aground not too far from South Georgia earlier in 2025 but is not thought to pose a threat to wildlife. Now that A23a is exposed to the waves of the Southern Ocean, its 'days are numbered', Dr Marsh said. He emphasised that iceberg calving is a natural process which balances out the massive amount of snow that falls on Antarctica every year. However, 'now we're out of balance', Dr Marsh added. Antarctica loses ice in two ways – icebergs calving and ice sheets melting. And ice sheets are melting at a rapidly increasing rate as oceans warm due to human-driven climate change, scientists have warned. 'We don't know whether calving rates have gone up' because they happen relatively infrequently, Dr Marsh said. A81 was the second of three mammoth icebergs that have broken free of the Brunt Ice Shelf since 2021. 'We are expecting a very large calving event at some point from this area' in the future, Dr Marsh said. But he could not give a timeframe. 'While we're saying we are a step closer to being able to predict these events... it is still difficult to predict.' AFP

Cook Islands wages war on ‘plague' of hungry starfish
Cook Islands wages war on ‘plague' of hungry starfish

Straits Times

time9 hours ago

  • Straits Times

Cook Islands wages war on ‘plague' of hungry starfish

Find out what's new on ST website and app. The Cook Islands, a South Pacific nation of about 17,000 people, is in the grips of a years-long outbreak. RAROTONGA, Cook Islands - Divers clutch wooden spears as they plunge beneath the waves, hunting hordes of hungry starfish destroying the coral reefs around the Cook Islands. These makeshift tools are their best weapons in the war against crown-of-thorns starfish, a coral-munching species eating through tropical reefs already weakened by climate change. The Cook Islands, a South Pacific nation of about 17,000 people, is in the grips of a years-long outbreak, says marine biologist Teina Rongo. 'It can completely kill off the entire reef, right around the island,' said Dr Rongo, who organises volunteers protecting the reefs fringing the isle of Rarotonga. 'I think there seems to be a Pacific-wide outbreak at the moment, because we're hearing other countries are facing similar challenges.' A single crown-of-thorns adult can eat more than 10sq m of reef each year, squeezing its stomach through its mouth to coat coral in digestive juices. They pose a major threat to Australia's Great Barrier Reef, where scientists have developed robots that hunt down the prickly invertebrates and inject them with poison. 'At the moment, you basically kill them by injection,' said researcher Sven Uthicke, from the Australian Institute of Marine Science. 'It could be vinegar, it could be lime juice or ox bile. 'Others are building chemical attraction traps. It's all very promising – but it's in the development stage.' Dr Rongo finds it quickest to pry the feasting starfish loose using a wooden stick cut from the dense timber of the Pacific Ironwood tree. 'Basically, we use a stick with a hook at the end,' he said. 'We've made some modifications over time because we were getting pricked by these starfish. It's painful.' Named for their hundreds of venomous spikes, crown-of-thorns starfish have as many as 21 fleshy arms and can grow larger than a car tyre. They are typically found in such low numbers that they are not considered a problem. But sporadically populations explode in a feeding frenzy that rapidly strips the life from reefs. A member from the environmental group Korero O Te Orau pulling crown-of-thorns starfish onto a boat after collecting them from a reef off Rarotonga in the Cook Islands. PHOTO: AFP 'Plague proportions' They spawn in 'plague proportions', according to the Australian Institute of Marine Science, and are a major driver of coral loss. From the Red Sea to the Pacific Ocean, crown-of-thorns outbreaks appear to be becoming both more frequent and more severe. 'Some argue that the crown-of-thorns has become chronic in the last few decades,' said Dr Rongo, talking about the reefs of the South Pacific. Scientists suspect these outbreaks are triggered by a mix of factors, including nutrients leached into the sea from agriculture and fluctuations in natural predators. But the damage they can cause is getting worse as reefs are weakened by climate change-fuelled coral bleaching and ocean acidification. 'This is why it's important for us to help the reef,' says Dr Rongo. Scuba divers scour the Cook Islands' reefs for hard-to-spot starfish wedged into dimly lit crevices. Once peeled off the coral, the starfish are pierced with a thick rope so they can be dragged back up to a waiting boat. The day's haul is dumped into a plastic chest before the starfish are lugged ashore to be counted, measured and mulched for garden fertiliser. They are known as 'taramea' in Cook Islands Maori, which loosely translates to 'spiky thing'. The volunteer divers working with Dr Rongo and his environmental group Korero O Te Orau – or Knowledge of the Land, Sky and Sea – remove thousands of starfish every year. Dr Rongo is spurred by the devastation from the nation's last major infestation in the 1990s. 'I was part of that eradication effort. 'We were too late when we did decide to do something about it. It went on and ended up killing the reef.' AFP

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store