Explore the deep space origins of the stuff that makes up our universe as Nucleus Factory goes into the heart of a supernova explosion, and inside the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory at Michigan State University.
Narrated by Academy Award® -winner Linda Hunt, the program follows a team of scientists as they create for the first time on earth exotic nuclei that exist in nature only when a star explodes.

The Science of Nucleus Factory
How the elements themselves came to be is a mystery to most people. Ask anyone – scientists included – where neutrons and protons came together to form the variety of atoms that make up our universe, and few can give an answer that is even close.

When an ancient star ends its life in a spectacular supernova explosion, thousands of different kinds of nuclei are created, in enormous quantities. The exploding star is a nucleus factory – a mass-producer of elements that form new stars, asteroids, comets – and planets like ours.

When it comes to gaining a fundamental understanding of our world, research into how the elements themselves are formed ranks with images of the oldest and deepest parts of the universe from the Hubble space telescope, or human genome mapping.

A Glimpse of the Future
The U.S. Department of Energy is in the process of making a major decision on a billon-dollar project to construct a Rare Isotope Accelerator (RIA). Michigan State University is on very short list of potential sites for RIA. The nuclear science research facility will be funded by the Department of Energy, and a team of MSU physicists is nearing completion of the design of a vital part of the project.

Walter Benenson is a nuclear physicist at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory, and co-producer of Nucleus Factory with WKAR’s Bill Richards. “The science depicted in Nucleus Factory is the same kind of science that will happen at the new RIA lab – there will just be more of it and better with RIA,” says Benenson.

Building the RIA at MSU would create approximately 1,600 jobs in the Lansing area, including 800 construction jobs, which could begin as soon as 2006. Other jobs would include those for scientists, engineers, technicians, and support staff.

Biographies and Additional Information

Linda Hunt
Narrator Linda Hunt received her Academy Award for her performance in "The Year of Living Dangerously." Television viewers may know her as Judge Zoey Hiller, a recurring role on ABC's "The Practice." She was the voice of 'Grandmother Willow' in the Disney animated feature, "Pocahontas." Other film credits include Robert Altman's "Popeye," "The Relic," "Kindergarten Cop," "She-Devil," "Waiting for the Moon," "Silverado", "Eleni," "The Bostonians" and David Lynch's "Dune."

Researchers
Paul Hosmer, of Jackson, Michigan, is the lead investigator for Experiment 1024, studying beta decay as he works toward a doctoral degree in nuclear astrophysics. Team member Michelle Ouellette comes to MSU from Milford, Michigan. Her doctoral research focuses on what happens inside a neutron star. Fernando Montes came to study at the national lab from Bogota, Colombia. Like Paul, Fernando focuses his studies on beta decay. The three are members of a research team headed by Nuclear Astrophysicist Hendrik Schatz

Soundtrack
Original music for Nucleus Factory was scored by Ron Newman, a professor of music at Michigan State University. Stereo surround sound design and mixing was performed by Gary Reid, senior specialist in audio production in the Telecommunication Department at MSU.

3-D Animation
Viewers of Nucleus Factory get a look inside the heart of an exploding star, and tour the inner workings of a coupled cyclotron particle accelerator, thanks to the 3-D animation work of the M.I.N.D. [Media Interface Networking and Design] Labs at Michigan State University. Joe Berger, Chris Bray and Eric Maslowski were lead animators on the team that created the virtual scenes.

The M.I.N.D. Lab at MSU specializes in virtual environments, human computer interaction and telecommunication. Other labs throughout the world include; Eindhoven University of Technology, Netherlands; Fernando Pessoa University, Portugal; University of Arizona, Ohio State University, Helsinki School of Economics, Finland and the Russian Academy of Science, Russia.

Producers
Co-Producer Walter Benenson is a University Distinguished Professor at Michigan State University, and a nuclear physicist at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory. Benenson was the one of the first physicists to join founding NSCL Director Henry Blosser’s staff in 1963, and was science consultant on the 1991 program Exploring the Hidden Nucleus. His research on rare isotopes forms the basis for MSU’s world reputation in the field.

Co-Producer and Director Bill Richards has extensive experience producing science programming for general audiences. His credits include the Michigan Gateways broadcast series about teaching mathematics and science, video profiles of top scientists working at MSU and Exploring the Hidden Nucleus, a previous special featuring the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory

Production
Executive Producer for WKAR-TV is Timothy W. Zeko. Executive Producer for NSCL is Walter Benenson. Lead videographers for Nucleus Factory are Richard C. Best and Paul Pierantozzi. Pierantozzi also created graphics and animation for the program. Lighting Director is Ken Merley. Editors for Nucleus Factory are Kurtis Kaechele and Bill Richards.