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7:30 pm, Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Hennings 200
The Origin of Life: from geophysics to biology?
Albert Libchaber
Rockefeller University
One of the deepest and most controversial questions of our time is that of the origin of life.
In this public lecture a hypothesis is presented, according to which the temperature gradients
existing in the earth - which led to plate tectonics and the formation of undersea thermal
vents - also led to the evolution of life around these vents. Movies will be shown of
experiments, in which all stages of this scenario are justified: how thermal gradients led to
plate tectonics, to DNA amplification in thermal vents, and to the organization of bacteria.
This mixture of physics, chemistry, and biology illustrates how life can originate without the
intervention of the sun, driven only by geophysical thermal gradients.
To learn more please visit his website.
Additional resources for this talk: video.
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