BIG BANG!
mixed media on paper
12.5 x 12.5cm 2009
[The work is based on data from an article by Timothy C. Beers, Origin of the Elements of Life (Sky & Telescope March 2008). “Minutes after the Big Bang, there were basically only two kinds of atomic nuclei in the universe, both in two isotopes – varieties with equal numbers of protons but different numbers of neutrons. There was normal hydrogen … “heavy” hydrogen … “light” helium … normal helium … (and) lithium … - but none of the carbon, oxygen, or nitrogen needed for life. The universe simply thinned out and cooled too quickly for nucleosynthesis, the buildup of new elements, to continue.”
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