Kennel Hit by Meteorite Sold For $44k at Christie's Auction (theguardian.com) 18
While billionaires are battling it out in a race to colonise the moon, mere stratospherically rich mortals on Earth were able to grab a small slice of space rock for themselves on Wednesday at Christie's annual sale of rare and unusual meteorites. From a report: Star-gazers and meteorite enthusiasts bid frantically for fragments of the "oldest matter humankind can touch" -- as the auction house put it -- while other objects such as a comet-cracked kennel from Costa Rica sold for tens of thousands of dollars. A 15g fragment of the Winchcombe meteorite, which briefly became Britain's most coveted rock after the bright fireball was seen blazing across the sky over the Cotswold town last year, sold for $30,200, while a smaller 1.7g fragment fetched $12,600.
According to the Christie's catalogue of the 66-lot Deep Impact: Martian, Lunar and other Rare Meteorites" sale, only 602g of Winchcombe was ever found -- with 90% of the material now housed in the UK's national collection, curated by London's Natural History Museum. Among the more usual items for sale was a dog house hit by a meteorite which crashed through the tin roof in April 2019 in Aguas Zarcas, Costa Rica. But while it was expected to sell for as much as $300,000, after all it boasted a seven-inch hole which "marks where the meteorite punctured the roof," it finally sold for $44,100.
According to the Christie's catalogue of the 66-lot Deep Impact: Martian, Lunar and other Rare Meteorites" sale, only 602g of Winchcombe was ever found -- with 90% of the material now housed in the UK's national collection, curated by London's Natural History Museum. Among the more usual items for sale was a dog house hit by a meteorite which crashed through the tin roof in April 2019 in Aguas Zarcas, Costa Rica. But while it was expected to sell for as much as $300,000, after all it boasted a seven-inch hole which "marks where the meteorite punctured the roof," it finally sold for $44,100.
Well then, just ... (Score:2)
Summary Title. (Score:2)
What the hell does that even mean? "Auction Kennel Hit by Meteorite"
What's an Auction Kennel?...
That's probably the worst summary title I've seen in a while.
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What the hell does that even mean? "Auction Kennel Hit by Meteorite"
What's an Auction Kennel?...
That's probably the worst summary title I've seen in a while.
What's even more strange, is that the article uses the same confusing headline.
Read the actual summary... (Score:2)
Among the more usual items for sale was a dog house hit by a meteorite which crashed through the tin roof in April 2019 in Aguas Zarcas, Costa Rica.
But while it was expected to sell for as much as $300,000, after all it boasted a seven-inch hole which "marks where the meteorite punctured the roof," it finally sold for $44,100.
Clearly, someone somewhere is missing some 'D' in their life.
On the other hand, considering utter worthlessness of a FUCKING DOG HOUSE WITH A HOLE IN THE ROOF and the price they were expecting for it - apparently there is a slowdown in money laundering.
Which leaves one wondering if the cause is crypto or sanctions.
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-pff, old timers of last year.
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Imagine the value of NFTs of Roky's (German Shepherd who's been living in that dog house at the time of the impact) turds.
And his capacity for minting more.
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I'm impressed, the editors actually fixed the title, and it only took them several hours.
For any latecomers wondering: the original title of this story was "Auction Kennel Hit by Meteorite Sold For $44k at Christie's".
Oldest matter (Score:2)
Dude everything you touch is ancient atoms. But if you insist, go pick up a stone outside. In fact that rock might be older than the meteor which may have been shaped and cracked as it entered the atmosphere and hit the ground recently.
Re: Oldest matter (Score:2)
Not to say that meteors arenâ(TM)t cool btw, but I think they are cool because they hung out in space and have a record of the various things experienced out there.
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Well, ish. A lot of carbon-12 is carbon-14 that has decayed. So the atom is relatively new but most of the quarks are old. Nobody seems too sure if electrons are old or instantaneous.
To throw another spanner into the works, cosmic rays will turn one element into another, so it's not just a simple isotope change as with carbon. It's late, I'm tired, so I could have this wrong but I think one such change is silicon to aluminium. Those aluminium atoms are brand new.
Auction Kennel should cost more than that. (Score:2)
44k? (Score:3)
I have some dinosaur-shit for you.
Colonise the moon? (Score:2)
âoeWhile billionaires are battling it out in a race to colonise the moonâ
Intro paragraph brought to you by someone without even the faintest knowledge of space exploration.
This is awesome! (Score:2)
You folks are missing the point. What if you're that one wealthy guy that really loves his dog, but is deathly afraid of it's kennel being hit by a meteorite and killing the dog!?!
Think about it! What are the chances of this kennel being hit by a meteorite TWICE? One less thing to worry about!