Does this space rock hold clues to how life began? An astronomist explains | Jesse Weber Live

[00:00:00]A rock from outer space that came crashing through the roof of a New Jersey home is raising one of the biggest questions in science. Could the ingredients for life on Earth have come from space? What a question. July 16th, 2024, a fireball streaked across the Northeast at more than 30,000 miles an hour creating a sonic boom before a 2-lb meteorite punched through the roof of a home in Hillsborough, New Jersey. And now, after 2 years of lab testing, scientists say that that very rare meteorite contains what they're calling alien world chemistry. We're talking amino acids, organic compounds, other prebiotic molecules, so the chemical building blocks needed for life. Now, to be clear, they're not saying that they found living aliens, but they believe this remarkably pristine space rock could help explain how the chemistry required for life may have been delivered to the Earth billions of years ago. So, is this the closest we have been to alien life visiting Earth? Does it mean that we're all actually aliens?

[00:00:58]I want to bring in somebody who knows about this a lot more than I do. Dr. Peter Jenniskens, senior research scientist, astronomer, astronomer, excuse me, meteor expert at the SETI Institute, has led numerous meteorite recovery expeditions around the world helping scientists track fireballs, recover fallen meteorites, unlock their hidden secrets. So good to see you.

[00:01:16]Thanks so much for taking the time.

[00:01:18]Alien world chemistry, building blocks of life. What does that mean exactly? I mean, is this alien life? Does it mean that life's out there? What do we take away from that?

[00:01:27]>> Well, you know, this this rock actually hit close to your home. I mean, a lot of people in New York City felt the boom.

[00:01:34]It was a daytime event, so, you know, uh not not that conspicuous a meteor, but uh everything was rattling. So, just a friendly reminder that asteroids are still impacting >> Sure, but but what about what was there?

[00:01:47]The the alien chemistry, what do we take away from that?

[00:01:50]>> Yeah. Well, um we this this rock was It immediately recovered. It was preserved and the homeowners really did great service to science in that. And so we got to look at that and study it and uh noticed that this particular rock was different than other types of meteorites. This type is rare. We have 22 of them so far. This is only two of them are sort of this type. And and this type was the first pristine one and we can actually see that it contains tiny bits of material coming from the original surface of the world where these rocks came from. And these rocks were the ones that brought organics and water to the earth. So in a way in this impact we again had a a view of what happened at the time of the origin of life when the earth was a bone dry and all this material was there.

[00:02:48]>> out there somewhere else though, right?

[00:02:49]That means that this is out there somewhere else. There is life out there.

[00:02:52]There's potentially life out there.

[00:02:54]>> Well, we think there is. We hope there is.

[00:02:57]We're searching for it.

[00:02:59]We are also searching for what you need to make life possible. I mean, the fact that there's life on earth is really extraordinary.

[00:03:08]It was really >> Was it caused by this? Was it caused by a meteorite with organic compounds and amino acids? Was it caused Was that how life on earth happened?

[00:03:17]>> Exactly. So one of the rocks that hit the earth in the early days got stuck in the asteroid belt. And it it got hit recently. A piece came our way, crashed in a in a roof, somebody's bedroom.

[00:03:31]But basically, you know, what happened at the time when life on earth originated. So we've we've looked at this rock and we've found that this particular rock was very finely crushed. It was just pummeled and smashed and there were these little bits of pieces that came from the subsurface of the asteroid. And that gave us the first sort of window into what chemistry you get in on that type of an object. And we basically expanded the flavor of compounds and molecules and types of chemistry that you could have had could have delivered to the early Earth at that time. And so when the when the home owner walked into that into that bedroom >> Yeah.

[00:04:17]>> the scent of this meteorite that exploded the air >> like sulfur. They said it was like sulfur, right?

[00:04:21]>> Yeah, exactly. So he basically was smelling the scent of the >> So let me ask you let me ask you this.

[00:04:28]Let me ask you this. Is it possible there's another meteorite that's here on Earth? We just haven't found it yet and it is contains the building blocks of life and it has evolved. It is developing life in some way. Is that a possibility?

[00:04:45]>> Um we think that uh that meteorites not necessarily carry life because then you sort of have to think about okay, so but what needed to happen to create it somewhere else. So it's a philosophically not a interesting idea. We think that Earth itself was just a fine enough place uh you know, to get life started. But it did need uh compounds to start with. It need it needed a beginning.

[00:05:12]>> Mhm.

[00:05:12]>> And I think uh what we what we just witnessed was really that sort of beginning.

[00:05:18]>> Yeah.

[00:05:18]>> And this meteorite gives us a a sense of you know how how that might have happened.

[00:05:24]>> It's it's remarkable. It's remarkable.

[00:05:25]It's a remarkable discovery. It's a remarkable development in our understanding of life both here and in space. And listen, doctor, I I appreciate you coming on to talk about it. I also appreciate your enthusiasm for this. It's rare to find somebody that level of enthusiasm about what they do, but it's great to see. Dr. Peter Jenniskens, thank you so much. Good seeing you again.

[00:05:44]>> Pleasure.

[00:05:45]>> Thank you for watching. Subscribe below and download our NewsNation app right now on your phone and you will get fact-based, unbiased news for all Americans.