Carbon in Human Bodies Traced to Intergalactic Recycling System

New research reveals that carbon atoms essential to life journey through vast galactic currents before becoming part of stars, planets, and living organisms.

Scientists have discovered that carbon atoms in our bodies likely traveled up to 400,000 light-years through space as part of a galactic recycling process.
The study utilized the Hubble Space Telescope's Cosmic Origins Spectrograph to analyze how light from distant quasars was absorbed by the circumgalactic medium (CGM) of nearby galaxies.
The circumgalactic medium acts as a massive conveyor belt, ejecting star-forged elements like carbon into intergalactic space and drawing them back into galaxies to form new stars and planets.
Active star-forming galaxies were found to have significantly more carbon in their circumgalactic halos compared to galaxies that have ceased forming stars, highlighting a link between star formation and galactic recycling systems.
This research sheds light on the role of the CGM in galaxy evolution and suggests that the atoms in our bodies are cosmic travelers, having spent significant time outside the Milky Way before becoming part of Earth.