Origins of Life

Science and art intersect in a new exhibit, where glass tubing, gas bottles, bubbling liquids and zapping electricity form a working science experiment and a work of art.

The famous experiments carried out by Stanley Miller and Harold Urey at the University of Chicago in the 1950s are reimagined as a functional art installation that will be in operation at the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center  from March 16, 2013, to June 9, 2013. The early experiments simulated the chemical and energetic conditions of the early Earth, four billion years ago, resulting in the production of a number of organic molecules necessary for the origin of life. This live experiment continues the investigation to consider whether changing sea and atmosphere conditions will yield not only amino acids but nucleic acids, too—the building blocks of genetic information and sources of cellular energy. Could life still be originating on Earth today?