What is the universe composed of? Are there extra dimensions? What is dark matter? How did the dinosaurs get extinct? Can it happen again?

Sixty-six million years ago, an object the size of a city descended from space to crash into Earth, creating a devastating cataclysm that killed off the dinosaurs, along with three-quarters of the other species on the planet. What was its origin?

Lisa Randall, one of the greatest creative minds in theoretical physics, proposes that the cause for this mass extinction was a comet that was dislodged from its orbit as the Solar System passed through a disk of dark matter embedded in the Milky Way. In a sense, it might have been dark matter that killed the dinosaurs.

Working through the background and consequences of this proposal, Randall will share with us the latest findings—established and speculative—regarding the nature and role of dark matter and the origin of the Universe, our galaxy, our Solar System, and life, along with the process by which scientists explore new concepts. Based on her recent book Dark Matter and the Dinosaurs, Randall will tell a breathtaking story that weaves together the cosmos' history and our own, illuminating the deep relationships that are critical to our world and the astonishing beauty inherent in the most familiar things.

Afterwards, dark matter cocktails with dinosaur juice while We Are The Way For The Cosmos To Know Itself, who have created a techno-like genre that goes further beyond the mundane club music, reaching the cosmic depths with weightless female vocals and heavy bass lines, will take you on a journey towards the intergalactic entity. Through their music you will end up spooning with the entire universe and the dinosaurs.

This event is organised in cooperation with the Center for Quantum Devices at the Niels Bohr Institute.

Photo: Cover of the book Dark Matter and the Dinosaurs: The Astounding Interconnectedness of the Universe by Lisa Randall