You are made of the universe … and here’s the breakdown

This is a reblog from theoretical astrophysicist Ethan Siegel’s blog called, “Going Nuclear: How stars die”. You should read it.

Here’s a snippet:

“After all, the universe required ten billion years of evolution before life was even possible; the evolution of the stars and the evolving of new chemical elements in the nuclear furnaces of the stars were indispensable prerequisites for the generation of life.” -John Polkinghorne

There are close to a whopping 10²⁸ atoms in your body. And while just over half of them are hydrogen atoms, all the rest of them — from Lithium to Uranium – were made inside of stars, and ejected back out into the Universe, where, billions of years later, they made you.

Read on

Lawrence Krauss sings the hits

Image via Wikipedia

“Every atom in your body came from a star that exploded. And, the atoms in your left hand probably came from a different star than your right hand. It really is the most poetic thing I know about physics: You are all stardust. You couldn’t be here if stars hadn’t exploded, because the elements – the carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, iron, all the things that matter for evolution and for life – weren’t created at the beginning of time. They were created in the nuclear furnaces of stars, and the only way for them to get into your body is if those stars were kind enough to explode. So, forget Jesus. The stars died so that you could be here today.”

- Lawrence Krauss

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