Researchers just recovered the first item outside the solar system. According to them, it is rich in heavy elements with patterns different from the Earth's upper continental crust.
First Alien Object Found on Earth
Professor Avi Loeb recovered the mysterious IM1 meteor from the coast of Papua New Guinea during a $1.5 million expedition. Loeb claimed that the item was from interstellar space and was proof of extraterrestrial life.
Professor Loeb wants his research to address whether the spheres are man-made or natural. The results thus far do not provide an answer to this question.
He said on Tuesday that the discovery was significant because it marked the first time that components from a sizable object that had come to Earth from outside the solar system had been in human hands.
The team found about 700 tiny metallic spheres during the expedition, and the 57 analyzed contained compositions that did not match any natural or artificial alloys. They sent it to Stein Jacobsen's laboratory at Harvard University for composition analysis.
Loeb was confident of Jacobsen's expertise, even noting that the latter is a "highly conservative and professional geochemist" with no biases or agenda. The data reportedly showed something new in the scientific literature.
The pieces' analysis revealed that they are abundant in lanthanum, uranium, and beryllium, with low concentrations of metals that bond to iron, such as rhenium, one of the rarest elements on Earth.
Professor Loeb noted that although the elements are present on Earth, the patterns do not correspond to the alloys on Earth, the moon, Mars, or any naturally occurring meteorites in the solar system.
According to the study, the BeLaU abundance pattern observed in the spherules of IM1 "could have possibly originated from a highly differentiated planetary magma ocean."
The paper explains that bodies in our solar system, including Earth's upper continental crust, have different element patterns.
Professor Loeb further speculates that the fragments may have been ejected from supernovae or neutron star mergers because the BeLaU combination contains an "overabundance of heavy elements."
However, the "s-process" pattern shows that the debris came from a separate source, possibly Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) stars.
Low- and intermediate-mass stars undergo a last stage of evolution known as AGB stars, fueled by nuclear fusion. Future study by Professor Loeb aims to solve the conundrum.
Astrophysicist Accused of Stealing
Loeb's recovery of the item he claimed to be the first proof of extraterrestrial life from Papua New Guinea stirred a controversy. The crew was condemned by the Papua New Guinean authorities for allegedly omitting steps required for such operations. Loeb was accused of stealing the recovered meteor.
Papua New Guinean officials are incensed at the removal of the scientific marvel, and many of them blame the crew for taking the alien item away without fully appreciating the benefits of such a finding to the country.
George Penua Polon, the deputy administrator of Manus Province, claimed that Loeb's group entered and left in silence. He questioned whether or not what they learned was worthwhile. Given that it was discovered on their soil, he wondered if they had any claim to it or whether their scientific studies would benefit.
According to Papua New Guinea's National Research Institute, which oversees requests for study from overseas experts, Loeb's team did not contact them. The team arrived on business visas rather than the special exemption visas offered to scientists. The maritime affairs division of the attorney general's office was allegedly still processing an application after the crew returned to the United States, according to Polon.
According to accomplished ocean explorer and expedition leader Rob McCallum, the project is unique because it looks for, gathers, and analyzes data that "actually fell from the sky." He also asserted that because it does not involve the extraction of biological or geological material that already exists, the current permitting procedures do not apply.
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