Neutrinos are ghostlike particles that experience notoriously weak interactions with matter. So, it may come as a surprise that neutrinos likely are responsible for much of the heavy lifting in astrophysical environments like the early universe and the gravitational collapse of massive stars and associated supernova explosions. Neutrinos can influence and even bring about the creation of the elements in these environments, from helium and deuterium nuclei in the Big Bang to iodine, gold, and uranium nuclei in the last wisp of material blown off the surface of a newly created neutron star. All this can happen because neutrinos more than make up for their feeble individual interactions with huge numbers.
