49 Comments

Really late in commenting (my inbox has been out of control for two weeks, it seems) but I really enjoyed this post. Astronomy is something I don't know much about, but I love chemistry and so it was fascinating connecting that to the processes within stars.

Expand full comment

Thanks Melanie! Stars are the perfect laboratory. I've loved chemistry for more than forty years. It is not a complete story, but a wonderful way to explain the world we live in. I briefly make the point in the post but the coolest thing is there is no reason to believe our chemistry doesn't work the same way everywhere in the Universe. I came very close to naming the post Iron just being Iron. As for astronomy. I am an amateur but love to take guidance from the pros. The night sky continues to be the most beautiful thing to my eye. While I am an amateur, I have written a number of posts about astronomy. You might enjoy "I See" or "JWST" or "HD-84406". Most of them should be under https://markdolan.substack.com/t/science -- We are blessed with good viewing of the Aurora Borealis. Are you far enough south to witness the Aurora Australis?

Expand full comment

You're right, that is a very cool point. Another piece of evidence for nature's amazing economy (kind of like making so many different things out of keratin).

Technically, I am far enough south, as the Aurora Australis has been seen from Wellington's south coast. Unfortunately for my aurora viewing, my house faces north-east and I can't easily see south or get to where I can see the southern horizon. I do hope to see it one day.

Expand full comment

I am captivated by the Auroras. It would be wonderful to see the Southern version one day. So sorry for the delay in responding. Your reference to keratin made me smile :) The Twin Cities are unusual as we are a metropolis of over 3M people. Most large land-grant Universities in the US are in smaller cities or towns. The phrase University or College towns comes to mind. The University of Minnesota is a cultural treasure for the Cities and is actually located on both banks of the Mississippi River. There are facilities scattered all over. One of my favorites is the Bell Museum which is an astronomy treasure. They host an Observation Deck on the roof. It is a great place to learn about astronomy. https://www.bellmuseum.umn.edu/ The University of Minnesota is home for over 50,000 students. It has quite an impact shaping what the great Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul are like.

Expand full comment

Very late to the party -- which looks like it's been a blast -- on this one, but I wanted to be able to read this post without squeezing it in between a hundred other things. Astronomy is something I love reading about! And you brought iron and supernovae to life in ways I haven't read before. Thank you. Wonderful post, and fun to read! Everything IS amazing ;)

Expand full comment

I always appreciate it when you take the time to read. I enjoy your perspective. I love how a commitment to stacking one discovery atop the last for now almost 500 years has brought us to surprisingly specific insights into how the world works. A while back I researched how the atmosphere came to be. Once photosynthesis became a thing, we had a suctioning of all the CO2 into O2. However, it seems it took almost 1B years of plants doing what they do before the atmosphere began to blossom. The reason? There was a bunch of FREE IRON on the bottom of the ocean. It wasn't until all that new oxygen satisfied the IRON desire for some oxygen did it start drifting upward and the making of a stable atmosphere!!! Another unexpected IRON story. None of these stories are hard to believe -- rather they are simple and elegant. Nature is like that most of the time.

Expand full comment

That really is amazing! It’s so interesting to learn the details of these kinds of processes. Who knew iron had so much to do with the existence of life on this planet?

Expand full comment

We've built a large part of modern living around Iron and Nickel. They are the most likely of the expelled complex stuff from supernovas. It is cool that the center of our planet just happens to be iron and nickel -- surprise, surprise! While others might not react the same way, the wonder of it all to me is these materials will behave the same way anywhere in the universe. Maybe we are alone. If we are not, I would imagine others have made steel just like us :)

Expand full comment

It is very cool to think about!

Expand full comment

I will not be surprised if we come to discover that liquid metal core planets are conducive to life if there is water. There's just so much crap flying around in space, without a protective field way too much stuff hits you like the Moon. Way back when I wrote Mass Extinction, I was struck by how amazing and diverse life was on Earth and one asteroid upset the apple cart. Paved the way for us and the Jurassic Park movies. https://markdolan.substack.com/mass-extinction

Expand full comment

Those asteroids ...

Very cool thought on Liquid Metal core planets. (Is that the name of a band? Autocorrect insisted on capitalizing it and I left it because now I'm curious!)

Expand full comment

so great and the video at end!!! my Dad was a coach and teacher couldnt dance worth a shit but yes the good ones like your friend are a credit to this planet msde possible by of all things and who knew!!!!??? IRON!!! (a kewl fact i will cherish...now tho i want you to describe Black Holes, im NEVER satisfied just ask anne ha)

Expand full comment

First of all, each time I see your title about bacon when I am on Substack I love it! My friend Dave retired in June. He taught at the neighborhood school the kids attended. My kids just knew him as a cool neighborhood Dad. The school disabled the comments on his video but somewhere in the comments I added new Youtubes he resent some of them. Drop him a comment I am sure it would be a blast. He even had a 3rd grade lesson plan about supernovas for the kids to do. He is a blast. We have a common love of the Cafe. Anne makes me smile every Monday. When I write these kind of things my goal is to talk about weird stuff that people want us to believe are complex but they are simple!!! Black holes are cool and believe it or not I have something sitting in my draft folder I don't quite know how to finish. Finally, thanks for commenting. I enjoy the comments more than the writing.

Expand full comment

Mark I agree this was one of your best posts and maybe THE best! It was a delight and I am so happy to sort of understand now at a basic level what fission is and what fusion is and what a supernova is and what is the deal with planet earth!

Your sense of wonder and appreciation also came through especially in this post.

Expand full comment

BTW Anne -- I use a grammar assistant. With each post it lends a sense of the tone. I am always happy when it thinks my tone was wonder and appreciation. It is what I aim and hope for.

Expand full comment

Thank you Anne. Your comment means a lot to me since you've been such a supportive reader. I know there have been a lot of stinkers. I think there are lots of problems in this world because people convince themselves that something they know a bit about is too hard to explain to others. I kinda believe most things do reduce to easy to understand if we are patient. A great example would be meditation. I think people are afraid of it (I was when I first tried). I think if you keep asking the right people, the mystery can melt away and comfort replaces the mystery. I hope you watched the video of my friend, the 3rd grade teacher. It is a hoot.

Expand full comment

Really enjoyed this post, Mark! Thank you for explaining a topic that I ordinarily wouldn’t be interested in with clarity and a true sense of wonder. That’s what good teachers do.

Expand full comment

What a kind comment C.L. I am glad you stuck with it. Even though I enjoy science and tech, I have always thought a fun explanation is usually a big gap and often missing. Probably unnecessary and can turn people off. I am sure there are some people who see a picture of a supernova and close the post. My friend, the retired 3rd grade teacher, whose video I shared, was wonderful at reaching children. He told me of a demonstration he did for the kids around magnetism. He drops a dollar bill into a blender and shreds it. Then, with a powerful magnet they pick up the pieces of the bills where the ink on the linen contains some iron. Kinda cool

Expand full comment

One of your best posts.

Expand full comment

Thanks John. I enjoyed piecing it together as much as any I've ever done. I have an unfinished post about pyramids in the works. My favorites are the upside down pyramids in Western China. I think it is crazy cool that so many disparate cultures couldn't resist the pyramid structure. Thanks so much for sharing the good and the bad. I appreciate it!

Expand full comment

Once again, I take exception to your statement that China was the only civilization documenting astronomical events in 1054.

Expand full comment

You are certainly correct John. The Islamic Golden Age was certainly well developed also. The Chinese left more records of the details than all other civilizations combined -- perhaps because they were not 100% colonized by the Europeans. In Europe, the segregation of knowledge and illiteracy had most accepting that Saturn was 7th heaven -- utterly ridiculous in the context of other civilizations. I think the societies (western China) and other regions of Asia as well as the Egyptians and Central American Indians also were building pyramids so they were certainly paying attention. It is a strange consequence, mostly of European colonialism that records or attributions of other culture having "high culture" was largely destroyed as part of the conquest doctrine. I think I will add another footnote for accuracy -- THANK YOU as always. I have shared many times but I value your input above almost all else because you are willing to be critical. I am doomed to repeat errors without voices like yours. Thanks.

Expand full comment

Oh those pandemic lockdown days! That video is an absolute gem--what an incredible teacher he must have been. A moment in time. And the rest of the post ain't bad, either my friend. You have a knack for explaining things clearly.

Expand full comment

You are so kind Charlotte! Elsewhere in the comments I provided the live link of my old neighbor's videos. When he retired from teaching, the school accounts continue to be live but do not accept comments. Dave (you can find him in the comments) posts occasionally and they are always a joy. He was one of my first subscribers when I discouraged the idea altogether. I would imagine he was as good of a 3rd grade teacher as you might imagine. I read a story many years ago that explained so simply why iron ends up at the core of planets like ours. I love it when something that seems a mystery just turns out to be what nature does. While it would take too long for the average reader, the footnotes in today's post are excellent. The video about supernovas is a great journey with a glass of wine.

Expand full comment

I tend to get impatient with videos because I read quickly, but watching supernovas with a glass of wine sounds perfect.

Expand full comment

I have a friend I made in a climate awareness program I attended. She is wonderfully exuberant and has a passion to share her message. She has a Podcast. She is originally from the UK and now resides in NZ. As best described in Seinfeld she might be a fast-talker. When I play her Podcast at 1.5 speed (presumably what the impaient do :)) I feel my head might explode. I watched the video in question while getting my steps on the treadmill. It was fantastic (at regular speed). The key might be the wine I suppose.

Expand full comment

And I'll have to try speeding it up! As long as I don't speed up my wine consumption, too.

Expand full comment

So sorry I missed responding here Charlotte. I am glad wine never became the sort of beverage that people decided it would be fun to drink fast. Seems a monumental waste.

Expand full comment

This is my favorite post too! Wonderful info and explained so a kid can understand. (I’m the kid.) We are all stardust. We all come from the same place. We are all connected. Love the video. ❤️ Have to see Oppenheimer but I need to investigate the falsehoods. I heard there were a few. Congrats on this wonderful post.

Expand full comment

Thanks CK! Perhaps a side-conversation is in order. I am pretty familiar with many aspects of the story through reading, classroom, travel & experience. Thanks for your kind review. The movie was incredibly long. My favorite aspect was the mere ten seconds snippets that conveyed critical knowledge. It is VERY HARD to tell a story that spans 25 years with perhaps 10 Nobelists without glossing or getting some things wrong (or omitting altogether). I strongly recommend the book "The Girls of Atomic City" for another side of this story. If you have the time, revisit the video referenced in the comments and comment. My old neighbor would appreciate.

Expand full comment

For the crowd that scours the comments, one of the inspirations for the post (and certainly the video at the end) is my former neighbor. I would imagine a 3rd grade teacher like him would be a pretty fine result.

Here is the video from the end of the post available for comment and likes https://youtu.be/KTmHzc8HuCQ

Dave was also kind enough to share a video from an interactive lesson plan about supernovas for 3rd graders. This sort of thing is the reason I don't worry about the children of flyover country being ready to engage in the future.

"And this short clip is from a 3rd grade supernova lesson (this is the demo video) we called "Playground Supernova." The kids get to try it with their own set of three balls up on the playground. Equal parts hilarious pandemonium, sudden and amazing success (when they finally get it to work) and science."

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/-Nder1H4bzA

Expand full comment

Thank you for the kind words, Mark on the video. Perhaps it serves as an apt metaphor of "fusion." The amount of energy released from this group of students fusing together is so much greater.

Iron. I love this topic, Mark. I know it is a little obvious to say that "iron flows through my veins," but from the turn of the 20th century, my relatives have worked the mines along the Iron Range in northern Minnesota right up through the 1970's. The Iron Range remains a cultural touchstone for our family.

Teaching Minnesota history to my elementary school students, I would point to a ferocious (ferrous??) looking World War II battleship sailing across the Pacific and say that is literally a part of Minnesota leading the allies to victory. Teaching the science of magnets and electricity, my students were amazed when we tossed a dollar bill in a blender and pulled out the iron filings in the ink with a powerful magnet – and then absolutely stunned when we pulled the iron out of fortified breakfast cereal.

To turn it back to the topic of your post, in Astronomy I did my best to impress upon those students of the deep cosmic connection we have to everyone on the planet, people like us and people very different from us – no matter how we dance, we are all made of the same star stuff. And for those students willing to take the next step, the tree outside our window, that mountain, that ocean, looking up at that moon hanging there in the sky, those crickets chirping on a summer night – and below your feet, this planet Earth and its core of iron, we are all connected. We are all star stuff.

(Current home for the "Star Stuff" video: https://youtu.be/KTmHzc8HuCQ)

Expand full comment

Thank you for the video, it was beautiful, wonderful, inspiring, and FUN! Your students must have had a blast learning from you. 😊

Expand full comment

Dave -- your comment here is why I took up the hobby of writing. When our eyes are open we cannot help but be inspired. For anyone else out there we lived across the street from each other. Read Dave's comment and you will become positive rather than negative about the future. The "right" teacher changes everything. Please Dave, paste in your "other" source to the video as someone in the comments has already wanted to LIKE and COMMENT. If I believed that good taste is predictable, I would think there may be some who take the time to share their likes.

When I was a kid my Dad worked at a massive steel plant on the shores of Lake Erie. It was part of the arsenal of democracy. Dad traveled a bit for work and made it to Northern Minnesota. I remember those little rust-colored balls of taconite he would bring home from work and he told me the story of the Mesabi range. When I was in elementary school, thanks to the samples of ores and metals he brought home, I made a periodic table for a science fair with real examples glued to the board. I got points deducted because of the bottle of mercury which was probably too dangerous for a 6th grader to be playing with.

I think when people choose their paths (hopefully their passions) they often shy away from science. It is unfortunate because it is connected to beauty in so many ways. Your writing makes the author blush. For the audience out there who actually reads the comments, I still need to get Dave back his copy of Contact by Carl Sagan.

Expand full comment

I loved this post too--I always learn so much from your writing and this post is no exception! Thanks for holding our hands through this one (I say this as someone who loves science but doesn't know as much as I'd like about it).

Expand full comment

Thanks for taking the time to comment Jillian. You are very kind. I cannot resist stories that have some complexity behind them but in the end are simple explanations of what the results are. I did a post a while ago. I am not sure of the title. It was about once photosynthesis started. Even though oxygen was being made there was no significant atmosphere. All of the oxygen was getting sucked into the ocean. All of the iron on the ocean bottom absorbed the oxygen, probably for nearly 1B years. It was only after the iron "couldn't eat any more oxygen" that our atmosphere began to blossom. All of these elements just do what they do and it is beautiful what the results are.

Expand full comment

Everything is made of star dust.... wonderful post! And your friend's infectiously cheerful video was a great way to start my morning - his students must love him! Unfortunately, while I was able to "like" it on YouTube, comments had been turned off, so there was no way to let him know how awesome I think it is... if you're still in touch, please pass along my compliments! Thank you again for a nice jumpstart for the week. 😊

Expand full comment

My friend just retired and the original video was posted on a school account. He has since reposted it on his account. I will forward the details on this thread later. I am so glad this post started your week nice.

Expand full comment

I reposted the live site for the video in a separate comment. There is also a fun video about supernovas for 3rd graders.

Expand full comment

Mark, No pressure saying this is your favorite post yet! 'Twas an excellent post and noteworthy collection of ideas that come together at a perfect time in July 2023 with great interest in the periodic table and hit movie Oppenheimer. I don't recall what happened in 1054 but I do recall a 1969 song Woodstock by Joni Mitchell that made Me think about this for the first time : " We are stardust, We are golden, We are billion year old carbon..."

Expand full comment

Could not resist linking here since I have found myself listening to this today (Joni Mitchell version) on any account. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRjQCvfcXn0 -- FWIW on my Substack homepage I have links to EVERY SONG I EVER LINKED as well as the songs that almost made it to a link but merely were part of my listening experience. Here is the CSNY version if you prefer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKdsRWhyH30 -- there are both available at myMusic on my HomePage. For the bystanders, the name of the song is Woodstock. I may even append the songs available in the post -- I think they belong!

Expand full comment

Oh Paul -- Joni Mitchell sitting so comfortably at the piano was some of the music I listened to as I explored this post! Sometimes I post many songs with a single post and your Joni Mitchell ended up on the cutting room floor. I'm glad you enjoyed the post. Thanks as always for reading and commenting.

Expand full comment