Green Ethereals, Part 3

bodies — carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, calcium, iron, and so on — were originally formed in the cores of stars or during supernova explosions. These stellar processes fuse simpler elements (like hydrogen and helium) into heavier elements, which are then ejected into space when stars die. Over billions of years, this material becomes part of gas clouds that form new stars, planets, and eventually living organisms.

So, the oxygen you breathe, the calcium in your bones, and the iron in your blood were literally formed in ancient stars. This is why Carl Sagan famously said, “We are made of star stuff.”

It’s poetic, but also scientifically accurate in terms of elemental origins.Every carbon atom in your body has a history: forged in a star, released into space, incorporated into planets, and finally into living cells. That’s why scientists say we’re made of “stardust” — literally, the atoms in our bodies were once part of ancient stars. In Chinese landscape painting, artists sought to represent not only the visual appearance of nature, but the underlying energy, flow and connection between humans and nature, often inspired by Daoist or Buddhist thought. subsites.chinadaily.com.cn+1

1. As one source puts it: the artist should “capture the rhythm and energy of nature … turning mountains, rivers, wind, and clouds into dynamic lines and colours.”