Meteor crater cozy nest for life on Earth

Nunavut’s Haughton Crater, an asteroid impact crater on Devon Island, is revealing information about how life arose on Earth, report researchers from the British Antarctic Survey.

Charles Cockell and his colleagues began gathering rocks in 1998 from the enormous crater caused by an asteroid 23 million years ago.

Now, an analysis of these rocks shows that when the asteroid hit, it left a surface riddled with holes where a warm environment would have lasted for about 10,000 years.

“So, you’ve got water, organics and heat all in the same place, which is good for the evolution of life on earth,” Cockell said in the New Scientist.

Similar meteor craters may be also among the best places to search for life on Mars, the crater study suggests.