Astronomers have detected the first-ever signs of nuclear fission happening in stars, a discovery that sheds light on how elements heavier than those found naturally on Earth form in the cosmos. Until ...

Astronomers studying how elements heavier than iron were produced in the early Milky Way have identified a distinct series of epochs of galaxy-wide chemical formation. This evolutionary timeline, ...

Richard Feynman, a famous theoretical physicist who won the Nobel Prize, said that if he could pass on only one piece of scientific information to future generations, it would be that all things are ...

Researchers measured very precisely atomic masses of radioactive lanthanum isotopes and found an interesting feature in their nuclear binding energies. The discovery provides essential data for ...

Where did gold, uranium and other heavy elements come from — and what does that have to do with life on Earth? Scientists at LSU are helping to answer one of the biggest questions in modern ...

How heavy can an element be? An international team of researchers has found that ancient stars were capable of producing elements with atomic masses greater than 260, heavier than any element on the ...

Scientists believe that many of the elements found in the Universe that are heavier than iron are created when stars merge or explosively die, but they are still unsure about the cosmic origin of ...

MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL–Floating 125,000 feet above the Antarctic ice sheet, a balloon-borne experiment is making an unprecendented second loop around the South Pole, probing the heavens for the origin ...

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 ...

Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more. Astronomers have ...

(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like ...