making the ingredients

Before our planet could form, all the stuff one would like to make a planet out of had to be made. Starting with hydrogen and helium, stars had to cook up the rest of the periodic table over a nice long period. Toss in some explosions and collisions, and everything we’re made of was ready to make us. But, all those giant stars couldn’t even get started, if it weren’t for a quirk of how the tiniest pieces of the universe interact. But hey, what’s a little quantum physics amongst friends?

Here’s a video on quantum tunneling.

What is quantum tunneling?

Here’s an article about how the sun needs quantum tunneling to fuse hydrogen into helium, the source of it’s light and warmth.

The Sun Wouldn’t Shine Without Quantum Physics

Here’s an article on a quasar from the early universe.

The Brightest Quasar of the Early Universe Shines with the Light of 600 Trillion Suns

And here’s something on colliding neutron stars, and the gold and other heavy elements such incidents can produce.

How a Neutron-Star Collision Created a Plume of Gold