Cosmic dust: an extraterrestrial fertiliser for the origins of life on Earth?
Fri, 17 Jan
|Institute of Astronomy
Could key elements required for life on earth have arrived as cosmic dust? If they did, what happened next? Dr Craig Walton is researching these questions and will provide some insights tonight
Time & Location
17 Jan 2025, 20:00 – 21:30
Institute of Astronomy, Madingley Rd, Cambridge CB3 0HA, UK
About The Event
The sources of carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus that first gave rise to life on Earth remain unclear. Meteorites contain all of these elements and it has long been speculated that perhaps these materials raining down onto early Earth played a role in the origins of life. However, there is a major problem with the idea.
Asteroids fall to Earth randomly. This is pretty much like being given lunch only once every few million years. As living organisms, we all know that a sustained source of food is required for our survival. In Dr Craig Walton's research, he is exploring the idea that cosmic dust was the original fuel that got life going. Cosmic dust arrives continuously on Earth and did so in far greater quantities 4.5 billion years ago.
There might be no such thing as a free lunch today, but the origin of life seems to have needed one.…