The elements, if arranged according to their atomic weights, exhibit an apparent periodicity of properties. Dmitri Mendeleev
About eight days ago I discovered that sulphur in burning, far from losing weight, on the contrary, gains it; it is the same with phosphorus; this increase of weight arises from a prodigious quantity of air that is fixed during combustion and combines with the vapours. This discovery, which I have established by experiments, that I regard as decisive, has led me to think that what is observed in the combustion of sulphur and phosphorus may well take place in the case of all substances that gain in weight by combustion and calcination; and I am persuaded that the increase in weight of metallic calxes is due to the same cause ... This discovery seems to me one of the most interesting that has been made since Stahl and since it is difficult not to disclose something inadvertently in conversation with friends that could lead to the truth I have thought it necessary to make the present deposit to the Secretary of the Academy to await the time I make my experiments public. Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier, 1772
Type 1A supernovae are of vital importance to populating [the universe] with the kind of elements that are important to us. Professor Lawrence Krauss
It is the single most violent event in the present universe. In a few short seconds a supernova produces more energy than the sun will in its lifetime. When astronomers analysed the light of supernovae they saw the signatures of the elements heavier than iron. Supernovae scatter their seeds across the universe. Stephen Hawking’s Universe: In the Beginning, PBS 1997
Supernovas make everything in the universe ... It’s all made of iron from Type 1A supernovas. But the heavier elements in our world – like gold, silver and uranium – come from another type of supernova, a single-star supernova. How the Universe Works s1e5: Supernovas, Discovery 2010
Did you ever stop to wonder where your car came from? Really came from? Every component has been on a mind-blowing journey through Time, Space and the most cosmic events since the Big Bang. The history of your car is the history of the universe. How the Universe Works s4e1: How the Universe Built Your Car, Discovery 2015
‘It’s actually 13.8 billion years old.’ ibid.
Under their own gravity: pressure and temperature builds as more and more gas is sucked in. Eventually, fusion sparks deep in the core of these giant balls of gas, and the first stars started to manufacture many of the heavy elements that make up cars today. ibid.
The explosion called a Supernova is one of the brightest and most violent events in the universe … ‘with heavier elements in them.’ ibid.
Neutron Stars: ‘This was a potential channel for the production of heavy elements.’ ibid.
The pattern of dark lines reveals exactly what chemical elements are present in the star. Helen Czerski, Colour: The Spectrum of Science I: Colours of Earth, BBC 2015
The predictability of the rate of decay is the key to all radiometric clocks ... Every unstable or radioactive isotope decays at its own characteristic rate which is precisely known. Richard Dawkins, The Greatest Show on Earth p94
The favoured measure of decay rate is the ‘half-life’. The half-life of a radioactive isotope is the time taken for half of its atoms to decay. ibid. p95
Our lives hang on a handful of natural resources. But they are not the ones you think they are. Forget oil, coal and gas; today we depend on a new set of super-elements with obscure names ... These super-elements are driving innovation. But there’s a problem: they’re rare and they’re already running out. The stuff that makes smart phones work could be gone in a decade. Mark Miodownik, Secrets of the Super Elements, BBC 2018
Smart phones: your average smart-phone contains over half the elements on the planet … one stands out from the rest … Indium … It can turn into a liquid … that conducts electricity … mix it with tin and oxygen you get Indium-tin-oxide, a transparent electrical conductor, and that’s how you make the touch-screen. ibid.
We are uncovering the super-powers of ever more unusual and rare ingredients. ibid.
Rhenium: incredible tough and endurable … heat-resistant … You could plunge it into molten steel and it wouldn’t melt … It’s like alien technology … used to make jet engines … Planes burn less fuel … We’ve got used to cheaper air travel. ibid.
The super-element in these magnets is called Neodymium: it makes the strongest permanent magnets known. ibid.
Lithium: when it comes to energy storage this stuff is a game-changer. ibid.
Super-fluid helium can flow through solid materials. ibid.
Tungsten: no other material is tough enough. ibid.
The Phosphorus glows because it’s highly reactive in oxygen … The backbone of our DNA and the DNA of all living things. ibid.
We’re going to need new sources of supply. ibid.