Gold Existed Before Earth Formed: Ferromagnetic Gold, Maybe Meteoritic?
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Recently, scientists discovered that gold may have existed before Earth formed 4.6 billion years ago. This raises the hypothesis that gold has an extraterrestrial origin, possibly from meteors.
According to research, some gold samples found on Earth have magnetic properties, meaning they can be attracted by magnets. This is called ferromagnetic gold.
This property indicates that ferromagnetic gold dates from before the Solar System and Earth formed. Because Earth’s formation process had extremely high temperatures that would have melted and demagnetized all metals.
Scientists speculate that ferromagnetic gold originated from outer space and fell to Earth in the form of meteors. Upon impact, the meteors shattered and the gold within mixed with Earth’s minerals.
This discovery may help explain the origin of gold on Earth and open up possibilities for mining gold from asteroids, the Solar System in the future. However, scientists still need more research to better understand ferromagnetic gold and its origins.
