4 ms·
Not an expert, so someone who is (I'm sure we have several on HN, hopefully one will reach this point), please jump in... But life as we know it requires small
by reubenswartz 8y ago
Not an expert, so someone who is (I'm sure we have several on HN, hopefully one will reach this point), please jump in...
But life as we know it requires small but essential smatterings of "heavier" elements like potassium, iron, calcium, etc. Seems like we may need one or more cycles of stars forming and dispersing these elements into the interstellar medium to then form a solar system with enough of these elements to have life "as we know it." (Not to mention having a rocky planet for the life to live on.)
- ckarmann 8y agoStars that can produce elements up to iron and spread it through a supernova are massive and have relatively short lifespans of 10-30 million years. Since the Universe is 14 billion years old, we have had already more than a hundred generations of such stars before a 10-billion years-old planet has formed, so the necessary elements are probably there.
- reubenswartz 8y agoYet another reason I love HN. Thank you. ;-)