How old are the elements?
Your body is a walking, thinking museum of some of the most violent events in the universe. CrowdScience sets out to find the age of, and tell the tales of the star dust within us
You are a star. Literally.
You are a carbon-based life form and those atoms of carbon in the molecules that make up your cells were formed by a nuclear fusion reaction at the heart of long dead stars. That goes for the oxygen in your lungs too. And the red blood cells that carry that oxygen to your tissues? They contain haemoglobin, and nestled at the heart of each molecule is an element (iron) formed by a supernova - the fiery explosion at the death of a star. Your body is a walking, thinking museum of some of the most violent events in the universe.
This, as CrowdScience host Marnie Chesterton discovers, isn’t as special as it sounds. All of the stuff on the earth - the elements that make clouds and mountains and mobile phones – they all have an origin story. CrowdScience tells that story, starting with the big bang and ending with physicists, creating new elements in the lab. Find out the age of the elements and the distance they have travelled to make their current home on earth.
Interviewees:
Dr Dorota Grabowska, Professor Andrea Sella, Dr Chris Pearson, Dr Jacklyn Gates
(Photo: Neutron star. Credit: Getty Images)
Last on
Broadcasts
- Fri 21 May 2021 19:32GMTΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service
- Sat 22 May 2021 01:32GMTΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service Europe and the Middle East
- Sun 23 May 2021 01:32GMTΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa only
- Mon 24 May 2021 03:32GMTΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service Australasia, South Asia & East Asia only
- Mon 24 May 2021 04:32GMTΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service Americas and the Caribbean
- Mon 24 May 2021 08:32GMTΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service
- Mon 24 May 2021 12:32GMTΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service except East and Southern Africa, East Asia, South Asia & West and Central Africa
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CrowdScience
Answering your questions about life, Earth and the universe