Key elements from cosmic dust

Tonight's speaker, Dr Craig Walton, is conducting research focusing on interpreting the meteorite record of asteroid collisions, which should preserve information regarding the timing and nature of Earth’s accretion and the wider evolution of the inner Solar System. Building from this analytical branch of his work, he is using numerical models to estimate the flux of cosmic dust - generated during asteroid collisions - to the surface of early Earth. His work will enable him to understand whether or not cosmic dust particles raining out on the surface of early Earth could have supplied the necessary ingredients to promote prebiotic chemistry and, in turn, the origins of life.