Upcycled Cosmos

Over dinner tonight, Jake and Joe were having an enthusiastic and noisy conversation about the nature of the universe.

And in my house, science conversations can get pretty animated, so naturally, there was talk about the decay of radioactive materials, and about the Periodic Table of the Elements, and about stars exploding…..and more stars exploding…..and supernovas (just a fancy way to say that even more stars are exploding).

And of course, they got around to talking about the make up of the earth and the make up of the stars, and ultimately, the make up of the all of us.  And they concluded, as many have before…that elementally…..the universe and us….we are all made of the same stuff.

We heard it from Carl Sagan, in his bestseller book Cosmos.  Simply put, he said, “We are made of star stuff.”

And Joni Mitchell also shared this sentiment in her hippie anthem, “Woodstock”.  She sang, “We are stardust…..billion year old carbon.”

So after dinner, while Jake and Joe went on about helium and hydrogen and fusion and……..blah blah blah…… I zoned out just a little bit.  This happens to me once in a while, especially when someone says the word “astrophysics” out loud.  You know how a hypnotist can make you think that you are a chicken, just by saying the word “chicken”?  Well when someone says the word “astrophysics,” I don’t think I am an astrophysicist…. instead, I think that I am a patient under general anesthesia..

Click on the photo to read  the latest news about supernovas from NASA.

So Joe, my sweet husband, who always wants to include me, did his best.  “You know, Lisa, you get that we are all made out of the collected dust of the cosmos.  And you know how you are always talking about upcycling?  Well, forget your thrift shops and your yard sales and making wind chimes out of old forks……”

“Cause if you want upcycling…..THIS IS UPCYCLING!!!”

Wow!……Joe was talking upcycling!

Maybe I will work harder to talk astrophysics next time.  Or maybe, instead, I will get started on a set of wind chimes made out of old forks.  Cause I don’t tolerate general anesthesia all that well.