system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
How long after the big bang did the heavier elements necessary for life form?

Just musing in relation to the Fermi "where is everybody?" paradox: 

My understanding is that it takes several generations of supernovae to generate the various heavier elements that are necessary for life as we know it, and it took 4-5 billion years on this planet to get around to intelligent life. The big bang was 13.7b ago, but for how much of that time has there even been the possibility of planets with the necessary elements?
gpt
This is the topic of possibly the most famous scientific paper of all time, "Synthesis of the Elements in Stars"  by Burbidge, Burbidge, Fowler and Hoyle - nicknamed the B2FH paper. Just search around a bit, especially under Fred Hoyle's name.