Follow your curiosity

What discovery has been shared with you?

FACTREE gives you something interesting to discover every day — and something worth talking about together.

Start with one fact. Explore it, go deeper, then follow whichever branch catches your imagination.

Choose subjects for a surprise

Exploring any topic

Begin your discovery

Your next discovery is one click away.

Choose one or more subjects above, or leave Any Topic selected and let curiosity decide.

Astronomy

The Nucleosynthesis of Heavy Elements in Neutron Star Merger Kilonovae

Quick fact

In 2017, the merger of two neutron stars (event GW170817) produced a kilonova that alone forged more gold and platinum than the mass of the Earth, confirming a long-standing theory about the origin of heavy elements.

Why this is interesting

That gold ring on your finger? It might have been forged in a cosmic collision that happened billions of years ago. How can a catastrophic event create the heavy elements that surround us today?