You’re Made of Stardust—Literally

Only three elements, hydrogen, helium and lithium, were made in the Big Bang. Nearly every other atom in your body was forged inside stars, including the carbon in your cells and the oxygen you breathe. Elements like carbon, oxygen and iron were created in nuclear fusion reactions at the cores of ancient stars. When those stars exploded as supernovae, they scattered these elements into space, where they later formed new stars, planets and eventually you. In a way, we are all walking remnants of dead stars.