Collisions in the Cosmos: How Impacts Shaped our Universe
Date:
How did we get stars, planets… and beer? Cosmic collisions.
In this energetic public talk for Astronomy on Tap SLC, I explored how crashes, smashes, and near-misses across the cosmos have shaped the very fabric of our universe. From the birth of stars in turbulent clouds to the violent mergers that create galaxies, collisions are not just common—they’re essential. We dove into how these cosmic impacts ignite stellar nurseries, seed the building blocks of planets, and even help assemble the Milky Way itself. Because sometimes, in the universe as in life, it takes a good collision to make something beautiful.
Embedded below are the slides from the talk. Unfortunately, there is no video of the talk being delivered.