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Where do our atoms come from?

finmoorhouse.com

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Re: Where do our atoms come from?

#11

Post by 3cats-in-a-coat »

carlsagat wrote: post #10
wild_pointer wrote: post #3

"The knowledge that the atoms that comprise life on earth - the atoms that make up the human body, are traceable to the crucibles that cooked light elements into heavy elements in their core under extreme temperatures and pressures. These stars- the high mass ones among them- went unstable in their later years- they collapsed and then exploded- scattering their enriched guts across the galaxy- guts made of carbon, ni…

This is the most beautiful explanation that I've heard for a long time (:

Not quite as beautiful and eloquent as the original "we are made of stardust" quote by Carl Sagan that Neil deGrasse Tyson is aping here.

Re: Where do our atoms come from?

#13

Post by Sharlin »

indy wrote: post #6

"To throw around some numbers: about 220 petagrams (gigatonnes) of carbon dioxide will be released into the atmosphere this year; around 3% from burning fossil fuels; 44% from the ocean surface; and 53% from the land" Does the 3% from burning fossil fuels seem too low? I thought that this would make up the majority of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere every year

You’re confusing net and gross carbon release. In a balanced system, on average 100% of released carbon will be reabsorbed, by rocks, oceans, and (to a fairly small extent) plants, making the net rate of change of atmospheric carbon practically zero. Then humans began to meddle with things, starting to introduce extra carbon to the atmosphere from outside the primary carbon cycles. Carbon fixing rate has also increased to compensate (leading to further problems like acidification of the oceans) but has not been able to keep up, especially because the excess anthropogenic release rate has been growing exponentially. Thus the net release rate has been slightly above zero for the past 200+ years, and it’s starting to show.

Re: Where do our atoms come from?

#14

Post by RHSman2 »

wild_pointer wrote: post #3

"The knowledge that the atoms that comprise life on earth - the atoms that make up the human body, are traceable to the crucibles that cooked light elements into heavy elements in their core under extreme temperatures and pressures. These stars- the high mass ones among them- went unstable in their later years- they collapsed and then exploded- scattering their enriched guts across the galaxy- guts made of carbon, ni…

It used to rock me to anxiety. Now it feels me with peace.

Re: Where do our atoms come from?

#18

Post by icu »

RHSman2 wrote: post #14
wild_pointer wrote: post #3

"The knowledge that the atoms that comprise life on earth - the atoms that make up the human body, are traceable to the crucibles that cooked light elements into heavy elements in their core under extreme temperatures and pressures. These stars- the high mass ones among them- went unstable in their later years- they collapsed and then exploded- scattering their enriched guts across the galaxy- guts made of carbon, ni…

It used to rock me to anxiety. Now it feels me with peace.

Beautifully put, thank you

Re: Where do our atoms come from?

#19

Post by layer8 »

wild_pointer wrote: post #3

"The knowledge that the atoms that comprise life on earth - the atoms that make up the human body, are traceable to the crucibles that cooked light elements into heavy elements in their core under extreme temperatures and pressures. These stars- the high mass ones among them- went unstable in their later years- they collapsed and then exploded- scattering their enriched guts across the galaxy- guts made of carbon, ni…

Those feelings themselves are just patterns formed by particles in the brain, though.
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