News Chemistry

Meteorite that fell last year contains surprising molecules

Compounds in space rocks like the one that broke up over California may have helped seed life on Earth

meteorite fragments

SPARKING LIFE  Chemical analyses of Sutter's Mill meteorite fragments (one shown) suggest that space rocks hold the molecules necessary for life to develop.

Kevin Heider/Wikimedia Commons

By Andrew Grant

- More than 2 years ago

A space rock that lit up the California sky last year has given scientists an unprecedented look at the complex chemistry that probably took place during the solar system’s infancy.