Abstract: Our Universe is abundant with water-ice and carbonaceous material in the form of complex molecules, including alcohols, and amino acids, which are the building blocks of life as we know it. This is surprising given that typical matter densities are about 20(!) orders of magnitude lower than those found on Earth, and given that conditions in space are hostile for complex chemistry. Cosmic dust is believed to facilitate unique space-chemistry, and is considered as a proxy for “organic” material. In this talk the history of cosmic-dust detection and its underlying physics will be outlined, and the means by which huge quantities of cosmic dust are now being discovered using deep-space observations and “Big-Data” techniques will be described. Implications of these findings for the formation and destruction of cosmic dust in the largest objects in our universe will be mentioned. (No prior knowledge of physics is assumed.)