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Article: Starstruck: where did the elements in our bodies come from?
- Article from:
- Current Science, a Weekly Reader publication
- Article date:
- November 14, 2008
- Author:
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It finally happened in my house. The Dreaded Question: "Where do babies come from?" After some stuttering and blushing, I decided to tell my son the truth about his newborn sister: She's a child of the universe. So are the rest of us. The majority of our atoms have been riding unchanged through the universe since its own birth, the big bang, 13.7 billion years ago. The big bang created hydrogen, the most abundant element in the universe--and in the human body.
As vital as hydrogen is, life also depends on many other elements in smaller quantities. Those elements arose in mighty cosmic cauldrons--the stars--as the universe evolved. ...