Two substances, never before seen on Earth, have been identified by scientists from University of Alberta in a meteorite that crashed in Somalia.

A team of scientists has discovered at least two never-before-seen minerals on Earth from a 15-tonne meteorite that crashed in Somalia. It is the ninth-largest meteorite ever found, but the presence of the exotic alien minerals makes it a special one. As revealed by a statement from the University of Alberta, the new alien minerals were found in a slice of 70 grams of the meteorite that scientists studied. While two minerals have been confirmed by experts, a third mineral is under consideration. However, as noted by U of A scientists, if more samples from the meteorite were to be obtained, there would be many more mineral discoveries. The two newly-found minerals have been named elaliite and elinkstantonite. The meteorite dubbed El Ali crashed in Somalia in 2020.

New, but made previously in a lab

The two minerals are not from Earth and have never before been found on the planet. Nevertheless, scientists did succeed in synthetically crafting them previously in a laboratory. This allowed scientists to spot the new minerals so rapidly, a statement from U of A revealed. The future of the meteorite remains in doubt. The latest news suggests that the meteorite had been moved to China, where a potential buyer could acquire it. Whether or not the new owner would allow sampling of the meteorite in the future remains to be seen. However, it is noteworthy that such meteorites should be primarily available for scientific study and not for collections.