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VERSION:2.0
CALSCALE:GREGORIAN
PRODID:UW-Madison-Physics-Events
BEGIN:VEVENT
SEQUENCE:0
UID:UW-Physics-Event-8700
DTSTART:20240411T203000Z
DTEND:20240411T213000Z
DTSTAMP:20260413T223358Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240325T132013Z
LOCATION:4421 Sterling Hall
SUMMARY:Water under X-ray Vision - A Molecular Look at Life’s Myster
 ious Elixir\, Astronomy Colloquium\, Uwe Bergmann\, UW-Madison
DESCRIPTION:Every life form on earth requires liquid water to function
  and when we look for life in space\, we often look for water signatur
 es. Yet\, we still don’t know precisely how the water molecules are 
 arranged in the liquid. We also don’t know how exactly plants and al
 gae split the water molecules to form molecular oxygen during photosyn
 thesis. This over three-billion-year-old process has created essential
 ly all the oxygen in our atmosphere and therefore enabled the evolutio
 n of all lifeforms relying on respiration. Understanding this mechanis
 m can also help us to create new fuels based on sunlight.<br>\n<br>\nP
 owerful new synchrotron X-ray sources have enabled detailed atomic lev
 el investigation of the structure of water and the photosynthetic wate
 r splitting. We will first describe these amazing X-ray sources and th
 e various techniques that have been used to carry out these studies. W
 e will then review our current understanding and the most recent progr
 ess of solving these two compelling mysteries\, which have critically 
 shaped the existence of life on earth.
URL:https://www.physics.wisc.edu/events/?id=8700
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