Skyline Chat is a discussion series organized by the Consulate General of Switzerland in Chicago. In each edition, a guest with close ties to Switzerland is invited to talk about their specific field of work and how they create valuable impact in the Midwest and across the whole U.S. on a daily basis. These talks offer exciting insights into various fields such as education, research, and business against the inspiring backdrop of the Chicago skyline.

In the first edition of the Skyline Chat from September 2021, Deputy Consul General Joerg Oberschmied talked with Swiss scientist Ph.D. Philipp R. Heck about his insights into the oldest material found on planet earth: stardust. Heck was born and raised in Zurich, Switzerland and studied at the world-renowned ETH Zurich before moving to the United States. As the interim director of the Negaunee Integrative Research Center and Curator for Meteoritics and Polar Studies at the Robert A. Pritzker Center, he led the team that found the stardust mineral. “The solar system started about four and a half billion years ago and these minerals, these diamonds are older than that. They preserve the composition of the star from which these diamonds were made. The stardust in this vial is the oldest solid material that you can hold in your hand,” Heck said to the impressed audience before going into more detail about this fascinating material.

Watch the Skyline Chat with Philipp R. Heck in full length below to learn more about stardust, its composition, and where and how it can be found.

Would you like to watch other interesting discussions? Click here for an overview of all Skyline Chat editions.