Sotheby's auction: Mars rock fetches $5.3M, young dinosaur skeleton sells for over $30M
New York: Sotheby’s auction this week featured two incredible relics, one from the vast reaches of space and the other from the distant past of Earth, that captivated bidders and set new records.
A Martian meteorite, NWA 16788, weighing 54 pounds and ejected from Mars by an ancient asteroid impact, sold for an astounding $5.3 million. It was reportedly discovered in Niger’s Sahara Desert in 2023 by a meteorite hunter, after having been blown off the surface of Mars by a huge asteroid strike and traveling 140 million miles to Earth.
The bidding for this rare piece of Mars was fierce, with a 15-minute back-and-forth between online and phone bidders before it was secured by an anonymous buyer.
However, the real drama unfolded over a juvenile ceratosaurus nasicornis skeleton, one of just four known specimens of the species and the only known young specimen. Initially valued at $4-6 million, the bidding for this dinosaur skeleton took off dramatically. The bids surged in rapid succession, with offers increasing by $500,000 and later by $1 million each time, reflecting the skeleton's rarity and significance.
After a heated back-and-forth, the bidding ended at $26 million, but the final sale price, including fees, reached a jaw-dropping $30.5 million, setting a new record for the sale of a dinosaur skeleton. Parts of the skeleton were reportedly found in 1996 near Laramie, Wyoming, at Bone Cabin Quarry, a gold mine for dinosaur bones.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Authorities seize PoP idols in Dharwad ahead of Ganesh Chaturthi
DHARWAD: The district administration has stepped up its crackdown on the sale of Plaster of Paris (PoP) idols ahead of the Ganesh festival and seized idols from workshops in the city on Monday.
Acting on a tip-off received by Deputy Commissioner Divya Prabhu G.R.J., a joint team of officials conducted inspections at the premises of 10 idol-makers in the Gandhi Chowk area according to a report by The Hindu. The operation was led by District Environment Officer Jagadish I.H., with support from the Municipal Corporation and Police Department.
During the search, 10 PoP idols were found in the shop of idol-maker Santosh Chavan. The idols were confiscated and a formal warning was issued to him. Officials also collected samples of partially completed idols from multiple workshops, which have been sent to laboratories for testing.
The inspection team included Municipal Environment Engineer Saroja Pujar, Senior Health Inspector Shanthagouda Biradar, Health Inspector Vidyashree Badiger and other staff members.
