From the coast to the mountains and the outback, every Australian child is made up of the same stuff as the stars and planets.
So physicists and quantum computing experts are hitting the road to ensure rural and remote kids have the same opportunities to learn about the wonders of the universe as their city peers.
Researchers will visit country schools on the National Quantum and Dark Matter Road Trip in August, stopping in towns including Karratha and Kalgoorlie in WA, Eudunda in SA, Broken Hill in NSW and Launceston in Tasmania.
Physicist Ben McAllister is one founder of the annual national road trip, which has covered nearly 26,000km since its inception in 2022, visiting 109 cities and towns and engaging 4000 students.
Children across the country are intrigued by complex themes like the enduring mystery of dark matter, which exists everywhere and holds galaxies together but cannot be seen, heard or felt.
"I like to call it the biggest mystery in the universe," Dr McAllister, from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Dark Matter Particle Physics, told AAP.
They are also captured by the idea that humans are made up of "regular matter" that comprises roughly 17 per cent of the universe.
"If you look inside a person or a planet or a star, you're going to find atoms," Dr McAllister said.
"We are fundamentally made of the same stuff."
The program aims to show children the exciting career opportunities in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
Rural students are far less likely to consider work in computing and information technology than city-based children, while STEM career choices are heavily influenced by a parent's work, according to Australian government research.
"It's one thing to see something on TV, or to hear someone on the radio, but another to see someone standing in front of you saying, 'hey, I'm a scientist, I'm right here and you can be too'," Dr McAllister said.
"It's delivering a bit of inspiration and aspiration - this is something you can actually do."
And no matter where the scientists visit, they often get the same questions from kids: How did the universe begin? Are aliens real? Can we travel through time?
"It's all these big, big questions that are seemingly universal to curious minds."
The road trip, which involves researchers from several Australian universities, coincides with National Science Week and runs from August 4.
