this post was submitted on 28 Apr 2026
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This is a pallasite meteorite a rare slice of an ancient asteroid believed to have formed between its metallic core and rocky mantle over 4.5 billion years ago.

Those glowing crystal sections are olivine, meaning you’re looking at the shattered inner remains of a lost world from the dawn of our solar system.

Article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pallasite

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[–] AccoSpoot1@lemmy.world 2 points 3 hours ago

Beautiful colours never before seen on earth

[–] Grimy@lemmy.world 10 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

Make a dagger out of it, come on. It's meant to summon something through sacrifice, stop wasting it.

[–] AngryCommieKender@lemmy.world 5 points 5 hours ago

Olivine is used in refractory bricks, furnace casings, and foundry sand to make them more heat resistant. Not sure it would make a good knife.

[–] gandalf_der_12te@discuss.tchncs.de 34 points 7 hours ago (5 children)

That is something that i never got. Isn't all material that old? I mean it didn't spontaneously jump into existence at a later time.

[–] NeverNudeNo13@lemmings.world 33 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

I mean, technically yes but typically when they say something is this old they mean in the "last formed" state. Because while it's probably true that everything has always existed from the beginning of time, it hasn't stayed in the same state or form for very long.

It's like saying that cake has always existed because it's made of flour which is made from carbon which was created at the big bang.

But in truth, cake never existed before some one made the recipe for it and started arranging ingredients in a particular way to create cake.

[–] starik@lemmy.zip 9 points 7 hours ago (2 children)

Only hydrogen and helium formed shortly after the big bang. The heavier elements like carbon were fused inside stars later, and the heaviest during supernovae. The carbon in that meteor is the same age as the carbon on Earth, since it was part of the same dust cloud that formed our solar system.

[–] Quibblekrust@thelemmy.club 1 points 3 hours ago

And the heaviest from neutron star collisions.

[–] Redacted@lemmy.world 1 points 5 hours ago

I mean, technically yes but typically when they say something is formed at the Big Bang they mean in the hydrogen/helium state. Because while it's probably true that everything has always existed from the beginning of time, it hasn't stayed in the same state or form for very long.

[–] Gsus4@mander.xyz 5 points 7 hours ago

yeah, "material" not as in individual atoms, but this here macroscopic structure made of said atoms.

[–] starik@lemmy.zip 3 points 7 hours ago

Rocks on Earth aren’t that old because of plate tectonics.

[–] XeroxCool@lemmy.world 1 points 6 hours ago

The comment reply to one of your comment replies explains it. Yes, to some degree, it's really the "last formed" date, but everything besides helium and hydrogen atoms had to be formed over time after the big bang by fusing inside stars. Even carbon.

https://lemmyverse.link/lemmy.zip/comment/26154715

[–] MonkderVierte@lemmy.zip 1 points 7 hours ago

No, plate tectonics. And most non-basaltic stones happen as chemical/physical reactions in the mantle or crust.

[–] Gsus4@mander.xyz 1 points 7 hours ago

Can't stop looking at it 🫪