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Phoenix666 writes:

Scientists are using computer models to answer what many believe is one of science's most puzzling questions: How did heavy metals like gold get to Earth?

There are two candidates, neither of which are located on Earth—a supernova, a massive star that, in its old age, collapsed and then catastrophically exploded under its own weight—or a neutron-star merger, in which two of these small yet incredibly massive stars come together and spew out huge amounts of stellar debris.

In a recently published paper in the journal Physical Review Letters , researchers detail how they are getting close to an answer.

"At this time, no one knows the answer," says Witold Nazarewicz, professor of physics at the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams at Michigan State University. "But this work will help guide future experiments and theoretical developments."

From the paper, "Impact of Nuclear Mass Uncertainties on the r Process."

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