Starstuff Comes Alive

I’ve written many times in the past about how the chemical elements that make up our bodies, that comprise all life on Earth, and the Earth itself, all cooked up inside ancient stars that lived and died long before our Sun and planets formed. It’s actually quite an amazing process that leads from nuclear fusion inside a star that lived more than 5 billion years ago to the present day, where you breathe oxygen that was made inside that star and you type on your smartphone with fingers that are nourished by blood rich in iron that was created inside that star or another one.

Most of us know about the idea that we are all “star stuff”, but it comes as a surprise to others who have never heard that term before or haven’t run across it in astronomy or chemistry classes in school. The story of life in the cosmos is the story of astrobiology, the science that looks at origins of life. It comprises the science disciplines of chemistry, physics, astronomy, biology, and other sciences. It’s not enough for the chemical elements to be made inside stars; they then have to combine in unique ways in interstellar space and then be swept into a cloud of gas and dust that will ultimately form planets and a star. Star birth clouds are, in essence, chemical mixing labs and their ultimate output are stars, planets, and the compounds—prebiotic materials—that make life.

I thought about all this when I was contacted a few months back by a group called the “What I See” project. Essentially, these people are showcasing women around the world and having them talk about what they do and their views on life. The centerpiece is a video of each woman where she answers the question, “What do you see when you look in the mirror?”  I thought the project sounded very intriguing, so I decided to participate. And, of course, I had to answer the question.

I thought about it quite a bit, and the answer that kept coming to the top of my mind had to do with being star stuff.  And so that informed the short video of me that appears on the project’s Web site today.  You can watch it here or below.

I’ve had a chance to see some of the other videos submitted by other invitees and these are some amazing people being featured: baronesses, doctors, politicians, writers, and the list goes on. And, the thought keeps popping into my mind is it’s amazing that the chemical raw ingredients made in stars have resulted in some amazingly diverse people being profiled for this project. I am in stellar company.

This is true not just of these women, but of all the humans on (and orbiting) this planet. Each of us: man, woman, child is a singular expression of star stuff. We should ALL look in the mirror and see what happens when stars live, create elements, die and share what they made with the rest of the cosmos. It’s…cosmic.

If you want to watch more videos in the What I See project, just visit their web page.  And, check out tomorrow’s featured participant, a fascinating writer and editor who runs a blog called CatesVilla.  There’s also a trailer video that showcases more of the women being featured in the project, in addition to ambassador short films, and much more.

And here’s a challenge for you: as you watch the videos of these woman showcased (the videos run to October 1st), look at them. Look around you. Look at the men and women you know, the children in your life, your pets, the stuff of life on this planet. And marvel at just what starstuff can do, given enough time, energy, and the right conditions.