A slice of space rock no larger than a credit card could run up a big sale price at a Christie's auction in the next few days The item up for bid is a small piece of the first recorded meteorite seen as it dropped through the sky and landed in a wheat field it was the only major world event mentioned for the year that it fell to Earth — 1492 "This is back in a time before there was scientific consensus that meteorites actually existed," said James Hyslop "So this was very much seen as something sent by the Divine." Scientists estimate about 48.5 tons of billions-of-years-old meteor material rain down on the planet daily but recovering them is still like finding a needle in a haystack: Much of the rubble vaporizes in Earth's atmosphere or falls into the ocean which covers over 70 percent of the planet Want more science and tech news delivered straight to your inbox? Sign up for Mashable's Top Stories newsletter today after several meteorite sightings in Europe and the United States in the early 1800s for scientists to accept that rocks could fall from space Weeks after Christopher Columbus reached the Bahamas, the meteorite struck near the Alsatian town of Ensisheim in France and brought residents to the 280-pound black stone to gawk at its perplexing fusion crust and the one-yard-deep hole it bore into the ground People 100 miles away from the crash site in the Alps heard the fireball's boom believing it to be a good luck charm before city leaders forbade the vandalism Roman Emperor Maximilian I interpreted the Ensisheim event as a sign from God to declare war on France Within a month or so of the meteorite's fall renowned poet Sebastian Brant wrote about the Ensisheim rock describing it as a triangular stone that emerged from a storm cloud At the time it was referred to as the thunderstone The poet Brant was also responsible for putting it in a political context: He claimed it was a bad omen for the French side Maximilian was indeed victorious in battle He gained territory and brought back his daughter The fact that the event happened shortly after the advent of the printing press in the mid-1400s — and was used in wartime propaganda — was what made it memorable and unprecedented "Impressive as the stone and explosion were," she wrote "the latter two factors were crucial for winning a place in history for the Ensisheim meteorite." Maximilian ordered that the main portion of the rock be hung in the town's church, and it remained there until 1793, Marvin said, intriguing visitors with a Latin inscription: "Many have spoken of this stone many museums and galleries obtained pieces of the meteorite because it was the first institution to collect such objects thought to be sent from God and some went to the precursor for the Natural History Museum of London In order for space rocks to get formally cataloged as meteorites large pieces have to be kept at designated natural history museums for preservation But the London museum exchanged some of its hunk 30 years ago for newly found meteorites that originated from the moon and Mars That's how a private collector got a hold of the piece Christie's is selling today "It's the sort of meteorite that if it was just found on its own and didn't have that 500-year history behind it it wouldn't be hugely sought after," Hyslop said Archaeologists have detected traces of dairy fats on the walls of pottery vessels from the settlements of the Linearbandkeramik culture in Central Europe Part of a decorative ceramic pot of the Linearbandkeramik culture used for food storage from the Ensisheim site in Alsace The introduction and spread of ruminant animal-based agriculture by early Neolithic farmers had fundamental implications for shaping the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition in Europe completely transforming prehistoric European culture these changes underpinned dissemination of dairy economies globally and the evolution of lactase persistence in Europeans “It is amazing to be able to accurately date the very beginning of milk exploitation by humans in prehistoric times,” said Dr a researcher at the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle in Paris “The development of agropastoralism transformed prehistoric human diet by introducing new food commodities and West of Europe were the earliest Neolithic farming groups in Central Europe “The findings showed some of the very first settlers in the region were using milk at scale.” In their study, which is part of the European NeoMilk project the authors analyzed more than 4,300 pottery vessels from 70 Linearbandkeramik settlements for their food residues The results revealed considerable variation in milk use across the region with only 65% sites presenting evidence of dairy fats in ceramics vessels was not universally adopted by these early farmers Focusing on the sites and ceramics with dairy residues the researchers produced around 30 new radiocarbon dates to chart the advent of dairy exploitation by Linearbandkeramik farmers These new dates correspond to the earliest Linearbandkeramik settlements during the middle of the 6th millenium BCE “This research is hugely significant as it provides new insights into the timing of major changes in human food procurement practices as they evolved across Europe,” said Professor Richard Evershed a researcher in the School of Chemistry at the University of Bristol “It provides clear evidence that dairy foods were in widespread circulation in the Early Neolithic despite variations in the scale of activity.” The study appears today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences a fiery space rock whistled through the sky It rocketed into a wheat field near the town of Ensisheim Ensisheim at that point was the headquarters of Austrian troops came to the town on his way to battle the French Maximilian declared it to be a sign of divine favor – and the town believed him an email sent from God to the subjects of Maximilian to tell them that his rule was legitimate Herzog co-directed the documentary with British volcanologist Clive Oppenheimer It premiered Friday on Apple TV+ and takes viewers on a sightseeing tour of some of the world's most historic meteorites and impact craters The film also features the people who study these space rocks.  This is the second documentary Herzog and Oppenheimer have made together; the previous one, "Into the Inferno," was about volcanoes With "Fireball," the pair hope to further elevate science through filmmaking 'this has to be a new form,'" Herzog told Business Insider "'We should depart from the National Geographic movies though researchers have not been allowed to study it.  "We found footage shot by a Pilgrim on his cell phone," Herzog said of the footage shown "Like metal particles attracted by a magnet everybody's converging and screaming in this hustle and jockeying for position for touching or kissing it Each scene in the film relates to the central premise: that wherever they've fallen meteorites have shaped human political and religious life.  "These are stones that are falling from the heavens," Oppenheimer told Business Insider "This is some clue that the gods are intervening in human affairs." and released billions of tons of sulfur that blocked sunlight and cooled Earth An estimated three quarters of all plant and animal species on Earth died as a result That mass extinction eventually paved the way for mammals to reign.  were it not for this colossal impact," Oppenheimer says in the documentary.  The impact crater is located near Chicxulub Puerto which Herzog describes in the film as "a beach resort so godforsaken you want to cry." Asteroids at any time have the potential to impact the world's future Herzog and Oppenheimer visit the Pan-STARRS Operational Center in Hawaii where astronomers scan rows of computer monitors for signs of asteroids that might become meteorites by entering Earth's atmosphere Of the 25 million bits and chunks of space debris that become meteors are too tiny to make much of an impact either.   If the Pan-STARRS team does detect a large asteroid The group could likely warn people living in the asteroid's path But a very large space rock — say a few kilometers in diameter — could crash with the force of the Chicxulub asteroid If the Hawaiian observatory detected an asteroid heading toward the US he knows how he'd spent his last few hours: "I would start shooting a movie."  the moon and Mars that travel to Earth after being ejected from these heavenly bodies and many bring interesting stories when they collide with Earth more than 125 meteorite specimens and related material go up for auction the naturally formed holes on this iron Gibeon meteorite found in Namibia give it an animal-like appearance This meteorite was also part of the large Gibeon meteorite shower that rained rocks onto what is now Namibia thousands of years ago this one can call to mind the gapping mouth of Edvard Munch’s painting "The Scream." This meteorite, found in China's Gobi Desert a class of stony-iron meteorites that contain the mineral olivine this stone fell from the sky outside the walled city of Ensisheim The stone's descent was seen as a sign from God; the extraterrestrial origin of meteorites would not be accepted for another 300 years The Ensisheim meteorite was brought into the city and chained up in church to keep it Earth-bound The majority of meteorites break off from the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter; rarer specimens come from the moon or Mars This Mars meteorite landed in July 2011 as part of a shower in the vicinity of Tissint the location that gives the meteorite its name Collectors and institutions have since snapped up Tissint meteorites locks into a larger specimen now owned by London's Natural History Museum convincing French scientists that rocks did indeed fall from the sky and so ushering in widespread acceptance of the extraterrestrial origin of meteorites This L'Aigle specimen bears an antique parchment label Get the world’s most fascinating discoveries delivered straight to your inbox video cameras at Friday night football games in the northeastern United States caught the fiery descent of a meteorite that would end its fall by punching through the trunk of a car parked in Peekskill a partial slice of the Peekskill meteorite The owner of the red Chevy Malibu struck by the meteorite was 18-year-old Michelle Knapp Knapp sold the car for 25 times the $400 she paid for it when buying it from her grandmother meteorite dealer Ray Meyer standing beside the damaged car When a meteorite shower hit the Nigerian city of Mbale in 1992 at a time when the region was plagued by AIDS residents believed the rocks were sent by God as a cure a partial slice of one of the Mbale meteorites This iron meteorite from China weighs 1,588 pounds (721 kilograms) Eta Aquariids peak Monday night: How to see 'shooting stars' left behind by Halley's comet Ancient zircon crystals shed light on 1 billion-year-old meteorite strike in Scotland May's full 'Flower Moon' will be a micromoon Molli Mitchell is a Senior SEO TV and Film Newsweek Reporter based in London Her focus is reporting on culture and entertainment She has covered the world of Film and TV extensively from true-crime dramas to reality TV and blockbuster movies Molli joined Newsweek in 2021 from the Daily Express She is a graduate of The University of Glasgow You can get in touch with Molli by emailing m.mitchell@newsweek.com either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content The Women and the Murderer (also known as Les femmes et l'assassin) is available to stream and download on Netflix now The true-crime documentary traces the capture of serial killer Guy Georges told from the perspective of a police chief and a victim's mother who worked tirelessly to catch him Newsweek has everything you need to know about the case the killer Guy Georges and his whereabouts today Guy Georges is a convicted French serial killer from Vitry-le-François Georges grew up in the French social care system and was in and out of trouble throughout his youth Georges embarked on a killing spree between 1991 and 1997 and murdered in the neighborhood of Bastille in Paris granting him the nickname "The Beast of Bastille." Georges also assaulted at least 13 other women including attempting to strangle his adoptive sisters Roselyne as early as 1976 and Christiane in 1978 when he was just a teenager As a result of the attacks on his adoptive sisters He attempted to strangle a woman named Pascale C He was arrested by police but was released one week later Crime and Investigation details Georges' violent tendencies did not stop there Both girls survived the attack and Georges was arrested He served a one-year sentence in an Angers prison and following his release committed petty crimes in and around Paris leaving her for dead but she survived the ordeal He was then sentenced to 18 months in prison raping and stabbing her but she survived and alerted police He was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for the attack Georges was allowed day release towards the end of his sentence Georges did not return and instead made his way to Paris It was on that night he committed his first murder killing 19-year-old student Pascale Escarfail He eventually returned to prison one week later and was officially released on April 4 His murder spree continued for six more years He also continued to assault other women in the Bastille area He is 58 years old and remains incarcerated at Maison Centrale Ensisheim (Ensisheim Central House) He was arrested for the rape and murders of Pascale Escarfail and Agnes Nijkamp after his DNA was found at all four crime scenes He confessed to police following his arrest Ahead of his trial, Georges was found to be legally sane and fit to stand trial but was declared a "narcissistic psychopath" by psychiatrists as well as the confession given after his arrest Georges pleaded not guilty to all of the charges at his trial Georges eventually admitted he was guilty of murdering Escarfail and Nijkamp as well as the rape and murder of Hélène Frinking He was sentenced to life imprisonment on April 5 without the possibility of parole for 22 years The Women and the Murderer is streaming on Netflix now Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground Newsletters in your inbox See all Metrics details Alt et al. have reported in Scientific Correspondence1 what they thought to be the first ‘unequivocal’ evidence for the existence of healed trepanations (cranial surgery) from Ensisheim there is compelling evidence that such intra vitem surgery was carried out at an earlier date in eastern Europe Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout in Invisible People and Processes: Writing Gender and Childhood into European Archaeology (eds Moore Naselenie Ukrainy v epokhu mezolita i neolita: anthropologicheskiy ocherk (The Population of the Ukraine in the Mesolithic and Neolithic Periods: an Anthropological Outline) 141-142 (Nauka in Diseases in Antiquity: a Survey of Diseases Injuries and Surgery of Early Populations (eds Brothwell Download references Reprints and permissions Download citation Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content: a shareable link is not currently available for this article Revista Brasileira de Farmacognosia (2021) Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science Part of a decorative LBK ceramic pot used for food storage from the Ensisheim site in Alsace Part of an LBK ceramic pot used for food storage from the Colmar site in Alsace LBK ceramics from the Alsace region on display at the Historic Museum of Mulhouse A new study has shown milk was used by the first farmers from Central Europe in the early Neolithic era around 7,400 years ago advancing humans’ ability to gain sustenance from milk and establishing the early foundations of the dairy industry led by the University of Bristol and published today in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) deployed a pioneering technique to date dairy fat traces preserved in the walls of pottery vessels from the 54th Century BC This method targets fatty acids from animal fat residues making it uniquely suited to pinpointing the introduction of new foodstuffs in prehistoric times who conducted the research while completing her PhD in archaeological chemistry at the University of Bristol said: “It is amazing to be able to accurately date the very beginning of milk exploitation by humans in prehistoric times The development of agropastoralism transformed prehistoric human diet by introducing new food commodities which continues to the present day.” known as the Linearbandkeramik (LBK) culture The findings of this research showed some of the very first settlers in the region were using milk at scale This work was part of the European Research Council (ERC) NeoMilk project led by Professor Richard Evershed FRS of the School of Chemistry at the University of Bristol His team analysed more than 4,300 pottery vessels from 70 LBK settlements for their food residues with only 65 percent sites presenting evidence of dairy fats in ceramics vessels Focussing on the sites and ceramics with dairy residues the researchers produced around 30 new radiocarbon dates to chart the advent of dairy exploitation by LBK farmers These new dates correspond to the earliest LBK settlements during the middle of the 6th Millenium BC Co-lead author Professor Evershed said: “This research is hugely significant as it provides new insights into the timing of major changes in human food procurement practices It provides clear evidence that dairy foods were in widespread circulation in the Early Neolithic despite variations in the scale of activity.” The study was conducted in collaboration with chemists from the University of Bristol and archaeologists from the Universities of Gdańsk the Dobó István Castle Museum and the LVR-State Service for Archaeological Heritage which directed excavations of the studied sites More social media graines de courge… La mère de Jonathann Daval raconte son quotidien en prisonTrois ans après sa condamnation à 25 ans de réclusion pour le meurtre de sa femme Alexia Jonathann Daval est poursuivi pour « dénonciation calomnieuse » par les membres de sa belle-famille dévoile les habitudes de son fils à la centrale d’Ensisheim (Haut-Rhin) et dont les ultimes soubresauts occupent encore les tribunaux Profitez des avantages de l’offre numérique