In recent news:
A fossil find in Argentina has revealed a two-legged creature that's the most primitive snake known, a discovery that promises to fire up the scientific debate about whether snakes evolved on land or in the sea.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/F/FOSSIL_SNAKE?SITE=TNMAR&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2006-04-19-21-26-21
Kiowa County (Kansas) farmers have found a new crop worth harvesting: meteorites.
http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/sports/14352905.htm
World Record Meteorite
A 1,400-pound stony-iron pallasite found in Kiowa County Kansas is the largest of its type ever recovered in the United States, and the third largest in history. Steve Arnold, 39, a professional meteorite hunter from Arkansas has found and excavated a meteorite weighing almost three quarters of a ton from a farmers field near Haviland, Kansas. The discovery was made in late October using sophisticated metal detecting equipment. It is one of the most valuable meteorite finds ever made in the United States and is of historic and scientific importance.
Meteorites, rocks that have fallen to Earth from outer space, are of considerable value to both scientists and private collectors. Meteorite collecting is growing hobby, with thousands of enthusiasts worldwide willing to pay high prices for these rare sky rocks.
They are of a rare type, known as pallasites, which account for only 1% of all known meteorites. Pallasites consist of a nickel-iron matrix full of colorful olivine crystals (the semi-precious gemstone peridot) and are very beautiful when cut and polished. Well prepared pallasite specimens often sell for between twenty and forty dollars per gram, Arnolds discovery is the largest pallasite ever found in America, and the largest oriented pallasite meteorite ever found anywhere in the world. An oriented meteorite is one which has traveled through Earth’s atmosphere without spinning and formed a conical or bullet shape as its surface melted. Oriented pallasites are extremely rare and highly prized by museums and private collectors.
From: Rockhounder, December 2005