This is not a "jump". This is ongoing research in a relatively young field (about 20 years old), with multiple views. But you can read http://www.geology.wisc.e

This is not a "jump". This is ongoing research in a relatively young field (about 20 years old), with multiple views. But you can read http://www.geology.wisc.edu/outcrop/05/05_pdfs/11%20Iron%20Isotopes.pdf http://www.geology.wisc.edu/outcrop/05/05_pdfs/11%20Iron%20I... concerning work being done in 2005 on the topic, which shows that the New Yorker is no distant leap beyond what people in that field have been saying for over a decade, and with efforts to fill in the details.