“The cosmos was originally all hydrogen and helium. Heavier elements were made in red giants and supernovas and then blown off to space, where they were available for subsequent generations of stars and planets. Our sun is probably a 3rd generation star. Except for hydrogen and helium, every atom in the sun and the Earth was synthesed in other stars. The silicon in the rocks, the oxygen in the air, the carbon in our DNA, the gold in our banks, the uranium in our arsenals, were all made thousands of light-years away and billions of years ago. Our planet, our society and we ourselves are built of star stuff…” CARL SAGAN (COSMOS)