In Search of Stardust | Jon Larsen | TEDxFredrikstad

Tiny particles settle on rooftops, windowsills and city streets all the time. In this TEDxFredrikstad talk, Norwegian jazz musician, composer, visual artist and citizen scientist Jon Larsen describes how a persistent curiosity about everyday dust led him from music to microscopes. He explains how the Stardust Project developed ways to tell micrometeorites apart from human-made particles. The talk also looks at how paying close attention to ordinary things can open an unexpected route to discovery. Larsen's work contributed to research that changed how scientists think about collecting modern cosmic dust in populated areas.

• Jon Larsen's path from jazz to citizen science
• The Stardust Project and methods for identifying micrometeorites
• Collecting cosmic dust in urban environments
• Curiosity and close observation as starting points for discovery

Stardust is falling around us all the time. On rooftops, windowsills and city streets. Jon Larsen tells how an obsessive curiosity about tiny particles led from jazz clubs to microscopes, scientific verification and a new way of finding micrometeorites in urban environments. His story is not only about cosmic dust. It is about attention: how a willingness to look closely at the ordinary can open an unexpected path to discovery, and how science can begin with a simple question that nobody thought worth asking. Jon Larsen is a Norwegian jazz musician, composer, visual artist and citizen scientist. After decades in music, including as a founding figure in Hot Club de Norvège, his curiosity shifted toward tiny particles hidden in everyday dust. Through the Stardust Project he developed methods for distinguishing micrometeorites from human-made particles, contributing to research that helped change how scientists think about collecting modern cosmic dust in populated areas. His journey is a reminder that expertise can begin with sustained curiosity and that discovery sometimes starts by looking closely at what everyone else ignores. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx