Ancient Planet

According to a new analysis, ScienceAlert reports, a meteorite found last year in Algeria is actually older than the Earth itself.

Instead, an international team of scientists behind the research say, it appears to be a remnant of an ancient protoplanet — making the space rock an extraordinary curiosity that could offer unprecedented insights into the early years of our solar system.

Stuffed Crust

ScienceAlertreports that the rock asteroid was quickly identified as unusual after its discovery in the Erg Check sand sea last May, since unlike most meteorites, it had clearly been formed by a volcano — a suggestion that it had originated as part of a planet’s crust.

But as described in anew paperpublished in theProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, an analysis of radioactive decay of the sample’s isotopes now shows that it formed around 4.566…