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From the Big Bang to DNA, join us on a journey through 13.8 billion years of cosmic evolution. Discover how the universe expanded, cooled, and gave rise to the elements essential for life. Where did carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen come from? How did they form molecules and, eventually, DNA? Explore the biggest ideas in cosmology and the chemical origins of life.
A history of the universe (in under 20 minutes)
Dan Hooper
(Professor at the University of Wisconsin Madison)
Over the past 13.8 billion years, our universe expanded and cooled, transforming from the hot dense state we call the Big Bang, into the vast universe we see all around us today. This talk will walk us through this history together, giving a short and accessible introduction to the biggest ideas in modern cosmology.
From Hydrogen to Humans: the Origins of Us.
Abygail Waggoner
(Postdoc at the University of Wisconsin-Madison)
Nearly 14 billion years ago, the Big Bang created all matter in the universe, mostly in the form of hydrogen. However, life as we know it is dependent on elements such as carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen among many others. Where did the atoms necessary to sustain life come from, if not from the Big Bang? And how did those atoms come together to form molecular structures seen on Earth and beyond? Perhaps most importantly, how did those structures evolve to form the backbone of life, DNA? In this talk, we’ll answer some (but not all) of these questions as we explore the chemical origins of Earth and life as we know it.
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