...but the foolishness of fools is folly. Proverbs 14:24
woman astronomer and mathematician, the colorful rock
was found in 1996 in western Egypt by Aly Barakat, a geologist working
for the Egyptian Geological Survey. Barakat was studying Libyan desert
glass, which appears to be similar to sea glass from the ocean, except
geologists believe it might have formed roughly 28 million years ago in a
meteorite impact.
"Named for Hypatia of Alexandria, the first prominent Western
Barakat immediately recognized the unique significance of the glossy stone, lined with microscopic diamonds, and he suspected that it did not come from Earth. In 2013, geologists studying the Hypatia stone confirmed the rock was of extraterrestrial origin. Unlike any known meteorite, researchers originally believed the Hypatia stone was the first sample of a comet nucleus.
A new study
led by geologists at the University of Johannesburg found that
compounds in the Hypatia stone are distinct from anything discovered in
the solar system. The researchers therefore conclude that parts of the
rock formed before the solar system, and if these compounds are not
presolar, the prevailing idea that the solar system formed from a nebula
of homogenous gas is called into question." PopularMechanics
