One of the things I’ve been thinking about recently is the fact that the matter in our bodies is entirely made up of atoms that were forged in the inner depths of stars, eons ago. This isn’t something I had given much thought to. Its fascinating. Everything you own, everyone you know, are made of bits of stuff that were created inside far away stars ages ago.
A brief primer on the history behind this:
- The Big Bang happened.
- This produced Lithium, Helium and Hydrogen.
- Some of this Lithium, Helium and Hydrogen coalesced into stars.
- The very high pressures and resulting hot temperatures inside stars converted some of the lithium, helium and hydrogen into heavier elements in a process called nucleosynthesis. This is essentially what the old alchemists on our planet were trying to do, but as far as we know, this can only happen inside stars, because of the high pressure needed. Got any gold around? Take a look at it. As the core collapsed in a dying star, a gravity wave collapsed inward with it. In that moment, as a star died, that gold was formed.
- The stars spewed out these new elements into the universe (and continue to do so)
- Some of these elements formed planets and other bodies (and continue to do so)
Thats the story so far. Then, between four and five billion years ago, a new planet formed, orbiting a yellow dwarf star on the edge of the Orion arm of a spiral galaxy called the Milky Way. Earth.
The chemical and physical properties of Earth’s primitive environment were conducive to the origin of life. Elements combined to form more complex substances such as water, carbon dioxide, methane and hydrogen cyanide. These in turn formed key molecules such as sugars, amino acids and nucleotides. Such molecules are the building blocks of proteins and nucleic acids, compounds ubiquitous to all living organisms. Life began. A critical early triumph was the development of RNA and DNA molecules, which directed biological processes and preserved life’s “operating instructions” for future generations.
Most of life’s history on Earth has involved single celled micro-organisms. These gradually evolved into more complex cells, and about 550 million years ago, plants and animals familiar to us appeared. These too, evolved into the people and creatures we see around us today.
To give you a better idea of what exactly it is we’re made of, take a look at the elemental composition of the human body.
At some level, it seems counterintuitive to think that we’re made of star stuff. I mean, we do see the people, animals and plants around us growing all the time. To ‘get’ this,, its important to look at the really big picture. That, and as far as I can understand, remember that no new matter can be created, its just converted from one form to another.
In a way, we represent the Universe becoming conscious of itself.
Now, I don’t mean this in a Deepak Chopraesque, new-age, “we are one with nature” kind of way. I mean literally. We are particles of stardust that have attained consciousness, for a brief period. Dust to dust and all that. What does this mean for us? For humanity? I don’t know. Depends on your worldview, perhaps I’ll explore this question in another post someday. However, its nice to know. I like this creation story a lot better than the older, more established ones.
I’ll leave you with this poem titled “A Man said to the Universe”, by Stephen Crane.
A man said to the universe:
“Sir I exist!”
“However,” replied the universe,
“The fact has not created in me
A sense of obligation.”
____________________________________________
Notes:
- Elemental Composition of the Human Body from Wikipedia. Click here for the full article.
The photograph above was taken by Voyager 1 on February 14, 1990. As the spacecraft left our planetary neighborhood for the fringes of the solar system, engineers turned it around for one last look at its home planet. Voyager 1 was about 6.4 billion kilometers (4 billion miles) away, and approximately 32 degrees above the ecliptic plane, when it captured this portrait of our world. Caught in the center of scattered light rays (a result of taking the picture so close to the Sun), Earth appears as a pale blue dot, suspended in a sunbeam.
In a commencement address delivered in 1996, the astronomer Carl Sagan related his thoughts on the deeper meaning of the photograph:
Look again at that dot. That’s here. That’s home. That’s us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every “superstar,” every “supreme leader,” every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there–on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.
The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds.
Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves.
The Earth is the only world known so far to harbor life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment the Earth is where we make our stand.
It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we’ve ever known.
Here are Sagan’s thoughts on our Pale Blue Dot, in his own words:
Go placidly amid the noise and the haste and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly. And listen to others, even to the dull and ignorant, for they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons, for they are vexatious to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter, for there will be always greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements, as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your career, however humble. It is a real possession in the changing fortunes of life.
Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is. Many people strive for high ideals and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love. For in the face of all aridity and disenchantment, it is as perennial as the grass.
Take kindly the counsel of years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings, for many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars. You have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
Therefore, be at peace with God, whatever you conceive him to be. And whatever your labours and aspirations in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace with your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.
This prose poem was written by Max Ehrmann (1842-1945) in the 1920s. Desiderata is Latin for “desired things”.
I wanted to write a blog post about astrology. But theres already a lot of material out there that talks about it taking the same approach and viewpoint that I would. So I’m just going to direct you to this website, which is a really good place to start: http://www.badastronomy.com/bad/misc/astrology.html
Oh, and to sum up what I would have written: Astrology doesn’t work. And in many cases actually causes harm.
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