Immediately after the Big Bang, before the first stars in the Universe ever formed, the Universe consisted of hydrogen (element #1), helium (element #2) and pretty much nothing else. Despite ...

A new study suggests rare earth elements form in magma above ancient subduction zones, as that magma reacts with substances ...

Our Sun is the greatest source of heat and light in the entire Solar System, fusing hydrogen into helium in a nuclear chain reaction in its core. Because an atomic nucleus of helium is 0.7% lighter ...

The story of the fifteenth element began in Hamburg, in 1669. The unsuccessful glassblower and alchemist Hennig Brandt was trying to find the philosopher’s stone, a mythical substance that could turn ...

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Are we made of stars? This video segment adapted from NOVA features scientists studying light emissions from exploding stars, called supernovas. Their observations and analyses can tell us the origin ...

For starters, elements 114 and 116 don't occur in nature. So don't look for them in your backyard. That's because they were made in a lab. Which may seem like cheating, but that's how it's done these ...

For now, they're known by working names, like ununseptium and ununtrium — two of the four new chemical elements whose discovery has been officially verified. The elements with atomic numbers 113, 115, ...