We value gold for many reasons: its beauty, its usefulness
as jewelry, and its rarity. Gold is rare on Earth in part because it's also
rare in the universe. Unlike elements like carbon or iron, it cannot be created
within a star. Instead, it must be born in a more cataclysmic event - like one
that occurred last month known as a short gamma-ray burst (GRB). Observations
of this GRB provide evidence that it resulted from the collision of two neutron
stars - the dead cores of stars that previously exploded as supernovae.
Moreover, a unique glow that persisted for days at the GRB location potentially
signifies the creation of substantial amounts of heavy elements - including
gold.