Not all your Atoms are Stardust

You may have heard "We're all stardust," but that's not actually true. Most elements on the periodic table have surprisingly weird origins like neutron star mergers or even the big bang itself.

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Nick Lucid - Host, Writer, Editor, Animator
Em Lucid - Producer
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VIDEO ANNOTATIONS/CARDS

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Muons from Cosmic Rays:
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SOURCES

NASA Periodic Table of Origins:

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LINKS TO COMMENTS

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End Screen Comment:
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IMAGE/VIDEO CREDITS

Supernova:

Neutron Star Merger:

LIGO Stuff:
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TIME CODES

00:00 Intro
00:58 The Big Bang
02:39 Fusion in Stars
04:44 Supernovas
06:30 Abundancy
08:37 Cosmic Rays
11:54 Neutron Capture
14:09 Neutron Star Mergers
17:33 Summary
19:13 Featured Comment
19:33 Surprise Surprise!

[Dippedinsilver]

I’m a silversmith, sometimes I take a minute to appreciate that the silver I’m using came from the merger of neutron stars. It’s pretty awesome.

[Ghsdkgb]

Worth adding that stuff like Technetium is actually made in supernovae, but its half life is so short it never makes it to Earth. So while we never see it in nature, and thus all of it we've ever had is made in a lab, it is a thing nature makes.

[winterrobot]

The important thing for my own understanding is that the heavier the elements, the more spectacular and mind-blowing the origin.

[marcusscience]

“Not only do stars have to die to create elements, they have to die twice.”
- Kurzgesagt

[entropyachieved]

Love seeing the both of you working together keep it up. Hello from Newcastle Australia

[Roberto-REME]

Excellent video, Nick, and thank you for clarifying the idea around binding energy. Also, I really like when you have Emily co-host your topics. Emily adds a lot of value in clarification, acting as a sounding board, and, in general, co-hosting the program. Well done as always!

[davidcroft]

1:43 to be precise, temperature were high enough to produce heavier elements, but it dropped to colder temeperature in orders of seconds therefore only hydrogen, helium, litium and their isotopes could be created (maybe some boron, but I don't quite remember). Another reason is because there is actually a barrier in the fusion at beryllium-8 (and helium-5 btw) which is unstable (t~=10^(-8) s).
Only in the stellar cores this element can be produced, and used for fusion, because cores are hot and stable for a long period of time (millions of terrestrial years instead of a couple hundred of seconds)

[junkmail]

For me a retired 75-year-old electrical engineer, I found this to be an extremely interesting video especially the outcome of neutron stars merging causing the higher elements I am so astounded thank you so much for this presentation. Very best regards.

[peppipeppi]

great news! You are the first to tell me how heavy elements were really formed! Thanx.

[CellRus]

Guys, I love this couple already. I've been looking for an interaction video between a biologist and a physicist because i think such 2 extremely different sciences come together and discussing a common topic, you'll get a lot of new perspectives and ideas! I love this so much.

[rfrey]

A neutron walks into a bar and asks the bartender, “How much for a drink?” The bartender says, “For you, no charge.”

[TerryClarkAccordioncrazy]

This is the clearest and most complete "layman accessible" explanation I've seen of the origin of the elements. Thank you both.

[vovacat]

Every time the kilonova event of 2017 is mentioned, I stop to appreciate the sheer freaking coolness of it. Someone must have been having a moment of pure awe... "Remember that gravitational wave detection on August 17th? Well guess what, the gamma ray observatories caught it too, that one was actually visible, it was BRIGHT"
Also still can't get past the image of two neutron stars colliding and bursting into massive amounts of GOLD

[geoffreyraleigh]

I absolutely love this double act! Cheers for the upload!

[_shadow_]

Small correction at 8:05: New hydrogen atoms can be formed from the decay of free neutrons.

[seanfisk]

Hey Nick. I absolutely LOVE your physics content. I especially like when you're explaining to M, who then turns around and gives a very thoughtful and smart non-Physics standpoint. Keep it up.

[Bolpat]

Me: Oh, a Science Asylum video just dropped. Imma watch it as soon as I can.
Then me: OMG it's a conversation with M, that means it is not good, it'll be absolutely fantastic. Truly those videos are all in your top 10.

[Deletirium]

"We are all made of star stuff, " was one of the strongest reasons that I ended up as fascinated with astronomy/cosmology as I am. The perfectly balanced, improbable, and terribly complex mechanism of the infinite universe coming together to form such a tiny, insignificant speck as say, Earth... it boggles the mind.

Anyway, I like your approach to the topic. Definitely worth a subscribe...

[evangelosIt]

I love the comparison with biology! That is my favourite way of learning!

[HawthorneHillNaturePreserve]

I haven’t seen all of your videos, but I have to say this video with your wife is very effective. Her knowledge, your knowledge and the conversation really helped clarify the science. You should have her on more often.