The Universe itself, through a variety of nuclear processes involving stars and stellar remnants, as well as other means, can naturally copiously produce nearly 100 elements of the periodic table. Neutron star mergers are known to produce the heaviest elements, such as gold, in great abundances, but the neutron star merger rate is too low, at present, to explain the observed abundances of gold and other similar elements today. (Credit: ESO/L. Calçada/M. Kornmesser)

Our best idea for the “origin of gold” doesn’t add up

In 2017, we detected gold being forged in a neutron star-neutron star merger. Now, in 2024, the amounts created simply don’t add up.

Here on Earth, as well as elsewhere throughout the Universe, a tremendous variety of naturally occurring elements can be found. More than 90 species of…