Enrico Ramirez-Ruiz: Your body was forged in the spectacular death of stars
Enrico Ramirez-Ruiz: Nuestro cuerpo fraguado a partir de la muerte de estrellas
Looking not at the heavens but at computer models, Enrico Ramirez-Ruiz studies some of the most powerful explosions since the birth of the universe. Full bio
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the cosmic history
la historia cósmica
of modern astronomy
de la astronomía moderna
were actually put together.
se formaron nuestros átomos.
y el helio se formaron
of the big bang,
de la gran explosión,
the oxygen we're breathing,
el oxígeno que respiramos
and transform them into heavier ones,
en pesados los elementos más livianos,
with these heavy elements.
con estos elementos pesados.
heavier than hydrogen and helium,
que el hidrógeno y el helio,
that manufactured them in their interiors
que los fabricaron en su interior
all across the Milky Way,
a lo largo de toda la Vía Láctea,
stellar mortician.
un forense de las estrellas.
that starts in a supernova explosion
con la explosión de una supernova
that we're breathing right now.
estamos respirando ahora mismo.
consists of only four elements:
of this cosmic tale is oxygen.
de esta historia cósmica es el oxígeno.
of our bodies made of oxygen,
está hecha de oxígeno,
fighting to protect life on earth.
para proteger la vida en la Tierra.
in the universe
que se halla en el universo
over the entire history of the universe
durante toda la historia del universo,
signal the demise of very massive stars.
la muerte de las estrellas masivas.
can be brighter than an entire galaxy
más brillante que toda una galaxia
de millones de estrellas.
burn brighter
arden con más brillo
compared to other stars.
en comparación con otras estrellas.
the lifeblood of all stars,
de todas las estrellas,
of all the energy on earth.
de toda la energía en la Tierra.
as these fusion factories
como fábricas de fusión
by smashing atoms together
haciendo chocar átomos entre sí
eight times the mass of the sun
ocho veces superiores a la del Sol,
their helium in their cores.
el helio de su núcleo.
is left with a carbon core,
un núcleo de carbono
is the building block of life.
es el componente básico de la vida.
continúa desmoronándose
the temperature increases,
aumenta la temperatura,
nuclear reactions to take place,
nuevas reacciones nucleares,
bound nuclei in the universe,
más denso del universo,
extract energy by burning iron.
obtener energía de quemar hierro.
of the massive star is made of iron,
de la estrella masiva es de hierro,
bad day for a star.
para una estrella.
ha ganado la batalla.
but to collapse,
otra opción que desmoronarse,
the size of a sugar cube.
de un terrón de azúcar.
the core actually resists collapse,
el núcleo resiste el colapso
bounces off the core.
rebota fuera del núcleo.
of a second or so,
en una fracción de segundo,
the rest of the star in all directions,
direcciones del resto de la estrella,
una explosión de supernova.
of an astrophysicist,
desde la perspectiva de un astrofísico,
of these exploding stars
de estas estrellas que explotan
we're not able to do that.
no podemos hacerlo.
computer simulations
simulaciones de computadora
these complex phenomena.
este complejo fenómeno.
to really understand how gas behaves
para entender cómo se comporta el gas
fundamental questions
the massive star?"
a la estrella masiva?"
can be reversed into an explosion?"
se puede revertir en una explosión?"
of debate in the field,
en que los neutrinos,
elementary particles,
partículas elementales,
one of those simulations.
once the core collapses.
neutrinos en grandes cantidades.
the energy in this core.
la energía al núcleo.
energía en el núcleo,
of disrupting the star.
de perturbar a la estrella.
that a shock wave is produced
como para producir una onda expansiva,
goes and disrupts the entire star.
where elements are produced.
se producen los elementos.
than the sun will in its entire lifetime.
durante toda su vida.
where the massive star has died.
en la que murió la estrella masiva.
once every 50 years,
aproximadamente cada 50 años,
in the universe,
en alguna parte del universo
every second or so.
de supernova cada segundo.
relatively close to earth.
relativamente cercanas a la Tierra.
recorded these supernova explosions
estas explosiones de supernova
se inventara el telescopio.
that gave rise to the Crab Nebula.
que originó la nebulosa del Cangrejo.
recorded this supernova in 1054,
registraron esta supernova en 1054,
Native Americans.
los nativos americanos.
about 5,600 light-years away from earth.
a unos 5600 años luz de la Tierra.
during the day.
la podían ver durante el día.
for about two years in the night sky.
a simple vista en el cielo nocturno.
and what do we see?
¿qué es lo que vemos?
that were blasted by the explosion,
esparcidos por la explosión,
de 480 km por segundo.
for us to understand
para que podamos entender
by the Hubble Space Telescope
espacial Hubble
to astronomers
the chemical legacy
are the tattered remains of the star,
son los restos destruidos de la estrella,
principalmente de hidrógeno,
filaments that you see
like the Crab Nebula,
como la nebulosa del Cangrejo
concluyeran firmemente
was produced by supernova explosions
las explosiones de supernova
all the atoms of oxygen in our body,
de oxígeno de nuestro cuerpo,
of a 100 million supernova.
de supernovas.
or at least the majority of it,
o al menos la gran mayoría,
supernova explosions.
de supernova.
extreme conditions
en esas condiciones tan extremas
the thought experiment.
este ejercicio mental.
and a supernova happens.
y ocurre una supernova.
de átomos de oxígeno
to be assembled in a cloud.
reunirse en una nube.
and caused it to collapse,
y causó que colapsara,
and the solar system.
y el sistema solar.
y la vida en la Tierra
and stellar rebirth.
y el renacimiento estelar.
of atoms in the universe.
de los átomos en el universo.
and chemistry are intimately connected.
y la química están íntimamente conectadas.
to inhale the waste products of plants.
que ha evolucionado
de desecho de las plantas.
of supernova explosions.
los productos de desecho
has just gone into your body.
recién ha entrado en su cuerpo.
in the interior of a star
dentro de una estrella
by a supernova explosion.
por una explosión de supernova.
the entire solar system
por todo el sistema solar
of oxygen every day.
cientos de litros de oxígeno.
in front of this beautiful audience,
frente a este hermoso público,
your oxygen atoms.
sus átomos de oxígeno.
that once resided in me.
que alguna vez residieron en mí.
beautiful exchange of atoms.
intercambio de átomos.
once belonged to Frida Kahlo?"
pertenecieron a Frida Kahlo?"
belonged to Marie Curie,
pertenecieron a Marie Curie,
with cosmic history,
los pulmones con historia cósmica,
by sharing a myth
compartiendo un mito
Mesoamerican culture.
muy poderosa.
was assembled in the heavens.
se formó en los cielos.
into tons of different pieces.
de diferentes pedacitos.
te sientes incompleto
opportunity of growth.
increíble de crecer.
were scattered on earth
fueron esparcidos sobre la Tierra
en otras personas.
you will become more complete.
te vuelves más completo.
that have these huge pieces
que tienen pedazos enormes
every single one of those pieces."
cada uno de esos pedacitos".
of oxygen to me.
la historia del oxígeno,
in a supernova explosion,
con una explosión de supernova,
have embarked on an epic odyssey,
se han embarcado en una odisea épica,
to mere centuries,
de millones de años hasta solo siglos,
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Enrico Ramirez-Ruiz - Astrophyscist, stellar morticianLooking not at the heavens but at computer models, Enrico Ramirez-Ruiz studies some of the most powerful explosions since the birth of the universe.
Why you should listen
Enrico Ramirez-Ruiz is eager to understand our origins and, in some cases, is simply wild about things that go bang in the night sky. He works with computer models to understand the cataclysmic death of stars and recently led efforts to uncover the origin of the heaviest, most neutron-rich elements in the universe, like gold and uranium. Ramirez-Ruiz tests out his theories with complex computer simulations that defy the boundaries of human experience and the assumptions we make about the universe.
Ramirez-Ruiz was born in Mexico, studied physics at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, and pursued his PhD at Cambridge University. He was the John Bahcall Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton before joining the faculty at UCSC, where he is a professor of astrophysics and astronomy. He has received awards from the American Physical Society, the American Astronomical Society, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, Mexcian Academy of Sciences and the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University, and he is the Niels Bohr Professor at the University of Copenhagen, funded by the Danish National Research Foundation. Ramirez-Ruiz is the inaugural holder of the Vera Rubin Presidential Chair for Diversity in Astronomy, which was in part funded by the Heising-Simons Foundation.
Enrico Ramirez-Ruiz | Speaker | TED.com