A: The lightest elements in the universe — hydrogen, helium, and a little lithium — were born shortly after the Big Bang. The heavier elements, up to iron, were forged later, in the hearts of stars ...

Bits of the stars are all around us, and in us, too. About half of the abundance of elements heavier than iron originates in some of the most violent explosions in the cosmos. As the universe churns ...

EVERYONE knows that ancient alchemists were obsessed with making gold. They never cracked it. Everyone knows that too. But here’s something not a lot of people know: thousands of years later, we still ...