What a piece of work is a man! how noble in reason! how infinite in faculty! in form and moving how express and admirable! in action how like an angel! in apprehension how like a god! the beauty of the world! the paragon of animals! And yet, to me, what is this quintessence of dust? man delights not me: no, nor woman neither, though by your smiling you seem to say so. 

William Shakespeare, Hamlet. 

What indeed is this ‘quintessence of dust’ to which Shakespeare alludes?

As for dust, it is often said we are all made from stardust. Meteorites, such as those in the museum in Oxford, contain a remarkable ‘fingerprint’. The imprint of a time before our solar system was formed. These are grains of stardust you can look at under a microscope - micron-si...

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