Testing Theories on Beginning of Life, Cosmos

From UCLA & Caltech

In the beginning, what was there, really? Well, let's back up: what's meant by the "beginning?" Researchers in two different disciplines have tracked far, far back to offer important insights into the evolution of life and the start of the universe. In Westwood, a noted molecular biologist says two ancient, minuscule life forms called prokaryotes fused and forever changed the face of life on the planet; the merger of the two, neither of which had a cellular nucleus, let the new prokaryotes produce oxygen by harnassing the sun's energy via photosynthesis. In Pasadena, researchers have analyzed data from incredibly sensitive devices to gain new ideas on what the universe may have looked like moments after its creation in the Big Bang. They're studying echoes of primordial gravitational waves to rule out, as well as to rule in complex theories about the cosmos.

Listening for Echoes from Big Bang That Began Universe