1 00:00:08,280 --> 00:00:11,400 Speaker 1: Daniel, you were wish you'd studied a more practical science. 2 00:00:11,600 --> 00:00:13,560 Speaker 1: What do you mean, I think you know what I mean? 3 00:00:14,080 --> 00:00:16,360 Speaker 1: You study? You mean, should I have studied something that 4 00:00:16,400 --> 00:00:19,200 Speaker 1: has actual practical applications that could help people in their 5 00:00:19,200 --> 00:00:22,200 Speaker 1: everyday lives. Yeah, you know, something that saves people's lives 6 00:00:22,239 --> 00:00:26,279 Speaker 1: for example, or you know, or turned lead into gold. Well, 7 00:00:26,360 --> 00:00:28,600 Speaker 1: those are great examples because those are the two things 8 00:00:28,600 --> 00:00:31,680 Speaker 1: that particle physics actually does do. I thought turning lead 9 00:00:31,720 --> 00:00:35,800 Speaker 1: into goal was alchemy, you know, a pseudoscience from hundreds 10 00:00:35,840 --> 00:00:38,279 Speaker 1: of years ago. It used to be pseudoscience, but now 11 00:00:38,360 --> 00:00:41,960 Speaker 1: we have made it real science. Particle physics can actually 12 00:00:42,000 --> 00:01:01,000 Speaker 1: do this, but as always there's a catch. Welcome to 13 00:01:01,000 --> 00:01:04,280 Speaker 1: our podcast This is Daniel and Jorge Explain the Universe, 14 00:01:04,440 --> 00:01:07,000 Speaker 1: a production of My Heart Radio, in which we look 15 00:01:07,040 --> 00:01:09,720 Speaker 1: all around the universe and try to find fascinating little 16 00:01:09,800 --> 00:01:14,399 Speaker 1: nuggets of intellectual gold, or turn mysterious nuggets of intellectual 17 00:01:14,480 --> 00:01:18,160 Speaker 1: lead into nuggets of understandable intellectual gold. That's right. We 18 00:01:18,200 --> 00:01:24,360 Speaker 1: are podcasts alchemists turning bad jokes into comedy gold. That's right. 19 00:01:24,400 --> 00:01:28,280 Speaker 1: We turned the mysterious into the understandable. Physics can do anything. 20 00:01:28,400 --> 00:01:32,039 Speaker 1: We still haven't figured out teleportation or anti gravity or 21 00:01:32,160 --> 00:01:36,560 Speaker 1: warp drives or um, you know, how to make my 22 00:01:36,600 --> 00:01:40,199 Speaker 1: internet actually go quickly? Still a mystery for me for sure. 23 00:01:40,280 --> 00:01:42,720 Speaker 1: Here at my house. We'll probably figure out teleportation before 24 00:01:42,720 --> 00:01:45,120 Speaker 1: we figure out fast internet at home. Yeah, which one 25 00:01:45,160 --> 00:01:46,880 Speaker 1: is more impossible? I don't know. If I could just 26 00:01:46,959 --> 00:01:49,760 Speaker 1: teleport the data from Netflix to my TV, I wouldn't 27 00:01:49,760 --> 00:01:51,880 Speaker 1: need the Internet. Maybe that is how they do it, 28 00:01:52,400 --> 00:01:54,720 Speaker 1: That's how they should do it. At least somebody over 29 00:01:54,760 --> 00:01:57,760 Speaker 1: at Netflix is pouring a billion dollars into their teleportation 30 00:01:57,800 --> 00:01:59,720 Speaker 1: department right now. So to be on the podcast, we 31 00:01:59,760 --> 00:02:03,000 Speaker 1: are tackling a topic that used to be considered magic 32 00:02:03,400 --> 00:02:06,760 Speaker 1: hundreds of years ago. Right, alchemy, This idea that you 33 00:02:06,800 --> 00:02:12,840 Speaker 1: can transmute or transform one element into a totally different element. 34 00:02:13,000 --> 00:02:14,800 Speaker 1: That's right, And that was back in the day when 35 00:02:14,840 --> 00:02:17,680 Speaker 1: they thought that what we consider the elements were the 36 00:02:17,720 --> 00:02:20,799 Speaker 1: fundamental building blocks of the universe. You know, they were like, here, 37 00:02:20,840 --> 00:02:23,359 Speaker 1: we found these things that make up everything, and you 38 00:02:23,400 --> 00:02:25,800 Speaker 1: combine them in different ways to make cool stuff. But 39 00:02:25,840 --> 00:02:27,680 Speaker 1: they seem to be sort of the basic building blocks. 40 00:02:27,680 --> 00:02:29,800 Speaker 1: They hadn't yet broken them up and found the smaller 41 00:02:29,840 --> 00:02:32,440 Speaker 1: bits and so it made sense that people were like, well, 42 00:02:32,560 --> 00:02:34,639 Speaker 1: is it possible to change one kind of thing into 43 00:02:34,680 --> 00:02:36,880 Speaker 1: another kind of thing? Because you know, one kind of 44 00:02:36,880 --> 00:02:39,919 Speaker 1: thing like lead, you can find it not to without 45 00:02:40,000 --> 00:02:42,720 Speaker 1: much difficulty, and it's not that valuable, while other kinds 46 00:02:42,760 --> 00:02:46,720 Speaker 1: of things like tremendously valuable. So it seemed appealing not 47 00:02:46,800 --> 00:02:48,519 Speaker 1: just from the economic point of view, but from the 48 00:02:48,560 --> 00:02:50,920 Speaker 1: sort of deep understanding point of view, like can we 49 00:02:50,960 --> 00:02:53,000 Speaker 1: turn one thing into another kind of thing? To be 50 00:02:53,120 --> 00:02:59,560 Speaker 1: on the burg and we'll be talking about how do 51 00:02:59,600 --> 00:03:02,160 Speaker 1: you make gold? How do you make the shiny golden 52 00:03:02,200 --> 00:03:05,160 Speaker 1: stuff that everybody, every human seems to want for some 53 00:03:05,639 --> 00:03:10,320 Speaker 1: weird and almost arbitrary reasons. That's right, well, that's economics, right, 54 00:03:10,360 --> 00:03:13,919 Speaker 1: it's all arbitrary. And it's not just about how do 55 00:03:14,000 --> 00:03:16,000 Speaker 1: we make gold or how could you make gold? Or 56 00:03:16,000 --> 00:03:19,000 Speaker 1: could you fabricate gold in your garage? But it's like 57 00:03:19,080 --> 00:03:21,960 Speaker 1: how does the universe make gold? Like where does gold 58 00:03:22,000 --> 00:03:24,880 Speaker 1: come from? Right? What was it created during the Big Bang? 59 00:03:24,960 --> 00:03:26,720 Speaker 1: Is it made in the core of the earth. Is 60 00:03:26,760 --> 00:03:29,480 Speaker 1: it all made the lab of somebody somewhere in Europe, 61 00:03:29,480 --> 00:03:32,080 Speaker 1: you know, underground somewhere, or is there some other mysterious 62 00:03:32,120 --> 00:03:34,440 Speaker 1: process How is gold made? Are we going to be 63 00:03:34,480 --> 00:03:37,640 Speaker 1: selling gold making kids at the end of this podcast, Daniel, 64 00:03:37,680 --> 00:03:40,520 Speaker 1: you could probably make a lot of money. Just be 65 00:03:40,560 --> 00:03:43,400 Speaker 1: a box of lead with some instructions that say, Step one, 66 00:03:43,800 --> 00:03:49,120 Speaker 1: race a quadrillion dollars. Step two, build a particle collider. Done, 67 00:03:50,920 --> 00:03:52,760 Speaker 1: we have a particle collider. You just need to apply 68 00:03:52,840 --> 00:03:54,600 Speaker 1: for time at the large age on collider. So yeah, 69 00:03:54,600 --> 00:03:56,960 Speaker 1: we'll send you a lump of gold and instructions for 70 00:03:57,160 --> 00:04:00,800 Speaker 1: how to get to CERN. Step one, apply fill out 71 00:04:00,800 --> 00:04:07,080 Speaker 1: this application. Yeah, first send us and you'll get these 72 00:04:07,200 --> 00:04:10,760 Speaker 1: incredible items. Technically it would be a real thing like 73 00:04:10,840 --> 00:04:13,560 Speaker 1: it is, actually the steps of how to make gold. Yeah, 74 00:04:13,920 --> 00:04:15,760 Speaker 1: you really can. I think it's sort of cool that 75 00:04:15,800 --> 00:04:18,160 Speaker 1: we have understood the way the universe works, the sort 76 00:04:18,160 --> 00:04:21,960 Speaker 1: of elemental understanding, to a point where we do see 77 00:04:22,000 --> 00:04:24,080 Speaker 1: how these things are put together. We can understand them 78 00:04:24,080 --> 00:04:26,080 Speaker 1: from the ground up. You know, how to assemble protons 79 00:04:26,080 --> 00:04:28,920 Speaker 1: and neutrons and what makes something gold and something else. 80 00:04:29,000 --> 00:04:31,160 Speaker 1: Led to the point where we can actually change them 81 00:04:31,160 --> 00:04:33,520 Speaker 1: from one to the other. I mean, it's not economically feasible, 82 00:04:33,720 --> 00:04:36,000 Speaker 1: but we do have the power. We have conquered this 83 00:04:36,080 --> 00:04:39,120 Speaker 1: barrier of the elements Yeah, Well, why do you think 84 00:04:39,240 --> 00:04:42,200 Speaker 1: humans are so fascinated with gold, like, out of all 85 00:04:42,240 --> 00:04:45,440 Speaker 1: the elements? Why? Why? Why is gold too special in 86 00:04:45,600 --> 00:04:47,760 Speaker 1: human culture? I think I have to refer to a 87 00:04:47,760 --> 00:04:50,840 Speaker 1: comment made by my good friend and wise comic, who said, 88 00:04:50,920 --> 00:04:55,240 Speaker 1: humans like sparkly things. That's something my grandma always used 89 00:04:55,240 --> 00:04:58,440 Speaker 1: to say. Why is it every time you say something 90 00:04:58,480 --> 00:05:00,799 Speaker 1: sort of wise, you just attribute it to your grandma? 91 00:05:00,880 --> 00:05:05,240 Speaker 1: She was a wise woman. I think it's just your humility. 92 00:05:05,320 --> 00:05:07,600 Speaker 1: You don't want to come off sounding like you think 93 00:05:07,640 --> 00:05:10,120 Speaker 1: your intelligence you should be this to this fictional grandma. 94 00:05:10,160 --> 00:05:11,479 Speaker 1: I think I just don't want to reveal that I 95 00:05:11,520 --> 00:05:15,680 Speaker 1: have no idea where I got that quote. Let's so 96 00:05:15,880 --> 00:05:21,440 Speaker 1: anonymous becomes Jorge's grandma. Yeah, so people like shiny, sparkly things, 97 00:05:21,440 --> 00:05:25,000 Speaker 1: and that's what gold is. Right. It doesn't staying right, 98 00:05:25,040 --> 00:05:27,599 Speaker 1: it doesn't rust when you make something out of goal. 99 00:05:27,600 --> 00:05:31,760 Speaker 1: It just always stays shining right. That's what's special about it. Yeah, 100 00:05:31,760 --> 00:05:34,120 Speaker 1: of course, And the other special thing is that it's rare. Right, 101 00:05:34,160 --> 00:05:36,159 Speaker 1: you don't find a lump of goal under every rock. 102 00:05:36,360 --> 00:05:39,320 Speaker 1: It's not in lots of places, and so because it's 103 00:05:39,360 --> 00:05:42,080 Speaker 1: hard to get, that makes it valuable, right, but it's 104 00:05:42,120 --> 00:05:43,800 Speaker 1: sort of this weird thing. I mean, my kids ask 105 00:05:43,880 --> 00:05:45,920 Speaker 1: me this question, like why is gold cost so much? 106 00:05:46,400 --> 00:05:48,520 Speaker 1: And it really is just you know, something we've all 107 00:05:48,560 --> 00:05:51,080 Speaker 1: decided on. You know, It's this weird thing I never 108 00:05:51,120 --> 00:05:53,679 Speaker 1: really understood about economics, is that the value of something 109 00:05:53,760 --> 00:05:56,440 Speaker 1: is really just what people are willing to pay for it. 110 00:05:56,560 --> 00:05:59,520 Speaker 1: So we all decided that, you know, something else was 111 00:05:59,600 --> 00:06:01,479 Speaker 1: better than gold, and we were willing to pay for it, 112 00:06:01,520 --> 00:06:04,400 Speaker 1: and we would have created this enormous wealth, right right, Yeah, 113 00:06:04,480 --> 00:06:08,359 Speaker 1: Welcome to the new podcast Daniel and Jorge explain economics. Dane, 114 00:06:08,520 --> 00:06:13,760 Speaker 1: Orge are clueless about economics and pontificate ignorantly. Now, but 115 00:06:13,800 --> 00:06:17,080 Speaker 1: there is something special about gold itself as a metal, right, 116 00:06:17,160 --> 00:06:19,960 Speaker 1: It is shinier than most other elements, right, and it 117 00:06:20,000 --> 00:06:23,120 Speaker 1: doesn't rust, and it's it's easy to make smooth. Right, 118 00:06:23,160 --> 00:06:25,600 Speaker 1: It's something there's something special about it. Yeah, it's malleable 119 00:06:25,640 --> 00:06:28,760 Speaker 1: in this cool way, you know, but it's it's still arbitrary. 120 00:06:28,760 --> 00:06:30,640 Speaker 1: It's you know, it's like beauty, right, it's just what 121 00:06:30,760 --> 00:06:33,360 Speaker 1: we decide. We think it's cool, we think it's interesting, 122 00:06:33,360 --> 00:06:35,440 Speaker 1: and we think it looks good and jewelry and stuff. 123 00:06:35,480 --> 00:06:38,040 Speaker 1: You know, why is gold so much more valuable than silver. 124 00:06:38,560 --> 00:06:40,560 Speaker 1: You know, it is more rare, and people do like 125 00:06:40,640 --> 00:06:42,480 Speaker 1: it more, but it holds a special place. You know, 126 00:06:42,680 --> 00:06:45,919 Speaker 1: do you think it's somehow related to our evolution to 127 00:06:46,160 --> 00:06:50,599 Speaker 1: sort of like sunlight and you know, shiny light and 128 00:06:50,880 --> 00:06:53,359 Speaker 1: gold that particularly gold color. Oh man, I think that 129 00:06:53,400 --> 00:06:56,359 Speaker 1: whole field of science is bologna. Is like attempt to 130 00:06:56,560 --> 00:06:59,800 Speaker 1: evolutionary psychology, like this attempt to say like maybe we 131 00:07:00,040 --> 00:07:02,680 Speaker 1: act this way because it could have been preferential and 132 00:07:02,800 --> 00:07:05,880 Speaker 1: the savannah or something like. I think that you can 133 00:07:06,000 --> 00:07:09,040 Speaker 1: you can explain almost anything using that kind of logic. Well, anyway, 134 00:07:09,080 --> 00:07:12,400 Speaker 1: so it's rare on Earth, and that's an interesting question. 135 00:07:12,440 --> 00:07:15,280 Speaker 1: Why is it rarer? And how do you how is 136 00:07:15,320 --> 00:07:18,280 Speaker 1: it made? And could we make it here in the 137 00:07:18,360 --> 00:07:21,600 Speaker 1: lab for example? Yeah, exactly, and h you know, if 138 00:07:21,640 --> 00:07:24,640 Speaker 1: you start thinking about like where this stuff comes from, 139 00:07:24,680 --> 00:07:27,480 Speaker 1: you might wonder like how does this stuff all get made? 140 00:07:27,480 --> 00:07:30,120 Speaker 1: You know, how did things begin? You know, did was 141 00:07:30,240 --> 00:07:32,280 Speaker 1: all the stuff in the universe made in the first 142 00:07:32,640 --> 00:07:34,679 Speaker 1: bill a second you know, made during the Big Bang? 143 00:07:35,240 --> 00:07:37,600 Speaker 1: Or would the big bang just make hydrogen and everything 144 00:07:37,640 --> 00:07:40,480 Speaker 1: else gets assembled later? These are really fascinating questions and 145 00:07:40,520 --> 00:07:42,480 Speaker 1: it's the kind of thing that really it's just sort 146 00:07:42,520 --> 00:07:44,840 Speaker 1: of the kind of puzzle that scientists can use to 147 00:07:44,920 --> 00:07:48,360 Speaker 1: understand the mechanisms of the universe, Like what's going on 148 00:07:48,400 --> 00:07:51,480 Speaker 1: in the universe. Can we explain how much hydrogen there is, 149 00:07:51,520 --> 00:07:53,080 Speaker 1: and how much iron there is, and how much of 150 00:07:53,120 --> 00:07:55,200 Speaker 1: this there is. It's a huge amount of really specific 151 00:07:55,280 --> 00:07:58,400 Speaker 1: data that helps us understand what's going on in the universe. 152 00:07:58,400 --> 00:08:00,800 Speaker 1: We let's just build models to try to explain what 153 00:08:00,840 --> 00:08:04,000 Speaker 1: we've seen. And because the data is so specific, there's 154 00:08:04,000 --> 00:08:06,320 Speaker 1: so many different elements and we can measure their abundance. 155 00:08:06,560 --> 00:08:09,160 Speaker 1: It gives us a lot of handles for understanding like 156 00:08:09,200 --> 00:08:13,440 Speaker 1: what's going on inside stars and inside other astrophysical objects. Oh, 157 00:08:13,480 --> 00:08:16,280 Speaker 1: I see. It's kind of a question of did all 158 00:08:16,320 --> 00:08:19,360 Speaker 1: the ingredients for the universe that we see around us 159 00:08:19,440 --> 00:08:22,720 Speaker 1: right now? Was that all there from the beginning at 160 00:08:22,720 --> 00:08:25,200 Speaker 1: the Big Bang? You know, that everything that we need 161 00:08:25,240 --> 00:08:27,960 Speaker 1: to make the universe as it is now get created 162 00:08:28,000 --> 00:08:31,520 Speaker 1: in those first few moments, or that the universe get 163 00:08:31,560 --> 00:08:34,520 Speaker 1: created one way and then the ingredients of a change 164 00:08:34,520 --> 00:08:36,760 Speaker 1: over time exactly. And it's just part of this larger 165 00:08:36,840 --> 00:08:39,760 Speaker 1: question of do we understand what's around us? You know, 166 00:08:39,800 --> 00:08:42,080 Speaker 1: we look around us and we see, okay, we've see 167 00:08:42,120 --> 00:08:44,280 Speaker 1: this this stuff. Do we understand how it got there? 168 00:08:44,520 --> 00:08:46,200 Speaker 1: So we try to tell a story, you know, we 169 00:08:46,240 --> 00:08:47,880 Speaker 1: want to make sure that the story makes sense. Do 170 00:08:47,920 --> 00:08:50,120 Speaker 1: we know how the story began? Do we understand why 171 00:08:50,200 --> 00:08:52,880 Speaker 1: went this way not the other way? And so, as 172 00:08:52,920 --> 00:08:54,640 Speaker 1: a part, it's been like a hundred years we've been 173 00:08:54,640 --> 00:08:57,400 Speaker 1: trying to piece this story together to explain why we 174 00:08:57,440 --> 00:08:59,640 Speaker 1: see what, you know, the stuff we see in the universe, 175 00:08:59,640 --> 00:09:02,560 Speaker 1: and where it is. Can we understand it? So it's 176 00:09:02,559 --> 00:09:04,600 Speaker 1: a pretty big question. And so today on the podcast, 177 00:09:04,600 --> 00:09:07,880 Speaker 1: we're talking about one specific thing, which is gold, and 178 00:09:07,920 --> 00:09:11,000 Speaker 1: so we were wondering how many people out there know 179 00:09:11,480 --> 00:09:13,960 Speaker 1: where gold is made or how it's made. I walked 180 00:09:14,000 --> 00:09:16,080 Speaker 1: around the campus you see, Irvine, and I popped this 181 00:09:16,200 --> 00:09:19,440 Speaker 1: question to a bunch of unsuspecting students or whoever else 182 00:09:19,480 --> 00:09:21,880 Speaker 1: would happen to be around campus that day, and I 183 00:09:21,920 --> 00:09:24,680 Speaker 1: asked them where do you think gold is made? So 184 00:09:25,040 --> 00:09:27,320 Speaker 1: before you listen to these answers, think for yourself for 185 00:09:27,360 --> 00:09:29,280 Speaker 1: a moment do you know where gold is made? And 186 00:09:29,320 --> 00:09:31,000 Speaker 1: if you get the r answer right, you get a 187 00:09:31,040 --> 00:09:34,320 Speaker 1: gold star right, or a lead star or a lead 188 00:09:34,320 --> 00:09:37,160 Speaker 1: star and an application form. Well, here's what people had 189 00:09:37,200 --> 00:09:41,400 Speaker 1: to say. Maybe in the sun on another planet, I'm 190 00:09:41,400 --> 00:09:44,920 Speaker 1: not sure won't be in like fusion in the center 191 00:09:44,960 --> 00:09:48,960 Speaker 1: of Yeah, I'm not sure. I would say a big 192 00:09:49,000 --> 00:09:56,920 Speaker 1: bang like in the Earth's crust through collision. Uh. I 193 00:09:56,960 --> 00:10:02,120 Speaker 1: have no idea chemically or physically like whatever happens within 194 00:10:02,160 --> 00:10:09,640 Speaker 1: the core, like gold aliens, like the species after dat, 195 00:10:10,280 --> 00:10:14,800 Speaker 1: it's just naturally rotted and it becomes gold. Alright, A 196 00:10:14,840 --> 00:10:18,320 Speaker 1: lot of interesting answers, and honestly, they all seem kind 197 00:10:18,320 --> 00:10:20,679 Speaker 1: of plausible to me. You know, some people said that 198 00:10:21,280 --> 00:10:23,520 Speaker 1: gold is made inside of the Earth at the core, 199 00:10:23,880 --> 00:10:26,760 Speaker 1: the core of the Earth, or inside of stars or 200 00:10:27,000 --> 00:10:29,440 Speaker 1: the first ones you mentioned. The ones people said maybe 201 00:10:29,440 --> 00:10:31,200 Speaker 1: it was made inside the earth. That puzzled me for 202 00:10:31,240 --> 00:10:34,880 Speaker 1: a bit until somebody said, you know, kind of like diamonds, 203 00:10:34,880 --> 00:10:38,000 Speaker 1: and then I realized, yeah, that's true. Diamonds really are 204 00:10:38,160 --> 00:10:41,640 Speaker 1: made inside the earth. Is the pressure of the Earth 205 00:10:41,800 --> 00:10:45,679 Speaker 1: on carbon the core that that creates these these incredible crystals, 206 00:10:45,720 --> 00:10:47,679 Speaker 1: And so it is plausible to think, like you know, 207 00:10:47,840 --> 00:10:51,480 Speaker 1: jewels and gold, maybe they're just made in high temperature 208 00:10:51,480 --> 00:10:54,640 Speaker 1: reactions inside the Earth. So I understood the line of 209 00:10:54,640 --> 00:10:56,760 Speaker 1: thinking after a bit. Yeah, because it's it's also kind 210 00:10:56,800 --> 00:10:59,800 Speaker 1: of a rare and valuable thing, and maybe people a 211 00:11:00,120 --> 00:11:03,560 Speaker 1: shid rare and valuable with the things taking a long 212 00:11:03,640 --> 00:11:07,000 Speaker 1: time to make an extreme conditions. Yeah, and like many 213 00:11:07,040 --> 00:11:15,439 Speaker 1: plausible ideas, it's totally wrong. No gold start for you, exactly. Well, 214 00:11:15,480 --> 00:11:18,200 Speaker 1: let's let's get into this idea of gold. What do 215 00:11:18,240 --> 00:11:21,280 Speaker 1: we know about gold? Well, it's shiny and it looks 216 00:11:21,320 --> 00:11:24,600 Speaker 1: good on your finger. Um, But the think the thing 217 00:11:24,679 --> 00:11:27,360 Speaker 1: to understand is that gold is one of the elements, right, 218 00:11:27,400 --> 00:11:30,640 Speaker 1: And the identity of these elements is determined by how 219 00:11:30,679 --> 00:11:34,040 Speaker 1: many protons there are in the nucleus. So remember every 220 00:11:34,280 --> 00:11:36,920 Speaker 1: everything that's elemental is just an atom, right, It's not 221 00:11:36,960 --> 00:11:39,000 Speaker 1: a mixture of different elements. It's it's just an atom, 222 00:11:39,000 --> 00:11:41,400 Speaker 1: and the atom has a nucleus insided and the nucleus 223 00:11:41,440 --> 00:11:44,480 Speaker 1: has protons and neutrons. And the thing that determines the 224 00:11:44,559 --> 00:11:47,880 Speaker 1: identity which element you are? Are you hydrogen, are you helium? 225 00:11:47,920 --> 00:11:51,839 Speaker 1: Are unickel? Are you uranium? Is the number of protons 226 00:11:51,880 --> 00:11:54,360 Speaker 1: in the nucleus, right, Because all these elements they're not 227 00:11:55,040 --> 00:11:57,640 Speaker 1: they're all just variations of the same thing, right, Like 228 00:11:57,679 --> 00:12:01,520 Speaker 1: different combinations of the same thing. Right, used to me 229 00:12:01,559 --> 00:12:04,199 Speaker 1: that we used to think that carbon and oxygen there 230 00:12:04,360 --> 00:12:07,520 Speaker 1: like its own thing in the universe, but actually turned 231 00:12:07,520 --> 00:12:11,800 Speaker 1: out that they're just the same thing, just rearranged differently. Yeah, 232 00:12:11,840 --> 00:12:14,520 Speaker 1: and it's it's more about the numbers. Like, you take 233 00:12:14,760 --> 00:12:18,080 Speaker 1: one proton and one electron, you get hydrogen. Right, you 234 00:12:18,120 --> 00:12:22,040 Speaker 1: add another proton and another electron to balance it out electrically, 235 00:12:22,360 --> 00:12:24,840 Speaker 1: and you get helium. And so it's just the number 236 00:12:24,960 --> 00:12:28,160 Speaker 1: of servings you get, right, that determines which element you are. 237 00:12:28,440 --> 00:12:31,439 Speaker 1: And you're right, it's fascinating that these things aren't fundamental 238 00:12:31,960 --> 00:12:33,520 Speaker 1: but there are just made out of the same things, 239 00:12:33,520 --> 00:12:37,120 Speaker 1: but they're so vastly different. Right, Iron is totally different 240 00:12:37,120 --> 00:12:40,840 Speaker 1: from helium. It's totally different from silicon, from carbon, from oxygen, 241 00:12:41,160 --> 00:12:43,640 Speaker 1: but all these things are made up of the same stuff. 242 00:12:44,040 --> 00:12:45,840 Speaker 1: This is the kind of thing I blows my mind 243 00:12:45,880 --> 00:12:48,480 Speaker 1: every time I think about it, that the the critical 244 00:12:48,600 --> 00:12:51,080 Speaker 1: identity of these things comes not from what they're made 245 00:12:51,080 --> 00:12:53,400 Speaker 1: out of, but just from the arrangements of the particles 246 00:12:53,400 --> 00:12:55,280 Speaker 1: inside them. Yeah, it's kind of like if you think 247 00:12:55,320 --> 00:12:59,360 Speaker 1: about like your favorite recipe of your favorite kind of food, right, 248 00:12:59,440 --> 00:13:01,920 Speaker 1: Like it's you add a lot of ingredients into it, 249 00:13:01,960 --> 00:13:04,640 Speaker 1: but really at the end, all of those ingredients are 250 00:13:04,920 --> 00:13:08,679 Speaker 1: probably just carbon and hydrogen, right, that's true. I don't know. 251 00:13:08,720 --> 00:13:11,560 Speaker 1: I would say the critical issue for baking is whether 252 00:13:11,640 --> 00:13:14,360 Speaker 1: or not includes chocolate. Includes chocolate, it's going to be tasty. 253 00:13:14,640 --> 00:13:19,480 Speaker 1: Otherwise it's a question mark. I don't know. Hast chocolate. 254 00:13:19,800 --> 00:13:24,160 Speaker 1: It's golden wins the gold star. And so the thing 255 00:13:24,160 --> 00:13:26,400 Speaker 1: about gold is that it's pretty heavy, right. It has 256 00:13:26,400 --> 00:13:28,480 Speaker 1: a lot of protons in the nucleus. Right, So as 257 00:13:28,559 --> 00:13:31,280 Speaker 1: you add a proton to a nucleus, it gets heavier 258 00:13:31,280 --> 00:13:34,079 Speaker 1: and heavier, and you walk your way up the periodic table. 259 00:13:34,320 --> 00:13:36,920 Speaker 1: And as an aside, did you start with hydrogen? Right? 260 00:13:37,240 --> 00:13:40,720 Speaker 1: You start hydrogen is like the simplest atom is just 261 00:13:40,800 --> 00:13:43,800 Speaker 1: one proton and one electron, That's right, That's the first 262 00:13:43,800 --> 00:13:45,640 Speaker 1: thing you would make. And that's the first thing that 263 00:13:45,679 --> 00:13:48,880 Speaker 1: the universe did make in fact, and still it's what 264 00:13:49,120 --> 00:13:51,240 Speaker 1: most of the universe is. Most of the universe, like 265 00:13:51,320 --> 00:13:55,560 Speaker 1: seventy four percent of the universe is hydrogen. And uh. 266 00:13:55,679 --> 00:13:58,240 Speaker 1: And then then the reason is that it's the simplest thing, right, 267 00:13:58,800 --> 00:14:00,960 Speaker 1: But as you walk your way the periodic table, you 268 00:14:00,960 --> 00:14:03,280 Speaker 1: add a proton, you get more and more complex stuff. 269 00:14:03,720 --> 00:14:06,080 Speaker 1: And this is how we knew that there were gaps 270 00:14:06,080 --> 00:14:08,600 Speaker 1: in the periodic table. Right. We we said, okay, we 271 00:14:08,600 --> 00:14:10,199 Speaker 1: see this element, we see that element, we see the 272 00:14:10,240 --> 00:14:13,520 Speaker 1: other element. We can measure how many protons there are 273 00:14:13,520 --> 00:14:15,000 Speaker 1: in the nucleus of an element, and then we put 274 00:14:15,040 --> 00:14:16,960 Speaker 1: them in place, and then we could tell oh, look 275 00:14:17,200 --> 00:14:19,680 Speaker 1: there's nothing with you know, this number of protons. How 276 00:14:19,680 --> 00:14:22,000 Speaker 1: can we haven't found anything with that number of protons. 277 00:14:22,240 --> 00:14:23,960 Speaker 1: So we go look forward and we try to make 278 00:14:24,000 --> 00:14:26,440 Speaker 1: it or this kind of stuff. It's it's cool that 279 00:14:26,480 --> 00:14:29,000 Speaker 1: the identity of the elements determined just by the number 280 00:14:29,040 --> 00:14:32,160 Speaker 1: of protons. Yeah, until you start with hydrogen, and then 281 00:14:32,240 --> 00:14:34,600 Speaker 1: you add a proton and you get helium, and then 282 00:14:34,640 --> 00:14:38,080 Speaker 1: you add another proton, and it just you go up 283 00:14:38,200 --> 00:14:40,920 Speaker 1: up the list of elements and at some point you 284 00:14:40,960 --> 00:14:43,560 Speaker 1: get to gold. Right, that's right. And you know, there's 285 00:14:43,560 --> 00:14:45,920 Speaker 1: a hundred and some elements that we've discovered or created 286 00:14:45,920 --> 00:14:48,240 Speaker 1: by now, and each one is so different and their 287 00:14:48,240 --> 00:14:51,600 Speaker 1: properties are determined really just by how many protons, which 288 00:14:51,600 --> 00:14:54,040 Speaker 1: determines how many electrons you need to balance it, and 289 00:14:54,080 --> 00:14:56,760 Speaker 1: then how those atoms interact, so like why are some 290 00:14:56,840 --> 00:14:58,960 Speaker 1: of the metallic and some of them are conductors, and 291 00:14:59,280 --> 00:15:01,840 Speaker 1: some of them are really active and some are inactive. 292 00:15:02,040 --> 00:15:04,880 Speaker 1: All of that is determined just by how the electrons 293 00:15:05,000 --> 00:15:07,520 Speaker 1: fill out their orbitals, right, whether they like to interact 294 00:15:07,560 --> 00:15:10,080 Speaker 1: with other atoms or not, And that in turn is 295 00:15:10,120 --> 00:15:12,720 Speaker 1: determined by how many protons are in the nucleus. So 296 00:15:12,760 --> 00:15:15,480 Speaker 1: it's really just proton counting. So you're saying gold is 297 00:15:15,480 --> 00:15:19,920 Speaker 1: really just like a fat hydrogen. It's like a crowd 298 00:15:19,920 --> 00:15:22,480 Speaker 1: of hydrogen. Yeah, it's just a cluster of a hydrogen 299 00:15:22,800 --> 00:15:24,960 Speaker 1: and the kind of right, And but then then that 300 00:15:25,080 --> 00:15:28,400 Speaker 1: really changes its behaviors. It totally changes this behavior. And 301 00:15:28,440 --> 00:15:30,080 Speaker 1: it's the other thing I understand is that it's not 302 00:15:30,160 --> 00:15:32,560 Speaker 1: easy to do, right. It's not that you can just 303 00:15:32,720 --> 00:15:36,480 Speaker 1: very easily take two hydrogen atoms and make helium out 304 00:15:36,480 --> 00:15:38,800 Speaker 1: of them. And the reason is that the nuclei don't 305 00:15:38,880 --> 00:15:42,160 Speaker 1: like to hang out together. The nuclei nucleus of hydrogen 306 00:15:42,200 --> 00:15:45,320 Speaker 1: atom is a proton which is positively charged. So they're 307 00:15:45,320 --> 00:15:47,000 Speaker 1: going to repel each other. And we had a whole 308 00:15:47,000 --> 00:15:50,400 Speaker 1: podcast episode about this recently. How does this happen? And 309 00:15:50,440 --> 00:15:52,960 Speaker 1: you know, they will repel each other unless you force 310 00:15:53,080 --> 00:15:55,720 Speaker 1: them together. You get them close enough together, the strong 311 00:15:55,840 --> 00:15:58,880 Speaker 1: nuclear force takes over and then it attracts the quarks 312 00:15:59,000 --> 00:16:01,400 Speaker 1: inside those proton on to tract each other, and they 313 00:16:01,440 --> 00:16:04,680 Speaker 1: overcome that. We call that the Coolomb barrier because Coolumb 314 00:16:04,720 --> 00:16:07,920 Speaker 1: is the guy who first thought about electromagnetic force electrostatic 315 00:16:07,960 --> 00:16:10,000 Speaker 1: forces that repel each other. Yeah, I hear. He was 316 00:16:10,000 --> 00:16:13,200 Speaker 1: a cool guy. Yeah, but there were some barriers to 317 00:16:13,240 --> 00:16:15,320 Speaker 1: getting to know him. But it's like they snapped together, right, 318 00:16:15,320 --> 00:16:17,480 Speaker 1: Like they repel each other, but at some point they 319 00:16:17,480 --> 00:16:19,720 Speaker 1: get so close that they snapped together and they become 320 00:16:19,760 --> 00:16:21,600 Speaker 1: a different element. Yeah, you can think of it's sort 321 00:16:21,600 --> 00:16:24,760 Speaker 1: of like, um, hiking into a volcano. Right, You're walking 322 00:16:24,840 --> 00:16:28,640 Speaker 1: up the hill and it's getting harder and harder and harder. Right, Um, 323 00:16:28,680 --> 00:16:30,600 Speaker 1: it's steeper, and the sizes are getting steper and steper 324 00:16:30,600 --> 00:16:33,720 Speaker 1: and steeper. It's it's easier to roll down away from 325 00:16:33,760 --> 00:16:35,280 Speaker 1: the center of the volcano, but once you get to 326 00:16:35,320 --> 00:16:37,000 Speaker 1: the top, right, it's very easy to just like fall 327 00:16:37,080 --> 00:16:39,160 Speaker 1: into the center. And so it's sort of that way, 328 00:16:39,320 --> 00:16:43,080 Speaker 1: and then you die a horrible death, right, or you 329 00:16:43,160 --> 00:16:46,400 Speaker 1: fuse beautifully into something new. Right, you rise out of 330 00:16:46,440 --> 00:16:50,280 Speaker 1: the ashes like a phoenix something else than beautiful. Um. Yeah, 331 00:16:50,320 --> 00:16:52,000 Speaker 1: So you push them together hard enough, and that's what 332 00:16:52,040 --> 00:16:54,960 Speaker 1: we call fusion. You you get the strong nuclear force 333 00:16:55,000 --> 00:16:57,280 Speaker 1: to take over and it makes a new nucleus, right 334 00:16:57,320 --> 00:16:59,320 Speaker 1: and it and it becomes something totally different. So this 335 00:16:59,400 --> 00:17:02,400 Speaker 1: is alchemy, right, changing one element into another. Turns out 336 00:17:02,440 --> 00:17:04,680 Speaker 1: you just gotta push hard enough, you know, or take 337 00:17:04,680 --> 00:17:07,160 Speaker 1: protons out, and you can change what something is. Okay, 338 00:17:07,160 --> 00:17:09,239 Speaker 1: So that's how you make gold. You take hydrogen and 339 00:17:09,280 --> 00:17:11,280 Speaker 1: you just keep building it up and at some point 340 00:17:11,320 --> 00:17:13,159 Speaker 1: you go through all the elements and you get to 341 00:17:13,320 --> 00:17:15,480 Speaker 1: the shiny stuff. Right, that's right. But that's not easy 342 00:17:15,560 --> 00:17:18,240 Speaker 1: to do, right, you. It's really hard to squeeze these 343 00:17:18,240 --> 00:17:20,639 Speaker 1: things together. They don't like to be together, right, It's 344 00:17:20,640 --> 00:17:23,000 Speaker 1: not a configuration they like. So the question really is 345 00:17:23,040 --> 00:17:25,399 Speaker 1: not how do you make gold, but like, where in 346 00:17:25,440 --> 00:17:28,160 Speaker 1: the universe does this happen? How is it even possible? 347 00:17:28,160 --> 00:17:30,080 Speaker 1: All right, let's get into that, and let's start with 348 00:17:30,119 --> 00:17:33,200 Speaker 1: a big bang. But first let's take a quick break. 349 00:17:45,920 --> 00:17:48,439 Speaker 1: All right. We're talking about how to make gold, and 350 00:17:48,480 --> 00:17:50,680 Speaker 1: so we know how to make it, which is you 351 00:17:50,680 --> 00:17:54,479 Speaker 1: you build up hydrogen atom up until you get into 352 00:17:54,960 --> 00:17:57,159 Speaker 1: the different elements and eventually you get to gold. But 353 00:17:57,200 --> 00:18:00,240 Speaker 1: it's a pretty extreme process, like you need a lot 354 00:18:00,240 --> 00:18:02,439 Speaker 1: of energy. That's right, you really do need a lot 355 00:18:02,480 --> 00:18:05,760 Speaker 1: of energy. Um. It's not something that's easy to do. Um. 356 00:18:05,880 --> 00:18:08,359 Speaker 1: And as usual a little with a hard physics question, 357 00:18:08,400 --> 00:18:11,320 Speaker 1: Let's start with the Big Bang, right, because the creator 358 00:18:11,400 --> 00:18:13,800 Speaker 1: of all things. Right, And you might think, well, the 359 00:18:13,800 --> 00:18:16,000 Speaker 1: Big Bang, that was pretty hot and dense, and so 360 00:18:16,040 --> 00:18:18,600 Speaker 1: maybe all that stuff was just made in the very beginning, yeah, 361 00:18:18,640 --> 00:18:22,320 Speaker 1: because everything was compressed, and so I would think maybe 362 00:18:22,359 --> 00:18:24,320 Speaker 1: a lot of gold was made in the Big Bang. Yeah, 363 00:18:24,359 --> 00:18:26,320 Speaker 1: but it takes a while to get the gold right, 364 00:18:26,359 --> 00:18:28,800 Speaker 1: and so, and the Big Bang turns out was pretty short. 365 00:18:29,240 --> 00:18:30,879 Speaker 1: You know, there was on a whole lot of time 366 00:18:30,960 --> 00:18:34,119 Speaker 1: there to make stuff. The when the Big Bang started, 367 00:18:34,160 --> 00:18:36,000 Speaker 1: it was really hot and dense. But also remember it 368 00:18:36,080 --> 00:18:38,680 Speaker 1: was expanding really fast, right, that's the bang part of it. 369 00:18:39,160 --> 00:18:41,480 Speaker 1: And so the universe started out really hot and dense, 370 00:18:41,520 --> 00:18:44,840 Speaker 1: but it cooled off pretty quickly. The temperature dropped very rapidly, 371 00:18:45,240 --> 00:18:47,439 Speaker 1: so there was actually only about twenty minutes. I mean, 372 00:18:47,440 --> 00:18:49,639 Speaker 1: I think it's kind of hilarious to talk about earlier 373 00:18:49,680 --> 00:18:52,320 Speaker 1: universe in terms of like minutes you know, in days 374 00:18:52,359 --> 00:18:53,719 Speaker 1: and stuff like that. It's not like there was an 375 00:18:53,720 --> 00:18:56,560 Speaker 1: Earth on the Sun back then to even create these 376 00:18:56,600 --> 00:18:59,600 Speaker 1: the meanings of these time units. But after about twenty 377 00:18:59,600 --> 00:19:02,520 Speaker 1: minutes after the Big Bang on somebody's watch, the universe 378 00:19:02,520 --> 00:19:05,200 Speaker 1: cooled down so that this kind of fusion wasn't possible anymore. 379 00:19:05,680 --> 00:19:07,520 Speaker 1: So the things that were made in the Big Bang, 380 00:19:07,520 --> 00:19:11,119 Speaker 1: of course, we're fundamental particles, you know, corks and electrons 381 00:19:11,119 --> 00:19:13,359 Speaker 1: and stuff like this, and the corks came together to 382 00:19:13,400 --> 00:19:16,040 Speaker 1: make protons, and the protons electrons found each other to 383 00:19:16,080 --> 00:19:18,360 Speaker 1: make hydrogen, and there was a little bit of time 384 00:19:18,440 --> 00:19:20,639 Speaker 1: left and they could make some helium and a few 385 00:19:20,760 --> 00:19:23,679 Speaker 1: bits of trace elements higher up to like brillium or 386 00:19:23,720 --> 00:19:26,240 Speaker 1: maybe boron and stuff. But really the Big Bang was 387 00:19:26,280 --> 00:19:29,040 Speaker 1: all about making hydrogen and helium. You're saying kind of 388 00:19:29,080 --> 00:19:31,879 Speaker 1: like the party was over before they could make gold. 389 00:19:32,960 --> 00:19:35,320 Speaker 1: They wasted a lot of time dancing, and then they 390 00:19:35,400 --> 00:19:36,800 Speaker 1: ran out of time at the end and they hadn't 391 00:19:36,840 --> 00:19:39,520 Speaker 1: really finished their homework. Yeah, kind of right. That's that's 392 00:19:39,520 --> 00:19:41,240 Speaker 1: what you're saying, is that it was intense in the 393 00:19:41,280 --> 00:19:44,240 Speaker 1: Big Bang, but then by the time that you would 394 00:19:44,240 --> 00:19:47,119 Speaker 1: get to making gold, everything was already spread out and 395 00:19:47,160 --> 00:19:49,080 Speaker 1: cooled off. Yeah, and the thing that blows my mind 396 00:19:49,119 --> 00:19:52,600 Speaker 1: the most is that the story hasn't really changed after 397 00:19:52,680 --> 00:19:55,600 Speaker 1: twenty minutes. Twenty minutes into the universe, the universe was 398 00:19:56,000 --> 00:20:01,400 Speaker 1: seventies five percent hydrogen and twenty five fish percent helium. 399 00:20:01,520 --> 00:20:03,919 Speaker 1: And that's basically the story now. I mean, there's like 400 00:20:04,040 --> 00:20:07,280 Speaker 1: one percent left over that's like other heavier stuff and that, 401 00:20:07,320 --> 00:20:09,159 Speaker 1: you know, that's the bit we're talking about. That's the 402 00:20:09,160 --> 00:20:11,159 Speaker 1: bit to make up me and you and all the 403 00:20:11,200 --> 00:20:14,199 Speaker 1: interesting stuff in the universe that's not hydrogen helium. But 404 00:20:14,240 --> 00:20:16,359 Speaker 1: it's really we're really just playing with the one percent. 405 00:20:16,760 --> 00:20:18,520 Speaker 1: Most of the stuff in the universe is still the 406 00:20:18,800 --> 00:20:21,080 Speaker 1: baryonic matter at least, we're not even talking about dark 407 00:20:21,119 --> 00:20:23,400 Speaker 1: matter and dark energy. We're talking about atomic matter. There's 408 00:20:23,440 --> 00:20:26,360 Speaker 1: still hydrogen and helium, and so all the changes, all 409 00:20:26,359 --> 00:20:29,200 Speaker 1: the kind of visible changes in the universe from you know, 410 00:20:29,240 --> 00:20:32,520 Speaker 1: a crazy cloud of nothing of chaos in two stars 411 00:20:32,520 --> 00:20:35,960 Speaker 1: and planets and galaxies. That that's you. You're saying, that's 412 00:20:35,960 --> 00:20:38,439 Speaker 1: only really the one percent. Yeah, exactly, we are the 413 00:20:38,480 --> 00:20:43,960 Speaker 1: one percent. Well, I don't know how much you know, 414 00:20:44,000 --> 00:20:46,520 Speaker 1: how my cartoons get paid, but you know, I'm more 415 00:20:46,520 --> 00:20:53,119 Speaker 1: in the five five. Okay, so in the Big Bang 416 00:20:53,200 --> 00:20:54,960 Speaker 1: and not a lot of gold was made, you're saying, 417 00:20:55,000 --> 00:20:58,560 Speaker 1: that's right. Basically you get hydrogen helium and then gravity 418 00:20:58,600 --> 00:21:01,359 Speaker 1: takes over. Right, You have these huge clouds of hydrogen 419 00:21:01,880 --> 00:21:04,480 Speaker 1: and um and they're cool and they're neutral, right, So 420 00:21:04,520 --> 00:21:07,800 Speaker 1: electromagnetism is not really doing much anymore. And then gravity 421 00:21:07,840 --> 00:21:09,879 Speaker 1: takes over and it starts to pull this stuff together. 422 00:21:10,440 --> 00:21:13,280 Speaker 1: These big nebula and these gas clouds get clumped together 423 00:21:13,280 --> 00:21:16,680 Speaker 1: by gravity until things get dense enough that they start 424 00:21:16,680 --> 00:21:19,960 Speaker 1: to heat upright, Gravitational pressure pushes on them, and you 425 00:21:20,040 --> 00:21:22,280 Speaker 1: get stars. And so that's what a lot of people said. 426 00:21:22,680 --> 00:21:26,840 Speaker 1: They said that maybe gold is made inside of stars 427 00:21:26,880 --> 00:21:31,800 Speaker 1: because stars are pretty hot and uh, and there's a 428 00:21:31,840 --> 00:21:34,440 Speaker 1: lot of pressure and there's a lot of explosives going 429 00:21:34,480 --> 00:21:37,840 Speaker 1: on inside. So is gold made inside of stars? The 430 00:21:37,880 --> 00:21:40,879 Speaker 1: answer is no, Actually, stars are not capable of making 431 00:21:40,920 --> 00:21:43,240 Speaker 1: gold um. And I understand why a lot of people 432 00:21:43,240 --> 00:21:45,320 Speaker 1: thought of that, because I think it's pretty commonly known 433 00:21:45,400 --> 00:21:47,840 Speaker 1: these days that you know, we are all all star dust, 434 00:21:47,920 --> 00:21:49,840 Speaker 1: and that's a really cool concept. You know that the 435 00:21:49,920 --> 00:21:52,480 Speaker 1: stuff that makes us up is not made here or 436 00:21:52,520 --> 00:21:54,480 Speaker 1: not made on Earth, or you know that it was 437 00:21:54,520 --> 00:21:57,200 Speaker 1: made inside a star or somewhere else a long time ago, 438 00:21:57,440 --> 00:21:59,520 Speaker 1: which then blew up. And that that part is true, 439 00:21:59,600 --> 00:22:01,520 Speaker 1: that a lot of the elements that make us up, 440 00:22:01,560 --> 00:22:04,240 Speaker 1: the heavier elements, are made inside of stars. And we'll 441 00:22:04,280 --> 00:22:06,040 Speaker 1: go through it in a little bit of detail. But 442 00:22:06,040 --> 00:22:08,760 Speaker 1: it turns out stars are not capable of making things 443 00:22:08,800 --> 00:22:11,440 Speaker 1: heavier than like nickel or iron. Wait, you're saying Carl 444 00:22:11,440 --> 00:22:14,400 Speaker 1: Sagan lied to us. Is that what you're saying here 445 00:22:14,400 --> 00:22:18,000 Speaker 1: officially on the podcast? Well, no, no, If you're not 446 00:22:18,119 --> 00:22:20,240 Speaker 1: made of gold, then Carl Sagan was correct. If you 447 00:22:20,280 --> 00:22:26,920 Speaker 1: are made of gold, then yeah, so our animatronic gold 448 00:22:26,960 --> 00:22:31,200 Speaker 1: plated AI listeners, you are exempt from Carl Sagan's wisdom. Okay, 449 00:22:31,359 --> 00:22:33,159 Speaker 1: got it, got it. It's good to know, you know, 450 00:22:33,600 --> 00:22:36,119 Speaker 1: just in case I was made out of goal. Yeah. Well, 451 00:22:36,119 --> 00:22:37,640 Speaker 1: you know, I haven't seen you in a few days, 452 00:22:37,680 --> 00:22:40,200 Speaker 1: and maybe you did get replaced by a gold plated 453 00:22:40,280 --> 00:22:44,119 Speaker 1: robot who knows. Okay, So, so you're saying a star 454 00:22:44,280 --> 00:22:48,400 Speaker 1: by itself chugging along doesn't make gold. No, And what's 455 00:22:48,400 --> 00:22:51,320 Speaker 1: happening inside a star is that it's fusing, right, it's 456 00:22:51,320 --> 00:22:54,040 Speaker 1: doing that thing we talked about earlier with pushing the 457 00:22:54,119 --> 00:22:57,600 Speaker 1: hydrogen nuclei together close enough that the strong force takes 458 00:22:57,640 --> 00:23:00,680 Speaker 1: over and it makes helium nucleus. Right, and the key 459 00:23:00,720 --> 00:23:03,720 Speaker 1: thing to understand is that that's not an energy neutral 460 00:23:04,000 --> 00:23:06,520 Speaker 1: um event. What happens when you do that is you 461 00:23:06,600 --> 00:23:10,479 Speaker 1: release energy. There's less energy in a helium nucleus than 462 00:23:10,520 --> 00:23:13,960 Speaker 1: there is in two hydrogen nuclei. So when you form 463 00:23:14,000 --> 00:23:17,080 Speaker 1: the helium nucleus, this energy left over, it releases energy. 464 00:23:17,119 --> 00:23:19,760 Speaker 1: It's like burning, right, That's what burning is. There's less 465 00:23:19,840 --> 00:23:22,680 Speaker 1: energy stored in wood ash than there is in wood, 466 00:23:22,680 --> 00:23:25,280 Speaker 1: which is why when you burn it, energy is released 467 00:23:25,320 --> 00:23:27,600 Speaker 1: as fire. It's kind of like when you take two 468 00:23:27,960 --> 00:23:30,880 Speaker 1: three year olds who are hyperactive and then smash them together. 469 00:23:31,280 --> 00:23:34,880 Speaker 1: Sitting that with an iPad iPad, Suddenly there's a lot 470 00:23:34,920 --> 00:23:39,080 Speaker 1: of leftover energy. That's right. I've never noticed them heating up, 471 00:23:39,160 --> 00:23:41,280 Speaker 1: but I'm sure. But because of conservation of energy that 472 00:23:41,280 --> 00:23:45,000 Speaker 1: that energy does go somewhere. The energy goes to the 473 00:23:45,040 --> 00:23:49,720 Speaker 1: parents or like except the how come parents are always 474 00:23:49,800 --> 00:23:51,480 Speaker 1: napping while their kids are on the iPad? I'm not 475 00:23:51,520 --> 00:23:54,680 Speaker 1: sure how the how the energy flow works. So there's 476 00:23:54,680 --> 00:23:57,400 Speaker 1: a limit to what you can make inside of a star. Yeah, 477 00:23:57,440 --> 00:23:59,000 Speaker 1: and so that's the burning of a star. Right, That's 478 00:23:59,040 --> 00:24:01,240 Speaker 1: what makes the star hot is it does this process. 479 00:24:01,240 --> 00:24:03,800 Speaker 1: It releases energy and that allows it to do more. Right, 480 00:24:04,160 --> 00:24:06,080 Speaker 1: and you can do more. You can take the helium nuclei, 481 00:24:06,200 --> 00:24:08,639 Speaker 1: you can fuse them together. And the same thing is 482 00:24:08,640 --> 00:24:11,600 Speaker 1: true that if use two helium nuclei to get something heavier, 483 00:24:11,680 --> 00:24:14,280 Speaker 1: and energy is released, and you can keep doing that 484 00:24:14,320 --> 00:24:16,159 Speaker 1: and keep doing that, and keep doing that, and energy 485 00:24:16,240 --> 00:24:18,600 Speaker 1: keeps being released and you get heavier and heavier stuff 486 00:24:18,640 --> 00:24:20,920 Speaker 1: up to like nickel or up to iron. Right, but 487 00:24:20,960 --> 00:24:25,320 Speaker 1: then it iron, something special happens, right, because iron is 488 00:24:25,359 --> 00:24:28,720 Speaker 1: kind of a special is at a special place in 489 00:24:28,760 --> 00:24:31,600 Speaker 1: the periodic table. Yeah, this is really interesting fact about 490 00:24:31,600 --> 00:24:34,000 Speaker 1: how you put nuclei together. And remember the thing that 491 00:24:34,040 --> 00:24:36,560 Speaker 1: holds a nucleus together is the strong force. Right, There's 492 00:24:36,560 --> 00:24:38,760 Speaker 1: a bunch of protons and the strong forces holding them 493 00:24:38,760 --> 00:24:42,800 Speaker 1: together by linking the corks inside the protons. But once 494 00:24:42,800 --> 00:24:45,280 Speaker 1: you get to iron, there's more energy stored in the 495 00:24:45,280 --> 00:24:47,800 Speaker 1: heavier combinations. So if you want to take two iron 496 00:24:47,880 --> 00:24:51,000 Speaker 1: nuclei and fuse them together to make whatever to iron 497 00:24:51,080 --> 00:24:54,040 Speaker 1: nuclei make, then you need to add energy. Right, you 498 00:24:54,080 --> 00:24:56,640 Speaker 1: need to pour energy into that to make the heavier thing. 499 00:24:56,880 --> 00:24:59,880 Speaker 1: So the result is that you're cooling the star instead 500 00:24:59,880 --> 00:25:03,880 Speaker 1: of burning, right, But it doesn't actually cool it does 501 00:25:03,960 --> 00:25:06,640 Speaker 1: it does absorb some of the energy from the star. Yeah, 502 00:25:06,680 --> 00:25:09,000 Speaker 1: if that happened, and it happened a lot, then it 503 00:25:09,000 --> 00:25:10,639 Speaker 1: would cool the star. And so the thing you have 504 00:25:10,680 --> 00:25:13,359 Speaker 1: to understand is that stars are like um, they're like 505 00:25:13,560 --> 00:25:16,560 Speaker 1: a balance, right. They're fusing all the time. They're making 506 00:25:16,600 --> 00:25:19,520 Speaker 1: this heavier stuff and that's releasing energy. But then that 507 00:25:19,520 --> 00:25:22,159 Speaker 1: stuff is also getting blown apart because it's an incredible 508 00:25:22,160 --> 00:25:24,760 Speaker 1: place in there is all these photons. You have photo disintegration. 509 00:25:25,119 --> 00:25:27,119 Speaker 1: So you're like make something heavy and then you blow 510 00:25:27,119 --> 00:25:29,040 Speaker 1: it up because of heavy photons or hitting it. Then 511 00:25:29,040 --> 00:25:30,720 Speaker 1: you make something heavy and you blow it up, and 512 00:25:30,720 --> 00:25:34,400 Speaker 1: it's sort of gradually accumulating heavier and heavier stuff, right, 513 00:25:34,520 --> 00:25:36,280 Speaker 1: But you also got to keep the star burning. If 514 00:25:36,280 --> 00:25:39,160 Speaker 1: the star doesn't stay hot enough, then it collapses. Right. 515 00:25:39,200 --> 00:25:42,439 Speaker 1: Then it's you can no longer support itself from gravity winds. 516 00:25:42,920 --> 00:25:45,399 Speaker 1: So if you start getting too much heavy stuff like 517 00:25:45,440 --> 00:25:48,280 Speaker 1: the iron and the nickel and the stuff that if 518 00:25:48,320 --> 00:25:51,000 Speaker 1: you do fuse it, it it costs you energy. That's the 519 00:25:51,040 --> 00:25:53,000 Speaker 1: death knell of a star. That's when a star starts 520 00:25:53,040 --> 00:25:56,159 Speaker 1: to die. Yeah. So it's like it burns all its fuel, 521 00:25:56,320 --> 00:25:58,399 Speaker 1: it turns it into iron, and then it can't do 522 00:25:58,480 --> 00:26:01,040 Speaker 1: anything with the iron anymore. Exactly to do something with 523 00:26:01,080 --> 00:26:03,600 Speaker 1: the iron take some somebody adding energy, and so that's 524 00:26:03,600 --> 00:26:05,840 Speaker 1: when the star starts to go out. Right, When it's 525 00:26:05,880 --> 00:26:08,800 Speaker 1: fuel is no longer fuel, it's something that requires work 526 00:26:08,840 --> 00:26:10,800 Speaker 1: instead of releasing energy. It's kind of like when you 527 00:26:10,920 --> 00:26:13,840 Speaker 1: when you burn a fire, right, would you throw the 528 00:26:13,840 --> 00:26:16,960 Speaker 1: logs in and eventually the logs turn into ash and 529 00:26:17,520 --> 00:26:19,320 Speaker 1: you can't do anything with that, right, you can't burn 530 00:26:19,359 --> 00:26:21,280 Speaker 1: it anymore, that's right. Yeah, you could do something with 531 00:26:21,320 --> 00:26:23,680 Speaker 1: the ash, but it might require energy to do it, right, 532 00:26:23,800 --> 00:26:25,640 Speaker 1: So you don't have that. It's not a self sustaining 533 00:26:25,680 --> 00:26:29,000 Speaker 1: thing anymore. It's a self extinguishing thing. Yeah, So your 534 00:26:29,040 --> 00:26:30,959 Speaker 1: fire goes out. Yeah, and so your fire goes out, 535 00:26:31,000 --> 00:26:33,960 Speaker 1: and that's what happens. Right, stars burn, they make heavier 536 00:26:33,960 --> 00:26:36,239 Speaker 1: stuff that they can't burn anymore, so they've used up 537 00:26:36,240 --> 00:26:38,600 Speaker 1: their fuel and then they go out and you know, 538 00:26:38,600 --> 00:26:41,639 Speaker 1: they spread that stuff back out into the universe. There's 539 00:26:41,680 --> 00:26:44,440 Speaker 1: the solar wind right, they're spewing particles out from the sun, 540 00:26:44,600 --> 00:26:46,360 Speaker 1: from the star all the time. That spreads them out, 541 00:26:46,840 --> 00:26:50,159 Speaker 1: or they go supernova and you know, they collapse and 542 00:26:50,200 --> 00:26:52,840 Speaker 1: then explode and they spew all their stuff out into 543 00:26:52,880 --> 00:26:56,280 Speaker 1: the universe. And one really cool thing is that then 544 00:26:56,320 --> 00:26:59,480 Speaker 1: that stuff gets gathered back together to make a new star. 545 00:27:00,040 --> 00:27:02,800 Speaker 1: So we've had these cycles of stars. We had original 546 00:27:02,880 --> 00:27:06,600 Speaker 1: first stars that just burned hydrogen and turned into helium, 547 00:27:06,680 --> 00:27:08,960 Speaker 1: and then those blew up, you know, and we had 548 00:27:08,960 --> 00:27:12,560 Speaker 1: different kinds of stars that primarily burned helium and heavier stuff, 549 00:27:12,800 --> 00:27:14,960 Speaker 1: and those blew up, and then we had different kind 550 00:27:14,960 --> 00:27:16,919 Speaker 1: of stars. And so it takes a few cycles of 551 00:27:16,960 --> 00:27:20,000 Speaker 1: stars to even get up to stars capable of making 552 00:27:20,040 --> 00:27:25,000 Speaker 1: things like iron and nickel. Oh, I say, and those 553 00:27:25,000 --> 00:27:28,040 Speaker 1: first stars are no longer even existing, Like, we haven't 554 00:27:28,080 --> 00:27:29,960 Speaker 1: seen any of those first stars and the ones that 555 00:27:30,000 --> 00:27:33,399 Speaker 1: are pure hydrogen. Yeah, the first cycle of stars, the 556 00:27:33,400 --> 00:27:36,960 Speaker 1: original stars, the o G stars, Right, we've we've recently 557 00:27:37,080 --> 00:27:39,919 Speaker 1: thought we might have seen a hint of evidence of them, 558 00:27:39,960 --> 00:27:42,280 Speaker 1: but nobody's ever actually seen them directly. They're so old, 559 00:27:42,560 --> 00:27:45,480 Speaker 1: they happened so long ago, they're very difficult to see. 560 00:27:45,560 --> 00:27:47,960 Speaker 1: That's a whole other interesting podcast about the history of 561 00:27:48,000 --> 00:27:51,680 Speaker 1: stars that we know of nobody has seen. Yeah, that's right. 562 00:27:52,160 --> 00:27:54,760 Speaker 1: And the other fascinating fact that so many interesting things 563 00:27:54,760 --> 00:27:57,040 Speaker 1: about this is that most of the really heavy stuff, 564 00:27:57,040 --> 00:27:59,119 Speaker 1: like the iron and the nickel, is made in the 565 00:27:59,240 --> 00:28:01,920 Speaker 1: last few moments of a star's life. Like, those things 566 00:28:01,920 --> 00:28:04,040 Speaker 1: are hard to make. Even though you know it is 567 00:28:04,160 --> 00:28:07,840 Speaker 1: energetically favorable to produce iron, it's a really small effect, 568 00:28:07,840 --> 00:28:09,120 Speaker 1: and so you don't make a lot of it until 569 00:28:09,160 --> 00:28:12,080 Speaker 1: the last few moments. Most of that stuff happens just 570 00:28:12,240 --> 00:28:14,960 Speaker 1: before the supernova, as that the outer bits of the 571 00:28:14,960 --> 00:28:18,000 Speaker 1: star collapsing, those are the perfect times to make iron 572 00:28:18,000 --> 00:28:20,240 Speaker 1: and nickel. So like most of the iron and the 573 00:28:20,320 --> 00:28:22,959 Speaker 1: nickel in the universe was made in the last few moments, 574 00:28:23,000 --> 00:28:26,440 Speaker 1: just before star went supernova. Yeah, and but that's kind 575 00:28:26,440 --> 00:28:29,320 Speaker 1: of the limit, right, yeah, exactly. These stars can't make 576 00:28:29,359 --> 00:28:31,879 Speaker 1: things that are heavier. So for a long time people 577 00:28:31,880 --> 00:28:34,560 Speaker 1: wonder It's like, well, we have this great model of stars. 578 00:28:34,600 --> 00:28:37,160 Speaker 1: We can explain how they made iron, how they made nickel, 579 00:28:37,200 --> 00:28:39,640 Speaker 1: all this stuff, but what about this other stuff we see? 580 00:28:39,680 --> 00:28:43,960 Speaker 1: Because there is stuff in the universe, it's heavier uranium, plutonium, gold, 581 00:28:44,280 --> 00:28:46,480 Speaker 1: all this stuff. Where does that come from? Well, let's 582 00:28:46,520 --> 00:28:49,720 Speaker 1: get into that. Let's get into whether supernova are able 583 00:28:49,760 --> 00:28:52,160 Speaker 1: to make these things and whether they can make gold. 584 00:28:52,560 --> 00:29:08,840 Speaker 1: But first let's take a quick break, alright, so start 585 00:29:08,920 --> 00:29:12,120 Speaker 1: checking along. Can't make gold. I can only sort of 586 00:29:12,120 --> 00:29:14,240 Speaker 1: go up to iron. And that's even only when it 587 00:29:14,400 --> 00:29:17,080 Speaker 1: blows up, right, Yeah, that's right after a few cycles 588 00:29:17,120 --> 00:29:21,440 Speaker 1: and during the blow up. So then how does gold 589 00:29:21,520 --> 00:29:24,360 Speaker 1: get made? It's not in supernova's. It's not in supernova. 590 00:29:24,400 --> 00:29:27,920 Speaker 1: Supernovas are responsible for like the heaviest stuff that stars 591 00:29:27,960 --> 00:29:29,920 Speaker 1: can make, right, And people have done a lot of 592 00:29:29,920 --> 00:29:32,400 Speaker 1: extensive work on this and modeling and trying to understand 593 00:29:32,680 --> 00:29:36,280 Speaker 1: are there weird kinds of supernovas? Are their special circumstances 594 00:29:36,640 --> 00:29:41,560 Speaker 1: under which super dupernovas Meganova's. There actually are things called 595 00:29:41,800 --> 00:29:46,960 Speaker 1: killing novas and hypernovas and stuff like that. That sounds 596 00:29:46,960 --> 00:29:49,520 Speaker 1: like a hell of a Helennova. Hell, that's the California 597 00:29:49,600 --> 00:29:53,800 Speaker 1: version Helenova or HELENNOVAA. It's one of the most dramatic 598 00:29:53,840 --> 00:29:57,120 Speaker 1: events in the universe that's responsible for making gold and 599 00:29:57,200 --> 00:30:00,680 Speaker 1: platinum and all that heavy stuff. And we only recently 600 00:30:00,680 --> 00:30:03,040 Speaker 1: figured out what this is and what happens is not 601 00:30:03,160 --> 00:30:05,560 Speaker 1: the collapse of a single star into like a neutron 602 00:30:05,640 --> 00:30:09,280 Speaker 1: star or something really heavy. It's when two stars collide. 603 00:30:09,800 --> 00:30:12,400 Speaker 1: So sometimes you'll have like two neutron stars that are 604 00:30:12,440 --> 00:30:15,280 Speaker 1: near each other. And remember neutron stars with this really, 605 00:30:15,280 --> 00:30:17,760 Speaker 1: really dense stuff. We had an episode recently about density, 606 00:30:18,160 --> 00:30:21,040 Speaker 1: and you know, like a teaspoon of neutron star weighs 607 00:30:21,040 --> 00:30:24,400 Speaker 1: as much as like a million Eiffel towers. Right, it's ridiculous. 608 00:30:24,640 --> 00:30:28,600 Speaker 1: So already you have this crazy intense environment. Now imagine 609 00:30:28,640 --> 00:30:31,280 Speaker 1: two of those things and they're near each other, and 610 00:30:31,320 --> 00:30:33,960 Speaker 1: they're orbiting each other, and they're pulling each other together, 611 00:30:34,240 --> 00:30:37,840 Speaker 1: and eventually, boom, they collide. They collapse into one object. 612 00:30:38,040 --> 00:30:40,280 Speaker 1: That's how gold is made. That's the only way we know. 613 00:30:40,680 --> 00:30:43,280 Speaker 1: That's the only way we know. The gold and all 614 00:30:43,600 --> 00:30:47,080 Speaker 1: the other stuff heavier than iron is primarily made in 615 00:30:47,160 --> 00:30:51,280 Speaker 1: the collapses of neutron stars. And like, it's a crazy idea, right, 616 00:30:51,560 --> 00:30:54,520 Speaker 1: And for a long time people thought, but neutron star collapses, 617 00:30:54,560 --> 00:30:56,600 Speaker 1: like how often can that happen? Can there really be 618 00:30:56,760 --> 00:30:59,200 Speaker 1: enough of that to make all the gold? But they 619 00:30:59,200 --> 00:31:02,080 Speaker 1: collapse and and they explode out into the universe. Because 620 00:31:02,120 --> 00:31:05,880 Speaker 1: if it collapses, doesn't keep all the goal inside of it. Yeah, 621 00:31:05,920 --> 00:31:08,080 Speaker 1: they collide, they make gold, and then some a lot 622 00:31:08,080 --> 00:31:11,280 Speaker 1: of it is ejected. Yeah, so they explode, and uh, 623 00:31:11,440 --> 00:31:15,920 Speaker 1: we discover this recently because we saw gravitational waves. These 624 00:31:15,920 --> 00:31:19,320 Speaker 1: things are heavy enough, they're big enough, and they're moving 625 00:31:19,440 --> 00:31:23,480 Speaker 1: fast enough, they're accelerating enough they actually cause gravitational waves, 626 00:31:23,600 --> 00:31:26,880 Speaker 1: these ripples in space and time itself. We had a 627 00:31:26,880 --> 00:31:29,160 Speaker 1: whole podcast episode about that about how we saw like 628 00:31:29,440 --> 00:31:33,480 Speaker 1: black holes merging and neutron star collisions, and we see 629 00:31:33,480 --> 00:31:36,080 Speaker 1: this because they're so heavy that they make these ripples 630 00:31:36,080 --> 00:31:39,920 Speaker 1: in space. Remember, really massive stuff bend space. That's what 631 00:31:40,000 --> 00:31:42,080 Speaker 1: gravity is. And so if you have something like that 632 00:31:42,160 --> 00:31:46,120 Speaker 1: moving really quickly accelerating, then it's gravitational field is wiggling, 633 00:31:46,200 --> 00:31:48,760 Speaker 1: and it's wiggling in a way to send waves through 634 00:31:48,840 --> 00:31:51,880 Speaker 1: space that we can actually detect. Yeah. So, um, so 635 00:31:51,920 --> 00:31:54,640 Speaker 1: that's why gold is so rare. It's that it can 636 00:31:54,760 --> 00:31:59,000 Speaker 1: only be made in these super rare events, which is 637 00:31:59,160 --> 00:32:02,240 Speaker 1: to neutrons ares which just happened to be close enough 638 00:32:02,240 --> 00:32:04,280 Speaker 1: to each other to merge. That's right. The thing that 639 00:32:04,360 --> 00:32:06,440 Speaker 1: it's interesting is that it's not as rare as we 640 00:32:06,480 --> 00:32:11,000 Speaker 1: thought before we turned on Ligo, this gravitational wave detector. 641 00:32:11,400 --> 00:32:13,280 Speaker 1: They turned it on, they knew what it could see, 642 00:32:13,400 --> 00:32:15,400 Speaker 1: but what they didn't know is how often is their 643 00:32:15,400 --> 00:32:19,040 Speaker 1: stuff to see. Like, you build this amazing telescope, you're 644 00:32:19,040 --> 00:32:21,760 Speaker 1: this gravitational wave detector. You're looking out into the universe 645 00:32:21,800 --> 00:32:23,520 Speaker 1: with sort of a new set of eyes for the 646 00:32:23,600 --> 00:32:25,880 Speaker 1: first time. You don't know if it's going to be 647 00:32:25,960 --> 00:32:28,560 Speaker 1: like a big party or total darkness. We just really 648 00:32:28,560 --> 00:32:31,040 Speaker 1: had no idea. And the cool thing is that just 649 00:32:31,160 --> 00:32:34,240 Speaker 1: after they turned it on, boom they saw a gravitational wave, 650 00:32:34,280 --> 00:32:36,120 Speaker 1: and then left. Next week, boom they saw another one. 651 00:32:36,320 --> 00:32:38,200 Speaker 1: So it turns out this stuff happens a little bit 652 00:32:38,200 --> 00:32:41,800 Speaker 1: more often than people were we're thinking. So it's not 653 00:32:41,960 --> 00:32:44,480 Speaker 1: that unlikely to see new dron stars, which is why 654 00:32:44,520 --> 00:32:47,880 Speaker 1: gold is rare, but not like impossible to find or 655 00:32:47,880 --> 00:32:50,840 Speaker 1: anything heavier than gold, right, because anything heavier than gold 656 00:32:50,920 --> 00:32:53,960 Speaker 1: you also need these rare events. Yeah, exactly. All the plutonium, 657 00:32:53,960 --> 00:32:56,160 Speaker 1: all the uranium, all that kind of stuff that's made 658 00:32:56,160 --> 00:32:59,920 Speaker 1: that's heavier than gold was created in this incredible cosm 659 00:33:00,120 --> 00:33:03,320 Speaker 1: collisions of neutron stars. And we know that because we 660 00:33:03,360 --> 00:33:05,440 Speaker 1: saw one recently, So we saw it with a gravitational 661 00:33:05,480 --> 00:33:08,880 Speaker 1: wave detector. We also saw the collision using other telescopes. 662 00:33:09,000 --> 00:33:11,520 Speaker 1: So this is called multi messenger because you see the 663 00:33:11,560 --> 00:33:14,800 Speaker 1: same event with light and with gravitational waves. And then 664 00:33:14,840 --> 00:33:17,600 Speaker 1: we could look at what happened and and look at 665 00:33:17,680 --> 00:33:20,000 Speaker 1: you know, the the emissions of the stuff nearby, and 666 00:33:20,040 --> 00:33:22,880 Speaker 1: we could see that there was gold just afterwards where 667 00:33:22,880 --> 00:33:26,560 Speaker 1: there wasn't gold before. Oh no kidding, It got shiny 668 00:33:26,960 --> 00:33:29,800 Speaker 1: like it twinkled a little extra. All these bracelets were 669 00:33:29,840 --> 00:33:32,160 Speaker 1: made and all these nice rings, you know, stuff I 670 00:33:32,160 --> 00:33:34,720 Speaker 1: think would be really wonderful. Um. Now you could see 671 00:33:34,800 --> 00:33:36,959 Speaker 1: because of the way it absorbs light from behind it 672 00:33:37,000 --> 00:33:40,160 Speaker 1: and the midst light. Gold has a characteristic signature, so 673 00:33:40,200 --> 00:33:43,000 Speaker 1: we could see gold having been made. Pretty awesome. Kind 674 00:33:43,000 --> 00:33:44,760 Speaker 1: of like if you close your eyes and you're listening 675 00:33:44,760 --> 00:33:47,360 Speaker 1: out into the universe, you will hear gold being made 676 00:33:47,520 --> 00:33:51,920 Speaker 1: kind of right like pop pop pop pop um. If 677 00:33:51,960 --> 00:33:54,120 Speaker 1: you close your eyes and listen to the universe, I 678 00:33:54,120 --> 00:33:57,960 Speaker 1: don't know what you're gonna hear, um, but yeah there is. Yeah, 679 00:33:58,000 --> 00:34:00,360 Speaker 1: if you listen to the gravitational waves, you hear these 680 00:34:00,440 --> 00:34:04,040 Speaker 1: crazy events that that that the is wear gold and 681 00:34:04,040 --> 00:34:05,920 Speaker 1: heavy stuff is made. So it's not made in the 682 00:34:05,960 --> 00:34:08,800 Speaker 1: Earth's crust, and it's not made in the normal burning 683 00:34:08,800 --> 00:34:12,360 Speaker 1: of stars. It's only made in these special crazy collisions 684 00:34:12,360 --> 00:34:14,799 Speaker 1: of two dead stars. So I feel like that makes 685 00:34:14,840 --> 00:34:18,360 Speaker 1: it even more special than diamonds, you know, like diamonds 686 00:34:18,520 --> 00:34:22,240 Speaker 1: just made here on Earth. But gold, that's that's only 687 00:34:22,280 --> 00:34:26,920 Speaker 1: made in in the uh the marriage of two giants 688 00:34:27,280 --> 00:34:29,319 Speaker 1: neutron stars. No, I think you're right, and I think 689 00:34:29,760 --> 00:34:31,799 Speaker 1: you know, the De Beers Corporation will not be very 690 00:34:31,800 --> 00:34:34,759 Speaker 1: interested in sponsoring this podcast. But diamonds, you're right, they're 691 00:34:34,800 --> 00:34:36,840 Speaker 1: not that special. You know, they're just created by a 692 00:34:36,880 --> 00:34:38,920 Speaker 1: lot of pressure here in the center of the Earth. 693 00:34:38,960 --> 00:34:41,000 Speaker 1: But we are not capable of making gold on Earth. 694 00:34:41,000 --> 00:34:44,439 Speaker 1: There's certainly not nowhere in their solar system are there 695 00:34:44,440 --> 00:34:47,720 Speaker 1: the conditions to make gold, and so it is pretty unusual. 696 00:34:47,800 --> 00:34:49,200 Speaker 1: But you know, but but you said you can make 697 00:34:49,239 --> 00:34:53,000 Speaker 1: that at the large hadron collider. You're right, You're right, 698 00:34:53,040 --> 00:34:54,799 Speaker 1: we can make it at a large hadron collider. So 699 00:34:55,000 --> 00:34:57,920 Speaker 1: naturally produced gold, you know, fusing of lighter stuff. What 700 00:34:58,000 --> 00:35:00,200 Speaker 1: we do with a large agron collider. Actually, as we 701 00:35:00,200 --> 00:35:02,080 Speaker 1: can take gold, we can take lead, which is heavier 702 00:35:02,080 --> 00:35:04,759 Speaker 1: than gold, and we can strip off some of the protons, right, 703 00:35:04,800 --> 00:35:07,400 Speaker 1: you can shoot like neutrons and stuff at it to 704 00:35:07,480 --> 00:35:09,600 Speaker 1: sort of break it apart and take off some of 705 00:35:09,640 --> 00:35:12,799 Speaker 1: the protons to turn some lead into some gold. But 706 00:35:12,800 --> 00:35:14,800 Speaker 1: we can only do it in a really really low levels, 707 00:35:14,880 --> 00:35:17,440 Speaker 1: Like you can't take a block of lead, and you 708 00:35:17,480 --> 00:35:19,960 Speaker 1: need to turn each atom one at a time into gold, 709 00:35:19,960 --> 00:35:24,120 Speaker 1: which is why we cost a quadrillion dollars. I see, 710 00:35:24,160 --> 00:35:26,360 Speaker 1: you make it the other way. You don't fuse it together. 711 00:35:26,560 --> 00:35:28,960 Speaker 1: You strip down lead to make gold. Yeah, so it's 712 00:35:28,960 --> 00:35:31,080 Speaker 1: pretty much cheating because the lead also was made in 713 00:35:31,120 --> 00:35:33,359 Speaker 1: the collision of neutron stars, right, so we're taking that 714 00:35:33,440 --> 00:35:35,960 Speaker 1: we're just like turning it into gold. So it's like 715 00:35:36,160 --> 00:35:38,920 Speaker 1: it's a very unsatisfying sort of monkey paw answer, right, Like, 716 00:35:38,960 --> 00:35:41,400 Speaker 1: can you make lead into gold? Yes? So Carl Sagan 717 00:35:41,440 --> 00:35:44,279 Speaker 1: didn't lie to us. You did. That's a fairly safe 718 00:35:44,320 --> 00:35:49,160 Speaker 1: assumption in general. Um, but I don't think I've said 719 00:35:49,200 --> 00:35:51,759 Speaker 1: anything incorrect. We can turn lead into gold, it's just 720 00:35:51,840 --> 00:35:54,080 Speaker 1: not the most of the goal that you find is 721 00:35:54,120 --> 00:35:56,080 Speaker 1: not made in the large head on colider, all right, 722 00:35:56,200 --> 00:35:58,160 Speaker 1: So that's pretty pretty cool to know. So the next 723 00:35:58,160 --> 00:36:02,080 Speaker 1: time you see your wedding maybe, or you're pendant or 724 00:36:02,160 --> 00:36:04,600 Speaker 1: something made out of gold out there, you should think 725 00:36:04,640 --> 00:36:08,400 Speaker 1: about that. It wasn't made here on Earth. It wasn't 726 00:36:08,719 --> 00:36:11,600 Speaker 1: made inside of a star. It was made in a giant, 727 00:36:12,520 --> 00:36:17,799 Speaker 1: really cataclysmic, crazy explosion of two giants neutron stars. That's right. 728 00:36:17,920 --> 00:36:21,439 Speaker 1: Two neutron stars gave their lives so that you could 729 00:36:21,520 --> 00:36:23,880 Speaker 1: have that ring with that bracelet and give it to 730 00:36:23,920 --> 00:36:26,360 Speaker 1: your special person. So you know, I think for a 731 00:36:26,400 --> 00:36:29,200 Speaker 1: moment about what they sacrificed and then exploited out into 732 00:36:29,200 --> 00:36:32,879 Speaker 1: space and somehow, some way it made it into here 733 00:36:33,239 --> 00:36:36,600 Speaker 1: and into the Earth and into your finger. Yeah. So 734 00:36:36,760 --> 00:36:40,200 Speaker 1: every atom of gold has a really interesting life story, 735 00:36:40,320 --> 00:36:43,239 Speaker 1: much more interesting than you write. Is existed for a 736 00:36:43,320 --> 00:36:48,680 Speaker 1: long time. Well, I was made in the large hadron colliders. 737 00:36:49,120 --> 00:36:51,759 Speaker 1: You know, that's why you're so shiny and brilliant. No, 738 00:36:52,000 --> 00:36:54,600 Speaker 1: every element you know that that you're made out of 739 00:36:55,120 --> 00:36:57,040 Speaker 1: is pretty stable. They were not made on Earth, they 740 00:36:57,040 --> 00:36:59,400 Speaker 1: were not rearranged on Earth. They've been that element for 741 00:36:59,560 --> 00:37:02,919 Speaker 1: billion of years. They've survived being created inside a star 742 00:37:03,040 --> 00:37:05,719 Speaker 1: or inside the collisions of neutron stars, and they've had 743 00:37:05,760 --> 00:37:08,759 Speaker 1: their personality for billions of years and they're just temporarily 744 00:37:08,800 --> 00:37:12,160 Speaker 1: for this brief moment part of you. All right, Well, 745 00:37:12,200 --> 00:37:15,160 Speaker 1: we hope you enjoyed that discussion and learn a little 746 00:37:15,160 --> 00:37:18,440 Speaker 1: bit about where the heavy elements come from. And I 747 00:37:18,480 --> 00:37:21,600 Speaker 1: hope you enjoyed that golden neuggative of intellectual thought. And 748 00:37:21,640 --> 00:37:23,400 Speaker 1: if you want to inject some gold and send it 749 00:37:23,400 --> 00:37:26,279 Speaker 1: to us, send it to me my addresses. That's right. 750 00:37:26,560 --> 00:37:28,400 Speaker 1: Thanks for tuning in. And if you have a question 751 00:37:28,440 --> 00:37:32,400 Speaker 1: about our crazy, golden, beautiful, nasty, weird universe, send it 752 00:37:32,400 --> 00:37:35,279 Speaker 1: to us. I have questions at Daniel and Jorge dot com. 753 00:37:35,440 --> 00:37:38,040 Speaker 1: We love your emails. See you next time. All right, 754 00:37:38,080 --> 00:37:48,040 Speaker 1: thanks for listening. If you still have a question after 755 00:37:48,120 --> 00:37:51,239 Speaker 1: listening to all these explanations, please drop us a line. 756 00:37:51,280 --> 00:37:53,400 Speaker 1: We'd love to hear from you. You can find us 757 00:37:53,440 --> 00:37:57,239 Speaker 1: at Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram at Daniel and Jorge that's 758 00:37:57,280 --> 00:38:00,640 Speaker 1: one word, or email us at Feedback at Daniel and 759 00:38:00,760 --> 00:38:04,200 Speaker 1: Jorge dot com. Thanks for listening, and remember that Daniel 760 00:38:04,239 --> 00:38:06,719 Speaker 1: and Jorge Explain the Universe is a production of I 761 00:38:06,960 --> 00:38:10,399 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. For more podcast from my Heart Radio, visit 762 00:38:10,440 --> 00:38:13,920 Speaker 1: the I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you 763 00:38:14,040 --> 00:38:19,440 Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows. H