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For Thought: Origins

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Some of science’s most fascinating, essential questions revolve around the origins of the universe and how – and why – life began. Join Lawrence Krauss, Paul Davies and Rachel Webster for an extensive discussion of these ideas, as they unpack the most credible theories and dissect their implications.

Lawrence Krauss on the origins of the universe

Our fascination with the universe encompasses everything from its scope to its composition. The most fundamental questions concern its origins. Scientific advances now provide fascinating insight into how the universe was formed, and the age-old assumption that something cannot arise from nothing has been turned on its head. How did the universe come into being and what are the elements that set it on the trajectory that brought it to its current state? And what are the implications of our new knowledge for our predictions of the future evolution of our universe, and its possible uniqueness?

Paul Davies on the origins of life

How did life begin, and what sort of process can turn a complex mixture of chemicals into a genuinely living organism? The origin of life remains one of the great mysteries of science. We may never have a full account of life’s murky beginnings, but a lot hinges on the answer. If life emerges readily in Earth-like conditions, then it may have started many times on Earth – but if life is a bizarre statistical fluke, we may be alone in the universe after all.

What next?

What does the future of our search to understand the origins of life and the universe hold? What does an understanding of origins mean for cosmology more broadly, and what are the most important questions that we still need to answer?

Paul Davies, Lawrence Krauss and Rachel Webster explore the ideas from Krauss’ and Davies’ talks – and their ramifications for science and for humanity – with host Michael Williams.


For Thought™ series presented by the University of Melbourne and the Wheeler Centre under licence from Sydney Opera House.

Featuring

Rachel Webster

Rachel Webster is Professor of Astrophysics in the School of Physics at Melbourne University. Rachel Webster has established an internationally-renowned astrophysics research group and became the second female professor of physics in Australia. She was included on the Victorian Honour Roll of Women ... Read more

Lawrence Krauss
Lawrence Krauss

Professor Lawrence M Krauss is an internationally known theoretical physicist with wide research interests, including the interface between elementary particle physics and cosmology, where his studies include the early universe, the nature of dark matter, general relativity and neutrino astrophysics... Read more

Paul Davies

Professor Paul Davies AM is a theoretical physicist, cosmologist and astrobiologist. He is Regents’ Professor of Physics and Director of the Beyond Center for Fundamental Concepts in Science at Arizona State University, where he also runs a cancer research project and co-directs a cosmology progra... Read more

Michael Williams

Michael Williams joined Sydney Writers’ Festival in September 2020, as the Artistic Director navigating the post-pandemic landscape going into the 2021 festival. He has spent the past decade at the Wheeler Centre for Books, Writing and Ideas in Melbourne; as its founding Head of Programming in 200... Read more

Location

Melbourne City Conference Centre

190 Little Lonsdale St, Melbourne Victoria 3000

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