Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.In 1938 a team of Nazi scientists, funded by Heinrich Himmler went looting in Tibet, where Himmler believed the Aryan race originated.
One of the items they stole was a 1000 year-old statue of the Buddhist mythological figure, Vaisravana. It turned up again at an auction in 2007 and scientists who analysed samples have concluded it's made of intergalactic space dust. Sort of.
"The statue was chiselled from a fragment of the Chinga meteorites which crashed into the border areas between Mongolia and Siberia about 15,000 years ago," Dr Elmar Buchner from the University of Stuttgart, told PA."While the first debris was officially discovered in 1913 by gold prospectors, we believe that this individual meteorite fragment was collected many centuries before."
An original valuation of £12,400 dollars for the statue is now considered a vast underestimate. "If our estimation of our age is correct and it is nearly 1,000 years old, it could be invaluable, " said Dr Buchner.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments