The abiogenesis theory is a widely accepted theory for the origin of life on Earth. This theory proposes that life emerged from non-living matter through a series of natural chemical reactions, starting with the formation of the building blocks of life, such as amino acids and nucleotides, and culminating in the formation of the first living cells. The experiments and research conducted so far have provided strong evidence for this theory, and scientists continue to make progress in understanding the processes that may have led to the formation of life on Earth.

Decoding The Origins Of Life: Understanding The Abiogenesis Theory

The abiogenesis theory, also known as spontaneous generation, is one of the most widely accepted theories for the origin of life on Earth. This theory proposes that life emerged from non-living matter through a series of natural chemical reactions. The basic idea of abiogenesis is that the building blocks of life, such as amino acids and nucleotides, could have been formed on the early Earth through natural processes, and then came together to form more complex molecules, such as proteins and nucleic acids, which eventually gave rise to living cells.

Understanding Abiogenesis

One of the most important hypothesis for the origin of the first living cell is the “RNA world” hypothesis, which proposes that RNA was the first genetic material and the first self-replicating molecule. RNA is a molecule that can act as an enzyme, a genetic material and can store information. According to this hypothesis, the first living cells would have been made up of RNA molecules, which would have been able to carry out all the functions of a living organism, such as metabolism and replication.

The RNA World Hypothesis

One of the key pieces of evidence for the abiogenesis theory is the Miller-Urey experiment, conducted in 1953 by Stanley Miller and Harold Urey. They attempted to simulate the conditions of the early Earth and showed that by sparking an electric discharge through a mixture of gases that resemble the primitive Earth’s atmosphere (methane, ammonia, and water vapor) it was possible to produce some of the building blocks of life, such as amino acids, the building blocks of proteins, and nucleotides, the building blocks of DNA and RNA.

Evidence: The Miller-Urey Experiment

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Decoding The Origins Of Life – Big History

Understanding the origin of Universe has raised the curiosity of generations before ours. There are several modifications and extensions of the theory of the origins that have been proposed, such as the steady state theory and the oscillating universe theory. However, none of these alternatives have been able to provide a better explanation of the observed data than the Big Bang theory itself. Overall, the Big Bang theory is supported by a wide range of observational and theoretical evidence, and it is considered to be the best explanation for the origin and evolution of the universe.

The Beginning Of Everything: A Look Into The Big Bang Theory And The Origins Of The Universe

The Big Bang theory is the current cosmological model that explains the origin and evolution of the universe. It states that the universe began as a singularity, an infinitely hot, dense, and small point in space and time. Approximately 13.8 billion years ago, this singularity underwent a rapid expansion, leading to the creation of all matter and energy in the universe. As the universe expanded and cooled, matter and energy began to condense into clumps, eventually forming the first stars and galaxies..


WHAT IS BIG BANG THEORY?

Cosmic Background Radiation: One of the key pieces of evidence for the Big Bang theory is cosmic microwave background radiation (CMB). This is a faint glow of light that fills the universe, and it has a temperature of about 2.7 Kelvin. The CMB is thought to be the afterglow of the Big Bang, as it has a nearly perfect blackbody spectrum and is almost, but not quite, the same temperature in all directions.

OBSERVATION SUPPORTING BIG BANG THEORY

Abundance of Light Elements: The Big Bang theory also predicts the relative abundance of light elements in the universe, such as hydrogen, helium, and lithium. These predictions agree very well with observations of the abundance of these elements in the universe.

Expanding Universe: The Big Bang theory also predicts an expanding universe, and Edwin Hubble observed in 1929 that galaxies are moving away from us, the more distant they are the faster they are receding. This is known as Hubble’s Law, and it is considered one of the strongest pieces of evidence of an expanding universe.

Many argue that the Big Bang does not account for the existence of dark matter and dark energy, and that this is a major weakness of the theory. They argue that there is no mechanism for the formation of these mysterious components of the universe in the Big Bang Theory. The Big Bang Theory does not attempt to explain the origins of dark matter and dark energy, as they were only discovered after the theory was developed. The theory does not require the existence of dark matter and dark energy, but it is compatible with their existence and predictions of their behavior have been observed.

WHAT ABOUT DARK MATTER AND DARK ENERGY?

Finally, some critics argue that the Big Bang Theory cannot account for the fine-tuning of the universe. One of the widespread misconceptions regarding the Big Bang theory is that it completely explains how the universe first came into being. The Big Bang hypothesis, however, describes the development of the current universe from an extremely dense and high-temperature starting state rather than explaining how energy, time, and space were created.

Conclusion

A Look into the Big Bang Theory and the Origins of the Universe – Big History

Consider something unbelievably tiny, unbelievably dense, and incredibly hot. Then, suddenly, space, time, and all molecular matter burst in ways that no words can express. What is known is that the Universe expanded at an unfathomable rate in a fraction of a second. Some recognised subatomic particles and fundamental forces emerged as a result of this expansion. The Universe then began to cool drastically, to around 1 billion degrees Celsius, allowing energy and ultimately matter (plasma of nuclei, electron and photons) to emerge.

The Big Bang

3,80,000 years after The Big BangAs the universe expanded, plasma grew cooler and cooler. The universe cooled down further to 3000 K, making it possible for the nuclei in the plasma to gain electrons and become full-fledged neutral Hydrogen and Helium atoms. Photons of light tangled in the plasma could now move freely and were released. The universe became transparent for the first time. This is known as cosmic microwave background that we can see even today.

Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB)

The entire universe was made up of Hydrogen and helium gas clouds with no stars and planets.After the release of CMB, nothing in the Universe radiated light until around 200 million years after the Big Bang when the first stars began to form.

Cosmic Dark Age

About 200 million years after The Big BangDue to gravity, hydrogen and helium clouds began to clump together. Tiny imperfections. Little knots, wrinkles, and flaws began attracting nearby particles of matter. The clumps grew, became more massive, and attracted more particles. Hence, it made them denser, and as a result, gravity became more intense. As the clouds compress more and more, they became hotter, until the center became so hot that nuclear fusion began. This released a tremendous amount of energy, which caused the earliest stars to light up.

First Stars

The gravity that was trying to squash the star together was pushed back by the fusion at the center which created a balance. Within a few hundred million years after the Big Bang, the first generation of stars, known as Population III stars, were formed. After CMB, these stars were the first source of visible light in the universe.

First Stars Stabilises

About 1 Billion years after The Big Bang Stars formation happened almost everywhere in universe. Thus we have billions and billions of stars. Galaxies were formed out of these swirling clouds of stars and gas in space. Gravity sends these objects careening into one another as other clouds approached, knitting them into larger spinning packs. Material can be slung toward a galaxy's outskirts following collisions, forming large spiral arms filled with star colonies. Since, these were large scale structure it took a long time in an almost homogeneous gas clouds.

The First Galaxies, clusters and superclusters

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Threshold II: Formation of the First Stars

Formation of the First Stars

“Nature uses only the longest threads to weave her patterns, so that each small piece of her fabric reveals the organization of the entire tapestry.”

Big History:. Timeline

Consider something unbelievably tiny, unbelievably dense, and incredibly hot. Then, suddenly, space, time, and all molecular matter burst in ways that no words can express. What is known is that the Universe expanded at an unfathomable rate in a fraction of a second. Some recognised subatomic particles and fundamental forces emerged as a result of this expansion. The Universe then began to cool drastically, to around 1 billion degrees Celsius, allowing energy and ultimately matter to emerge.

10e-36 seconds after The Big BangThe universe expanded at an inconceivable speed, from far less than an atom to enormous size. The fundamental forces: Gravity (the force that pulls everything together), Electromagnetism, weak, and strong interaction (the force that holds nuclei together) emerged. Quantum fluctuations produce the microscopic 'wrinkles' in density that keep the universe from becoming completely uniform and homogeneous. This paved the path for subatomic particles like quarks to be formed.﻿

Inflation

The expansion had relatively slowed down. Due to quantum fluctuations subatomic particle like quarks were formed which were the building blocks of protons and neutrons. Quarks and antiquarks formed and annihilated each other. The remaining quarks accounted for one billionth of the prior mass of quarks and antiquarks.

Building Block Of Matter

1 second after the Big BangElectron-positron pairs were created and annihilated, leaving 1/billionth the amount of electrons and positrons behind.

Leptons

10 seconds after The Big BangQuarks combined to generate protons and neutrons. Two up quarks and one down quark make up a proton, while one up quark and two down quarks make up a neutron.As the universe cooled, these neutrons and protons combined further to form hydrogen and helium nuclei. The hydrogen nuclei contained only a single proton while helium nuclei was made up of two protons and two neutrons. Deuterium, Helium-3, and lithium-7 were also formed in trace amounts.

Nuclei

3 minutes after The Big BangThe universe consisted of plasma (superheated state of ordinary matter) of nuclei, electrons, and photons; temperatures were too high for electrons to attach to the nuclei. Because photons of light were tangled up in these charged particles, they couldn't flow freely through the universe. Hence, the universe was utterly Dark.

Plasma

3,77,000 years after The Big BangAs the universe expanded, plasma grew cooler and cooler. The universe cooled down further to 3000 K, making it possible for the nuclei in the plasma to gain electrons and become full-fledged neutral Hydrogen and Helium atoms.

Atoms

3,80,000 years after the Big BangPhotons of light tangled in the plasma could now move freely and were released. The universe became transparent for the first time. This is known as cosmic microwave background that we can see even today.

Cosmic Microwave Background

Formations of First Starshttps://bighistory.in/formation-of-stars-timeline/

Decoding The Origins Of Life – Big History

A Look into the Big Bang Theory and the Origins of the Universe – Big History

Formation of the First Stars

A Journey from The Big Bang to the First Atoms

Big History