“We are all made of star-stuff”, is aptly quoted by Carl Sagan, a famous astronomer. Everything including the oxygen that we breathe, the carbon in our body, iron in our blood, etc. were cooked in the stars by fusing lighter elements into heavier ones, starting with basic hydrogen. Even heavier elements like gold and uranium are formed in more explosive events like supernovae and neutron star mergers. On this week’s The Sci-Files, your hosts Chelsie and Danny interview Rahul Jain. Rahul’s research focuses on understanding the process of the formation of these elements, in an attempt to decode the mystery of our existence. One aspect of his research includes building computer models of stars using our current knowledge to find out what is missing in the bigger picture. But the more interesting aspect is to literally create the star-like conditions in the laboratory and measure different properties of the exotic nuclei created to fill in the current gaps in our knowledge. He then updates his computer models and matches those to astronomical observations.
If you’re interested in talking about your MSU research on the radio or nominating a student, please email Chelsie and Danny at [email protected]. You can ask questions about future episodes here. Check The Sci-Files out on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube!