Meteorites don't always announce their arrival, but the one bearing down on Canada on Jan. 18, 2000 was not so shy. Plunging toward the ground in a roaring fireball, it took dead aim at Lake Tagish in the British Columbia n mountains and — this being winter — smashed itself to fragments across the lake's icy surface.
It wasn't until January 25 and 26 that scientists could make it out to the impact site and collect some bits of what was once a meteorite measuring perhaps four meters (13 ft.) across. Those fragments have been kept frozen ever since to preserve any organic compounds that may have been riding aboard the rock when it crashed, and periodically subjected to scientific anaysis. The latest of those studies was published this week in the journal Science, and what the new investigators reported was eye-opening: Long before biology arose on Earth, they conclude, it may have been slowly incubating on asteroids.
"Incubate?" How about "seed?" To read the rest of the article, click here.