In the midst of a revolution in physics similar to that of the first decades of the last century. Many of these discoveries of the 21st century were made by progress in observations of the macro-cosmos, looking above us with better and better tools. Others were coming from the study of the micro-cosmos, and better and more powerful tools were essential here, too. But many of the news from the stars above us rely on data we gather in the terrestrial laboratories. Nuclear reactions are the fuel of the stars and the elemental abundances are fingerprints of the evolution of the Universe, but to understand these broad and well-known statements we need the data of what we call nuclear astrophysics; or better said nuclear physics for astrophysics. These studies are carried out in nuclear physics laboratories, large and small. The author will refer to a few of these, exemplifying with work that the author has done with his group, or he participated to. They are carried out in large institutions around the world, dedicated to the production and use of radioactive nuclear beams or in smaller laboratories hidden underground in order to improve the chances of detection in cases of very poor signal/background ratio.
