![[Search]](/static/images/search.gif){kind=small}
![[A-Z Index]](/static/images/az.gif){kind=small}
![[Contact]](/static/images/contact.gif){kind=small}
![[University of Cambridge]](/static/images/identifier2.gif){kind=small}
![[Talks.cam]](/static/images/talkslogosmall.gif)
Tuesday 03 February 2026, 11:15-12:00
Exploring Pathways from Chemistry to Complexity in Dynamic Environments
- 👤 Speaker: Skyla White (Cavendish Astrophysics)
- 📅 Date & Time: Tuesday 03 February 2026, 11:15 - 12:00
- 📍 Venue: Coffee area, Battcock Centre
Abstract
Where and how did life arise? Modern metabolic networks are extremely complex, yet they must have emerged from much simpler chemistry operating in specific geological settings. Reconstructing this transition is challenging, since laboratory syntheses of metabolic building blocks rarely capture the dynamic environments of real planetary systems. In this talk, I will describe what we currently know about the geological contexts that could have supported life’s emergence and the chemical pathways that might have driven it. I will then introduce a kinetic framework for testing whether proposed prebiotic pathways remain viable under realistic geochemical conditions. This approach provides a way to assess the plausibility of prebiotic reactions and to explore how environmental dynamics can foster chemical complexity, offering insights into the earliest steps toward life.
Series This talk is part of the Hills Coffee Talks series.
Included in Lists
- All Cavendish Laboratory Seminars
- All Talks (aka the CURE list)
- Cambridge Astronomy Talks
- Cavendish Astrophysics Seminars
- Centre for Health Leadership and Enterprise
- Coffee area, Battcock Centre
- Combined External Astrophysics Talks DAMTP
- Cosmology, Astrophysics and General Relativity
- Featured lists
- Hills Coffee Talks
- ME Seminar
- Neurons, Fake News, DNA and your iPhone: The Mathematics of Information
- School of Physical Sciences
- Thin Film Magnetic Talks
Note: Ex-directory lists are not shown.