A Meteorite That Struck a Home Preserved Brines and Organic Chemistry From an Ancient Asteroid

A meteorite recovered immediately after crashing through a New Jersey home preserved unusually delicate evidence of ancient salty fluids, amino acids and other organic compounds. The pristine CM1/2 carbonaceous chondrite offers a rare natural sample of how water reshaped primitive asteroids—but it is evidence of prebiotic chemistry, not extraterrestrial life.