Why we are made of “star stuff”

WASHINGTON, Nov. 3, 2014 — As Carl Sagan famously said, “We are made of star stuff.” It’s a mind-boggling thought, but what exactly did he mean? Ahead of Sagan’s birthday on November 9^th, Reactions teamed up with the American Association of Chemistry Teachers (AACT) and best-selling author Sam Kean to explain the chemistry behind this iconic quote. Watch our latest episode to find out how many of the atoms that make up you (and everything else) were forged in the nuclear cores of stars billions of years ago. Watch the video here: http://youtu.be/2bm479V8qPs.

Kean’s book, “The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements,” is getting the Reactions treatment in a video series produced for the newly launched American Association of Chemistry Teachers (AACT). To view all 10 videos in the Disappearing Spoon video series, become an AACT member at teachchemistry.org.

Subscribe to our weekly series at http://bit.ly/ACSReactions and follow us on Twitter @ACSReactions.

The American Chemical Society is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. With more than 161,000 members, ACS is the world’s largest scientific society and a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.