The Tiny Star Explosions Powering Moore's Law

We are all made of star stuff, as astronomer Carl Sagan was fond of reminding us. Supernova explosions, the catastrophic self-destruction of certain types of worn-out stars, are intimately tied to life on Earth because they are the birthplaces of heavy elements across the universe. Most of the iron in our blood and the sulfur in our amino acids originated in stars that detonated billions of years ago. But we have encountered another, quite surprising connection between supernovas and the human world—specifically, a connection to the technology needed to make computer chips for the latest smartphones and other electronic devices. That connection emerged several years ago in a series of conversations between myself, Jayson Stewart, and my grandfather Rudolf Schultz. My grandfather was an avid amateur sky gazer who kept a large reflector telescope in the foyer of his home, right by the entrance, ready for rapid deployment. When I was in high school, he handed me a copy of Stephen Hawking ... Read full article.