Imagine holding a piece of the moon’s hidden history—tiny green glass beads no bigger than grains of sand. That’s exactly what China’s Chang'e-5 lunar mission brought back, and scientists say these sparkly treasures are rewriting what we know about our closest cosmic neighbor! 🔍
Researchers from China and Australia revealed on Monday that the beads, discovered in lunar soil samples, contain unusually high levels of magnesium. Unlike typical moon glass formed by surface meteor strikes, these gems likely originated from the moon’s mysterious mantle, deep beneath its crust. 🌋
"It’s like finding a secret message buried for billions of years," said Alexander Nemchin of Curtin University, co-author of the study in Science Advances. The team believes a colossal asteroid collision may have blasted ancient mantle rocks to the surface, where they melted into these glassy time capsules. 💥
This discovery isn’t just cool space bling—it’s a giant leap for lunar science! 🌌 For the first time, researchers have clues about the moon’s inner structure without drilling miles below its surface. The findings could help refine theories about how Earth’s moon formed and evolved over 4.5 billion years.
