Science and Technology Facilities Council | STFC Talking Science Online: Life of an Atom by Dr Chris Pearson @SciTechUK | Uploaded February 2022 | Updated October 2024, 3 hours ago.
Have you ever wondered where the carbon in our bodies, the oxygen in the air or the gold in your jewellery come from? The people and things we see around us such as our friends, our food and our phones mark the end of a long journey of constant recycling and reincarnation.
Everyone has probably seen the quintessential car bumper sticker “We are all made of stardust” and it is true that at some point in the past of cosmic history, our atoms were forged in the hearts of stars. However, that isn’t quite the origin story and this talk will take us on a journey from the earliest cosmic times to the present.
Everything we see around us was originally created in its simplest form at the beginning of time, from a hydrogen atomic nucleus during the Big Bang. From this point, these simple particles have journeyed through space and time, undergoing a metamorphosis that has resulted in the world that we see around us and human beings themselves. To put it simply, we are the manifest of a Universe that is still trying to figure itself out!
(Minimum age recommendation for audience 11+)
Have you ever wondered where the carbon in our bodies, the oxygen in the air or the gold in your jewellery come from? The people and things we see around us such as our friends, our food and our phones mark the end of a long journey of constant recycling and reincarnation.
Everyone has probably seen the quintessential car bumper sticker “We are all made of stardust” and it is true that at some point in the past of cosmic history, our atoms were forged in the hearts of stars. However, that isn’t quite the origin story and this talk will take us on a journey from the earliest cosmic times to the present.
Everything we see around us was originally created in its simplest form at the beginning of time, from a hydrogen atomic nucleus during the Big Bang. From this point, these simple particles have journeyed through space and time, undergoing a metamorphosis that has resulted in the world that we see around us and human beings themselves. To put it simply, we are the manifest of a Universe that is still trying to figure itself out!
(Minimum age recommendation for audience 11+)
