WEBVTT FILE

1
00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.000
Beryllium is one of the many elements people mine and

2
00:00:04.000 --> 00:00:08.000
that's how we obtained it for NASA's James Webb Space Telescope.

3
00:00:08.000 --> 00:00:12.000
It exists in many rocks, just in tiny quantities. We collected

4
00:00:12.000 --> 00:00:16.000
We collected rocks with the highest amounts of beryllium, crushed them up, put them through many

5
00:00:16.000 --> 00:00:20.000
chemical processes and these rocks only have

6
00:00:20.000 --> 00:00:24.000
have 0.25 percent beryllium. To explain

7
00:00:24.000 --> 00:00:28.000
explain beryllium's strange beginnings, we need to talk about the cosmic

8
00:00:28.000 --> 00:00:32.000
origins or most elements. Where does beryllium

9
00:00:32.000 --> 00:00:36.000
really come from?

10
00:00:36.000 --> 00:00:40.000
When a star is forming it's mostly two elements: hydrogen

11
00:00:40.000 --> 00:00:44.000
and some helium. Over time, pressure and temperature builds in the core

12
00:00:44.000 --> 00:00:48.000
so much that some of the hydrogen atoms fuse, creating helium

13
00:00:48.000 --> 00:00:52.000
and officially bringing the star to life.

14
00:00:52.000 --> 00:00:56.000
That fusion creates a tremendous amount of energy, and it is literally

15
00:00:56.000 --> 00:01:00.000
what fuels the star and makes the light we see.

16
00:01:00.000 --> 00:01:04.000
The star will eventually run out of hydrogen. And the helium atoms

17
00:01:04.000 --> 00:01:08.000
will start to fuse, creating even larger atoms.

18
00:01:08.000 --> 00:01:12.000
That keeps happening and we get larger and larger elements.

19
00:01:12.000 --> 00:01:16.000
These new large elements are denser than the former hydrogen and helium.

20
00:01:16.000 --> 00:01:20.000
And they cause the star to contract and get

21
00:01:20.000 --> 00:01:24.000
even hotter. But it all stops with iron.

22
00:01:24.000 --> 00:01:28.000
There isn't enough energy to fuse something more substantial.

23
00:01:28.000 --> 00:01:32.000
Once there is too much iron in the star, which means that is no fuel, it dies

24
00:01:32.000 --> 00:01:36.000
But not without a dramatic exit!

25
00:01:36.000 --> 00:01:40.000
The core collapses under the pressure, and all the atoms knock into one another

26
00:01:40.000 --> 00:01:44.000
which cause a sort-of shockwave and it EXPLODES!

27
00:01:44.000 --> 00:01:48.000
Into a supernova!

28
00:01:48.000 --> 00:01:52.000
This is the energy needed to create

29
00:01:52.000 --> 00:01:56.000
heavier elements. This is when more than half the elements in the periodic table

30
00:01:56.000 --> 00:02:00.000
are made. But! Beryllium is not in that mix.

31
00:02:00.000 --> 00:02:04.000
Look where it is on the table. It has an atomic mass of 4.

32
00:02:04.000 --> 00:02:08.000
Much smaller than the heavy new elements.

33
00:02:08.000 --> 00:02:12.000
Why isn't beryllium made when all the other smaller elements were?

34
00:02:12.000 --> 00:02:16.000
It is just too unstable. If, during the chaos of the supernova

35
00:02:16.000 --> 00:02:20.000
a cosmic ray hits one of these newly formed larger elements

36
00:02:20.000 --> 00:02:24.000
a special reaction happens this is called cosmic ray spallation.

37
00:02:24.000 --> 00:02:28.000
This ray hits the molecule and it bursts into smaller particles.

38
00:02:28.000 --> 00:02:32.000
The pieces can continue splitting into smaller parts

39
00:02:32.000 --> 00:02:36.000
some of which turn into beryllium.

40
00:02:36.000 --> 00:02:40.000
It takes a supernova and a cosmic ray

41
00:02:40.000 --> 00:02:44.000
to reduce a large element into what could be

42
00:02:44.000 --> 00:02:48.000
a variety of combinations of sizes to create beryllium.

43
00:02:48.000 --> 00:02:54.100
No wonder why it's so rare!

44
00:02:54.100 --> 00:02:54.101
music