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Gold is an element, which means you can't make it through ordinary chemical reactions — though alchemists tried for centuries. To make the sparkly metal, you have to bind 79 protons and 118 neutrons together to form a single atomic nucleus. That's an intense nuclear fusion reaction. But such intense fusion doesn't happen frequently enough, at least not nearby, to make the giant trove of gold we find on Earth and elsewhere in the solar system. And a new study has found the most commonly-theorized origin of gold — collisions between neutron stars — can't explain gold's abundance either. So...

When humanity finally detected the collision between two neutron stars in 2017, we confirmed a long-held theory - in the energetic fires of these incredible explosions, elements heavier than iron are forged. And so, we thought we had an answer to the question of how these elements - including gold - propagated throughout the Universe. But a new analysis has revealed a problem. According to new galactic chemical evolution models, neutron star collisions don't even come close to producing the abundances of heavy elements found in the Milky Way galaxy today. "Neutron star mergers did not produce enough heavy elements...

video of live performance

An NCIS music video for Tony. Dan Fogelberg's "Part of the Plan." From the days when NCIS was still fun to watch.

Dan Fogelberg "NETHER LANDS" Released May 1977. Nether Lands is my favorite Dan Fogelberg Album. I love how each song flows into the next song. If you like this album or artist, please let me know and leave a comment below. Thanks for listening. Hope you enjoyed. Track Listing Below: Track Listing 01. Nether Lands 02. Once Upon A Time 5:35 03. Dancing Shoes 9:19 04. Lessons Learned 12:50 05. Loose Ends 17:46 06. Love Gone By 23:10 07. Promises Made 26:20 08. Give Me Some Time 29:42 09. Scarecrow's Dream 33:09 10. Sketches 37:30 11. False Faces 41:06

And the loser is ... James Taylor? Sure to raise the ire of Sweet Baby James fans everywhere, Blender magazine has placed the sensitive folk-rocker atop its list of the 25 biggest wusses ever. The roster in the August issue (on newsstands Tuesday) accuses Taylor of initiating "an era of confessional, listen-to-my-troubles singer/songwriters and turn(ing) self-examination into a hallmark of the baby-boom generation." Who else deserves wedgies? Nick Lachey, at No. 2, for a post-divorce disc that "wallows in so much misery and self-pity it makes Morrissey sound like the Pussycat Dolls." Next are Dan Fogelberg, Boyz II Men, Peter...

Conventional wisdom would tell you that Jennifer Daniels was born a few decades too late. Nevermind the endless comparisons to neo-folk sirens like Sarah McLachlan, Tracy Chapman and Jewel, this Chattanooga-based singer/songwriter carries with her a demeanor that seems a bit antiquated in today's top 40. Daniels, along with her husband/guitarist/writing partner Jeff Neal is in person much like the music (according to her Web site, dubbed "alternative folk") she has been performing for the last decade: honest, direct, polite and disarmingly warm. It's a manner she learned early on. A native of Lookout Mountain, a suburb of Chattanooga, she...

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) officials said Wednesday that western Colorado has upwards of 40 times more natural gas than previously believed, making it the second largest natural gas producing formation in the U.S. The Mancos Shale formation in Colorado’s Piceance Basin, located in the western section of Colorado, nestles nearly 70 trillion (66.3 trillion) cubic feet of gas. This marks a massive uptick from the 1.6 trillion cubic feet estimated in 2003, research shows. A trillion cubic feet of natural gas, according to the U.S. Energy Department, is enough to heat 15 million homes for a year — 66. 3...

Explanation: All of the other aurora watchers had gone home. By 3:30 am in Iceland, on a quiet night last September, much of that night's auroras had died down. Suddenly though, a new burst of particles streamed down from space, lighting up the Earth's atmosphere once again. This time, unexpectedly, pareidoliacally, they created an amazing shape reminiscent of a giant phoenix. With camera equipment at the ready, two quick sky images were taken, followed immediately by a third of the land. The mountain in the background is Helgafell, while the small foreground river is called Kaldá, both located about 30...

Explanation: Where did the gold in your jewelry originate? No one is completely sure. The relative average abundance in our Solar System appears higher than can be made in the early universe, in stars, and even in typical supernova explosions. Some astronomers have recently suggested that neutron-rich heavy elements such as gold might be most easily made in rare neutron-rich explosions such as the collision of neutron stars. Pictured above is an artist's illustration depicting two neutron stars spiraling in toward each other, just before they collide. Since neutron star collisions are also suggested as the origin of short duration...

Singer-songwriter Dan Fogelberg, famed for the soaring vocals and elegant instrumentation of tunes such as "Longer" and "A Love Like This," died on Sunday, three years after being diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer. He was 56.

Dear friends, Dan left us this morning at 6:00am . He fought a brave battle with cancer and died peacefully at home in Maine with his wife Jean at his side. His strength, dignity and grace in the face of the daunting challenges of this disease were an inspiration to all who knew him.

Colo. folk-rock great Fogelberg diagnosed with prostate cancer By Ricardo Baca Denver Post Pop Music Critic Friday, August 20, 2004 - Dan Fogelberg, one of Colorado's most prominent folk-rock residents, has been diagnosed with prostate cancer, according to wire service reports. Fogelberg recently canceled a 16-city acoustic tour on the East Coast, but the seriousness of his illness was in dispute Thursday. A message from the singer on his website said, "The reports of my demise have been greatly exaggerated." That statement followed an earlier comment from his mother, Margaret Fogelberg, who told the Journal-Star in Peoria, Ill., where Fogelberg...