The Cosmic History of the Atoms Inside You | Astrobiology Series Part IV

Stars do much more than light up the universe. They create the environments where planets form, provide energy to those planets, manufacture new elements through fusion, and eventually return that material to the galaxy where another generation of stars, planets, and potentially life can form. In this episode of the Dr. Starkid astrobiology series, Dr. Dakotah Tyler explains what happens inside stars, why quantum tunneling is necessary for fusion in the Sun, and why more massive stars actually live much shorter lives despite having more fuel. The episode also explores the astrobiological consequences of stellar lifetimes, from red dwarfs that may survive for trillions of years to massive stars that can die before their planets have enough time to fully form. Along the way, we visit the Cambrian explosion, some of the strangest organisms in Earth’s evolutionary history, the death of massive stars, and a supernova Dr. Dakotah Tyler personally observed during graduate school. Ultimately, the elements inside planets and living things were produced by earlier generations of stars. The atoms inside your body existed before Earth, and some of them may continue their journey long after Earth is gone. Hosted by Dr. Dakotah Tyler. Lead with curiosity.