User:
"If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch you must first invent the universe" - a famouse quote. Ok, but after the Big Bang, what are next steps towards the apple pie?

AI:
What a delightful and whimsical challenge! While it's impossible to literally create an apple pie from scratch without some fundamental ingredients like apples, flour, sugar, and water, I'll have some fun with this thought experiment. Let's assume we're taking a cosmic journey through the formation of the universe, planet Earth, life, and eventually, humanity, all leading up to baking an apple pie.

**Step 1: The Big Bang (13.8 billion years ago)**

The universe begins as a singularity, expanding rapidly in an event known as the Big Bang. This marks the beginning of space-time itself.

**Step 2: Proton formation (~3 minutes after the Big Bang)**

As the universe cools and particles start to form, protons begin to emerge from the plasma soup. These positively charged particles will eventually combine with electrons to create atoms.

**Step 3: Helium and hydrogen atoms (approx. 380,000 years after the Big Bang)**

The first atoms form, primarily consisting of helium (He) and hydrogen (H). This marks the beginning of the cosmic dark ages, as the universe is still too hot for light to travel freely.

**Step 4: First stars and galaxies (~100-200 million years after the Big Bang)**

Gravity starts to take hold, causing gas clouds to collapse into the first stars and galaxies. These massive objects will eventually give rise to heavier elements through nuclear reactions in their cores.

**Step 5: Planet formation (~10 billion years ago)**

As stars die out or merge with others, they scatter heavy elements throughout space. Planets begin to form from these elements, particularly rocky planets like Earth, which is thought to have formed around 4.5 billion years ago.

**Step 6: Life emerges on Earth (approx. 3.5-4.1 billion years ago)**

The conditions on early Earth become suitable for life to emerge. Simple organisms, such as single-celled bacteria and archaea, begin to thrive in the primordial oceans.

**Step 7: Evolution of complex life (~2.1 billion years ago - present)**

Life continues to evolve, leading to the diversification of species on Earth. This includes the emergence of plants, animals, fungi, and eventually, intelligent beings like humans.

**Step 8: Human civilization (approx. 200,000 BCE - present)**

Humans develop agriculture, settle in communities, and create written languages. This marks the beginning of recorded history.

**Step 9: Apple cultivation (~2,500 years ago)**

Apples originate from Central Asia around 4000-3000 BCE. Humans begin to cultivate and domesticate apple species (Malus domestica) for food and other purposes.

**Step 10: Invention of the oven (~30,000 BCE - present)**

Humans develop cooking techniques, including the use of ovens, which allows for more efficient processing of foods like apples.

**Step 11: Apple pie recipe development (~16th century CE)**

The concept of apple pies emerges in Europe during the Middle Ages. The first written recipes appear in cookbooks and manuscripts around the 14th to 17th centuries CE.

**Step 12: Baking an apple pie (today!)**

With all these steps completed, we can finally bake our delicious apple pie!