WHAT made the gold and platinum in your favourite jewellery? The answer may
lie in some of the most violent events in the Universe: collisions between
superdense neutron stars. “Probably many of the heavy elements we’re familiar
with on Earth were made in this way,” says Stephan Rosswog of the University of
Leicester.
Shortly after the big bang, the Universe contained only the light elements
hydrogen and helium. When these materials later formed stars, heavier elements
such as carbon and oxygen were forged in the stars’ nuclear furnaces. And even
heavier elements were created when very massive stars exploded as…
