Cerium, widely used in some types of light bulbs and flat-screen TVs, is in fact produced by stars in much lower quantities than expected. This was demonstrated by the Cern experiment called n_Tof, of which Italy is the leader with the National Institute of Nuclear Physics and Enea.
The new data thus forces us to review the theory on the mechanisms that until now were believed to be responsible for the production of this element in stars, with important consequences also for all the heavier elements.