Earth is exposed to nearby cosmic events. Freshly produced radionuclides ejected into the interstellar medium (ISM) contain information about how and where the heavy elements are made in nature. The solar system moves through the ISM and collects interstellar dust particles that contain these fresh nucleosynthetic signatures, including the radionuclides Fe-60 (t1/2=2.6 Myr) and Pu-244 (t1/2=81 Myr) or Cm-247 (t1/2=15.7 Myr). However, the detection of such nuclides remains extremely challenging and so far was successful only with Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS).
Recent data demonstrate a global Fe-60 influx and is evidence for exposure of Earth to recent nearby supernovae. The first clear detection of interstellar Pu-244, exclusively produced by rapid-neutron capture (r-process), supports the hypothesis that the dominant heavy element r-process nucleosynthesis is a rare process.
I will highlight the recent progress in measurement efficiency and sensitivity of AMS which was mandatory for the identification of small traces of interstellar influx and will give an outlook on new developments and capabilities in AMS.
As part of the presentation, there will be a teaching demonstration on the topic "The classical and the quantum harmonic oscillator".
