Astrophysicist Dr. Neil DeGrasse Tyson was asked by a reader of TIME magazine, “What is the most astounding fact you can share with us about the Universe?” This is his answer:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9D05ej8u-gU&feature=player_embedded#!]
*
Joni Mitchell put it this way:
I came upon a child of god
He was walking along the road
And I asked him, where are you going
And this he told me
I’m going on down to yasgurs farm
I’m going to join in a rock n roll band
I’m going to camp out on the land
I’m going to try an’ get my soul free
We are stardust
We are golden
And we’ve got to get ourselves
Back to the garden
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aOGnVKWbwc]
It always impresses me that Joni got so much right.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgMEPk6fvpg
Amen!
The fact that we are made up of stuff that was literally manufactured inside a star that went supernova is one of the most enthralling facts about this universe, and one, truly, that allows me to feel connected to it. I once had the chance to teach astronomy to my students in the late ’80s and that insight was the punch line to my lesson plan.
Connectivity is one of the central ideas of Aboriginal culture. My students were Aboriginal. I suppose one of my purposes was to show through science how fundamentally correct this idea always was.