Fact #010

We are all made of stardust.

It may sound like something from a child’s imagination, but this fact is actually completely true, when you look at it from a certain angle.

All naturally-occurring life that we know of is based on the element carbon. It is the foundation of life and life could simply not exist without it. Carbon is formed when a star dies and it explodes, unable to fuel itself and release light, the star collapses under it’s own weight. This process is called a supernova explosion, and carbon is one of the waste products of the procedure.

So that means that, because the human body is made of 18.5% carbon, which comes from supernova explosions, which are the death of stars, we are all made of stardust.

I found out about this fact on a documentary I was watching on television the other day called: Chemistry: A Volatile History. The power of the Elements. The way the presenter (Professor Jim Al-Khalili) described it made me smile and want to write this post. 😀