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CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - For the first time, hard-to-track lithium has been identified and measured in the atmosphere of burned out stars called white dwarfs, according to a study led by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill published online in the journal
Lithium helps power cell phones and computers and stabilize moods. But scientists have been stumped by what's become of the lithium that was expected from the Big Bang, a discrepancy known as the "cosmological lithium problem."
While researchers believe exploding stars help distribute lithium throughout the galaxy and deliver most of the lithium we use today in electronics and medicine, the UNC-Chapel Hill study may help measure the amount of lithium created in the initial formation of the universe.