What is this?

CuddleDuncanCuddleDuncan Mod
edited December 2020 in General

Inspired by the Christmas present thread I thought I'd give you a little puzzle. This is the possibly the best present I've ever received. What is it?

Ignore the plastic box and lid, what you are looking at is the little rock. It looks, feels, sounds, smells and tastes like a wee stone that might get stuck in the tread of your shoe. Pen for scale. Background is regular A4 white paper. Not a trick or anything, this is on the level.

I will answer questions, but only with 'yes' or 'no' so make sure your question can be answered that way. If you know what it is straight off, please keep schtum and don't spoil it.

You can zoom in but it won't help much.

Comments

  • cuddlerforu24cuddlerforu24

    Big kidney stone . Did it hurt ?

  • CuddleDuncanCuddleDuncan Mod
    edited December 2020

    Oooh, I crossed my legs at that!! =) No, not a kidney stone. Thankfully.

  • UKGuyUKGuy

    Does a magnet stick to it?

  • CuddleDuncanCuddleDuncan Mod

    Execellent question. No, an unscientific fridge magnet does not stick. We may therefore conclude that the proportion of cobalt, nickel and iron is modest.

  • TheFunCartelTheFunCartel

    Petrified poop or guano

  • CuddleDuncanCuddleDuncan Mod

    No, not petrified poop.

  • TheFunCartelTheFunCartel

    Your most recent hemorrhoid.

  • JasonCuddlesJasonCuddles

    Was it formed through a biological process?

  • TheFunCartelTheFunCartel

    It is a rusty spike or nail from a sunken ship.

  • [Deleted User]verona (deleted user)

    Meteor

  • pmvinespmvines

    Fossilized wood

  • CuddleDuncanCuddleDuncan Mod

    And the winner is .... @verona!

    It is a meteorite. Found in north Africa, it probably came from Mars. Until twenty or thirty years ago meteorites were still sufficiently rare that they all went to musuems. However, the small, boring, ordinary ones are now common enough that they can be sold to the public after they have been classified.

    Thanks all!

  • Comfy_ArmsComfy_Arms

    It probably came from Mars?!
    If you put a tennis ball at one end of your suburb, and another tennis ball at the other end of your suburb, and use a slingshot to shoot a small ball bearing at one of the tennis balls to dislodge some dust particles from its surface, what do you think the odds would be that one of the dust particles would reach and settle on the other tennis ball?

  • LovenLightLovenLight

    Neat present! Do you know what the mineralogical composition is?

  • Rocket_ManRocket_Man

    not sure but it looks nasty to me. hahaha

  • CuddleDuncanCuddleDuncan Mod

    No, I don't know the exact composition except that it's a very typical Martian meteroite. Since it came on to the market, no university thought it interesting enough to buy. (The scientific community, rightly, gets first refusal.) Therefore it's probably shergottite of some kind.

    Such fragments of rock were blown into space from the surface of Mars by an impact event i.e. Mars being hit by an asteroid. They then wondered around the solar system for umpteen millions of years before being grabbed by the Earth's gravity.

  • LovenLightLovenLight

    @CuddleDuncan Understandable... Very cool! I asked because I have a couple unknown tektites and a piece of moldavite. Don't have any shergottite specimens though so I was curious. I've collected minerals (crystals/gem stones) for awhile. Drawn to them since I was a kid. Do you also collect minerals/crystals?

  • CuddleDuncanCuddleDuncan Mod

    I don't no, it is my only specimen. And I care because ... because IT'S A PIECE OF MARS AND IT'S IN MY HOUSE!! HOW NUTS IS THAT?

  • [Deleted User]DarrenWalker (deleted user)

    @CuddleDuncan: That is super cool.

  • [Deleted User]verona (deleted user)

    @CuddleDuncan awesome sauce I used to want to do Metal detecting but never had a chance to and this is something I always wanted to find!!! Thank you for the share.

  • LyleLuvsHugglesLyleLuvsHuggles

    @verona it's a fun hobby to be sure and entry level detectors are fairly cheap these days so its actually easier to get into than ever :)

  • [Deleted User]verona (deleted user)

    @NightShift39 thanks for the info I will start looking them up

  • LyleLuvsHugglesLyleLuvsHuggles

    @verona anytime also I highly advise checking cl, FB marketplace, pawnshops etc. You can sometimes get a really great deal on a solid detector that way. Though mileage may vary, here in Florida we get a lot of used hobby items dumped into the market hehe

  • cuddlerforu24cuddlerforu24

    I’ve done a little metal detecting . For geographic areas in the USA there are a particular make that are tuned for specific regions. Pricy models will have the ability to discriminate between metals ... gold ... silver .. tin ... aluminum . I’ve used them for practical purposes to find buried utilities, and rural property boundaries .

    You can forget about finding buried treasures. A days work in a field or along a roadside will produce all the little flip tops from aluminum drink cans . Rusted away steel will leave flakes of metal mixed in the soil , which will activate the “ metal !” Alarm .

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