How a planet comes together has implications for whether it captures and retains the volatile elements, including nitrogen, carbon and water, that eventually give rise to life, according to scientists ...

Researchers have detected fluorine -- an element found in our bones and teeth as fluoride -- in a galaxy so far away that its light has taken over 12 billion years to reach us, a discovery that is ...

Elements heavier than iron, such as gold and uranium, are primarily formed through neutron capture processes, specifically the rapid neutron capture process (r-process). The r-process, unlike the ...

Around 3.5 billion years ago, life began to sprout on a fairly quiet, desolate planet we call Earth. Tracing the origins of life, and how molecules combined to create microbial life, is perhaps the ...

Measurements on neutron-rich nuclei help to refine models of how heavy elements came into existence Models for how heavy elements are produced within stars have become more accurate thanks to ...

A surprising new study reveals that the first stars appeared in a pre-heated universe, challenging earlier ideas about early cosmic conditions.

Astrophysicists are one step closer to understanding how the heaviest chemical elements are created in the universe, thanks to a camera designed and built at the University of Sheffield. Scientists ...

Inscribed on an Italian family’s 15th century coat of arms and decorating an ancient Japanese shrine, the Borromean rings are symbolically potent. Remove one ring from the trio of linked circles and ...

Before the planets in our solar system formed or the Sun turned on and started shining, two other stars had to die. Their deaths and later collision would seed the area where our area with many of the ...

Even if early Earth had water and oxygen, the planet would still have needed another ingredient for life to flourish: heavy metals. Our cellphones, Earth’s core and even human metabolism would ...