Today on All Things Considered in the Krulwich on Science section, there was a great little piece on gold; what it is and where it comes from. I was amazed to learn that gold is created in the center of stars - in supernovas to be exact, and that for every gold atom that exists in the universe there are over one million iron atoms! The analogy they use to describe how atoms resist each other until their environment gets hot enough that they can't stay apart reminds me of some of my better relationships. Attraction, repulsion, these are powerful things for both humans and atoms! And though I hate to ruin the great ending of the piece for you (as I think everyone should read or listen to it), the end result is that gold travels through the universe an amazing 3 million light years to get to our fingers. I might never look at gold the same way again...Now the only question is how far did the atoms in my diamonds travel and more importantly, when will someone give me some more gold and/or diamonds? I say give those poor, tired, beautiful little gold atoms a break and give them to me, thus saving them from further travel!
To read the article yourself, click on the title of this entry, it'll take you right to NPR's site...
(photo: Library of Congress, American Memory, http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/jan24.html)
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