Thrown from supernovae, silicon is the eighth most abundant element in the universe and second only to oxygen in the Earth’s crust, which is primarily comprised of silicate compounds, including silica (SiO2), or quartz, commonly found in sand. Silica is absorbed by plants and transformed into intricate glass shells by radiolarians and other microscopic marine creatures. Humans, for their part, have worked silica into glass, ceramics, and devices such as phonograph pickups and crystal oscillators for clocks.