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THE COSMIC PROGRESSION TOWARDS LIFE
Life is the product of nearly 14 billion years of cosmic evolution. Atoms formed as the Universe cooled following the Big Bang, then stars and galaxies, planets and life. The Big Bang produced atoms of hydrogen, helium and lithium, the lightest elements. Other elements were made inside the first stars, but formation of the heavier elements required cycling through many generations of stellar birth and death. The Earth and life as we know it required this heritage -- you are made of star stuff! Thus, the cosmos evolved towards greater complexity in a progression that enabled the emergence of life. |