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How We Got Here - Tracing
our Origins from the Big Bang to Life on Earth
This three-part Saturday
seminar will lead you on a journey to understand human origins,
ranging from the largest scales of space and time to the tiny world
of molecules where the spark of life began. In Part I, we will trace
our cosmic origins back 15 billion years to the early universe,
then forward through the creation of the first elements, to the
formation of galaxies and galaxy clusters. In Part II we will discuss
the formation of stars and planets and examine how the elements
necessary for life are produced in stars. In Part III, we'll discuss
how life may have begun on Earth and how it developed to bring us
to where we are now.
This seminar series is
intended for anyone curious to know more about the scientific story
of our origins. No specific background in science is assumed or
required, and there will be ample time for questions and discussion.
Part
I: Setting the Stage: From the Big Bang to Galaxy Formation (9 -
11 am)
Kim Coble --
Adler Planetarium and University of Chicago Dept. of Astronomy and
Astrophysics
This session will focus
on the early stages of our cosmic origins. We will discuss how
our universe has evolved from a small, hot, dense soup of tiny
particles to a vast expanse with complex structures, such as galaxies
and clusters of galaxies. We'll discuss the observational evidence
and the physical principles for the expansion of the universe,
the creation of the lightest chemical elements, the signatures
of a hot early universe, and the formation of the largest structures
-- galaxies and galaxy clusters. Finally, we'll see how the evidence
and principles come together to form a consistent picture.
View
the slides from Kim's talk
Part
II: Stellar Evolution and Synthesis of the Elements Essential for
Life (noon - 2 pm)
Aparna Venkatesan
-- University of Colorado, Boulder; Dept. of Astrophysical and Planetary
Sciences
In the second session
we will continue to trace the key processes that created the raw
materials and environment from which life could form. We will
discuss how the the lightest elements generated in the very early
universe were gradually processed through successive generations
of stars and supernovae to yield the heavier elements necessary
for complex chemical structures and for life as we know it.
View
the slides from Aparna's talk (pdf - 1.9 MB)
Recommended web sites:
-- The
latest X-ray/ultraviolet images of the Sun
-- An
introduction to astrobiology
-- Planets
around other stars
Part
III: The Origin and Development of Life on Earth (2:30 - 4:30 pm)
Craig Tyler
-- Dept. of Physics and Engineering, Fort Lewis College, Durango,
Colorado
About 50 years ago,
an experiment was performed that mimicked the conditions on Earth
soon after the planet formed. The experiment simulated primordial
oceans, laced with natural minerals and subjected to heating and
electrical discharges to simulate volcanoes and lightning strikes.
The result was the formation of amino acids, a basic component
of life on Earth. A few billion years after a similar process
probably occurred on the early Earth, we're here to talk about
it. In this session, we'll survey science's best explanation for
how we got from then to now -- the spark of life, evolution and
society. What parts can't we explain?
Summary
from Craig's Talk
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