On the hunt with California's 'meteor zombies'

One of the most important meteor strikes in a generation has brought treasure-hunters flocking to a small town in northern California for the second time in 150 years. The great gold rush began in the Coloma Valley in 1848, and now a meteor rush is underway as stardust fragments sell for 20 times the price of gold. The meteorite is thought to have been the size of a minivan as it hit the earth's atmosphere and broke up, scattering rare rocks across the California countryside. It is a very rare type of meteor containing water and the building blocks of life, so collectors are paying as much as $1,000 (£600) a gram for prime specimens. The locals have been searching fields, hillsides and even their own back gardens to cash in on the gift from above.