We aren’t just foreign muscle and tissue, we are filled with the cosmos, and one with the universe! Our entire being is made of stardust!

As a child, I wanted to be a robot. I can’t remember much about why, but I do remember that I didn’t like my skin because it was soft and yielding. On the other hand, I thought science fiction was fascinating and being a robot – I would fit right in. As I grew older, my fantasies faded and adult life took over. Recently I learned that human beings were made of stardust. I was amazed.

Humans are made from cosmic dust. Yes, we are full of the Stars!

It was previously thought, in the 1920s, that stars had a similar composition to the earth. We since dispelled this idea, and then came full circle to the same ‘cliche’, a myth that was recently discovered to be truth.  It seems that human beings have more in relation to stars after all. Both humans and stars have about 97% of the same elements.

On September 2, 2016, astronomer, Dr. Jonathan Bird gave a lecture titled “Where have you been? A Guided Tour of your Cosmic Location in History”. This lecture discussed the scientific results proving that we are made from the stars, just as we thought. The same stars created billions of years ago, also make up the basic building blocks of the human body in fact- elements of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen phosphorous and sulfur (CHNOPS).

Elements were discovered by Spectroscopy.

So, it’s not like we could reach up, grab a handful of stars and examine their makeup, right. So, how do we know this? To discover the exact composition of interstellar stars, a method called spectroscopy was used to capture distinct wavelengths of different elements. Using infrared wavelengths, the (SDSS) Sloan Digital Sky Survey’s (APOGEE), Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment spectrograph in Mexico took a look into the Milky Way dust.

Both bright and dark patches were measured to determine the depth of the light spectrum. This revealed what the star was made of, and that would be the same basic elements as human beings!

Jennifer Johnson, the science team chair of the SDSS-111 APOGEE, said,

“It’s a great human interest story that we are now able to map the abundance of all the major elements found in the human body across hundreds of thousands of stars in our Milky Way.”

This is where we differ

But there are some variances in our substance, however. It seems that some proportions differ, including the amount of oxygen present in both human beings and stars. While humans have an estimated 65% oxygen, stars and the remainder of space, have only 1% of this element.

It seems the old sayings are true, we are one with the universe in so many intricate ways. We are made of stardust, magical cosmic elements… Wow. I think now, that I have grown to appreciate myself in so many facets, I no longer wish to be a robot. I am fascinated with my skin instead – my organs and my bones. You know why? Because I’m made of stardust. How cool is that?


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