The Importance of Heavy Metals in the Evolution of the Universe

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We cannot accurately date these stars, but we use a trick to say they must have formed as some of the earliest generations of stars. And so over time, all the elements in the periodic table have been built up. There have been other processes, for example, neutron cell mergers and other exotic supernovae that have provided elements heavier than iron from very early on. So Iron is where like once you get to iron, you got all the fun you need most of the fun.

Anna Frebel is an astronomer and astrophysicist at MIT. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors:
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OUTLINE:
Here’s the timestamps for the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time.
(00:00) – Introduction
(05:26) – First elements
(12:35) – Milky Way
(16:11) – Alien worlds
(19:16) – Protogalaxies
(24:29) – Black holes
(29:27) – Stellar archeology
(38:42) – Oldest stars
(46:32) – Metal-poor stars
(1:02:05) – Neutron capture
(1:07:01) – Neutron stars
(1:12:30) – Dwarf galaxies
(1:17:10) – Star observation
(1:45:27) – James Webb Space Telescope
(1:51:17) – Future of space observation
(1:54:26) – Age of the universe
(2:07:34) – Most beautiful idea in astronomy
(2:11:23) – Advice for young people
(2:20:17) – Meaning of life