Episode
#198 – Sara Walker: The Origin of Life on Earth and Alien Worlds
2:05:18
Published: Fri Jul 09 2021
Description
Sara Walker is an astrobiologist and theoretical physicist interested in the origin of life. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors: - Athletic Greens: https://athleticgreens.com/lex and use code LEX to get 1 month of fish oil - NetSuite: http://netsuite.com/lex to get free product tour - Blinkist: https://blinkist.com/lex and use code LEX to get 25% off premium - Magic Spoon: https://magicspoon.com/lex and use code LEX to get $5 off EPISODE LINKS: Sara's Twitter: https://twitter.com/Sara_Imari Sara's Website: http://emergence.asu.edu/ PODCAST INFO: Podcast website: https://lexfridman.com/podcast Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2lwqZIr Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2nEwCF8 RSS: https://lexfridman.com/feed/podcast/ YouTube Full Episodes: https://youtube.com/lexfridman YouTube Clips: https://youtube.com/lexclips SUPPORT & CONNECT: - Check out the sponsors above, it's the best way to support this podcast - Support on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/lexfridman - Twitter: https://twitter.com/lexfridman - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lexfridman - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lexfridman - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lexfridman - Medium: https://medium.com/@lexfridman OUTLINE: Here's the timestamps for the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time. (00:00) - Introduction (07:44) - Origin of life (15:38) - Did aliens seed life on Earth? (20:48) - What is life? (32:27) - Cellular automata (36:56) - The laws of physics may change with time (46:41) - Nobel Prize for the origin of life (52:01) - Is consciousness fundamental to the universe? (1:03:19) - Life is the most deterministic part of physics (1:05:54) - Free will (1:14:11) - How to detect alien life (1:28:48) - How many alien civilization are out there? (1:35:32) - Shadow biosphere (1:41:59) - UFO sightings (1:45:35) - Exponential population growth of AI lifeforms (1:52:42) - The role of death in life (1:56:45) - Advice for young people (2:02:31) - Meaning of life
Chapters
This podcast features an interview with Sarah Walker, an astrobiologist and theoretical physicist who is interested in understanding the fundamental nature of life and discovering universal laws that describe living systems.
00:00 - 01:32 (01:32)
Summary
This podcast features an interview with Sarah Walker, an astrobiologist and theoretical physicist who is interested in understanding the fundamental nature of life and discovering universal laws that describe living systems. In the podcast, she discusses the origin of life, how to find life on other worlds, and her interdisciplinary approach to investigating these questions.
Episode#198 – Sara Walker: The Origin of Life on Earth and Alien Worlds
PodcastLex Fridman Podcast
The speaker relies on Blinkist to summarize books for future reading and memory purposes, and on NetSuite to improve the productivity and collaboration within a company, treating it as a living organism.
01:32 - 07:20 (05:47)
Summary
The speaker relies on Blinkist to summarize books for future reading and memory purposes, and on NetSuite to improve the productivity and collaboration within a company, treating it as a living organism.
Episode#198 – Sara Walker: The Origin of Life on Earth and Alien Worlds
PodcastLex Fridman Podcast
Dario Robleto speaks with Shane Mauss about the origins of life on earth, exploring the theory of hydrothermal vents, the types of people interested in the origins of life, and the idea that life began with a molecule that underwent Darwinian evolution.
07:20 - 14:23 (07:02)
Summary
Dario Robleto speaks with Shane Mauss about the origins of life on earth, exploring the theory of hydrothermal vents, the types of people interested in the origins of life, and the idea that life began with a molecule that underwent Darwinian evolution.
Episode#198 – Sara Walker: The Origin of Life on Earth and Alien Worlds
PodcastLex Fridman Podcast
The study of the origin of life heavily focuses on understanding it on Earth, but what about the possibility of life originating on planets like Mars?
14:23 - 20:53 (06:30)
Summary
The study of the origin of life heavily focuses on understanding it on Earth, but what about the possibility of life originating on planets like Mars? Geochemistry plays a significant role in the development of life and while currently there is no evidence of extraterrestrial life, the search continues through exploring and understanding different planetary processes.
Episode#198 – Sara Walker: The Origin of Life on Earth and Alien Worlds
PodcastLex Fridman Podcast
In this episode, the speaker shares his thoughts on what life is, which he believes is related to the physics of existence and the principles and laws that govern the universe that are yet to be fully understood.
20:54 - 27:06 (06:12)
Summary
In this episode, the speaker shares his thoughts on what life is, which he believes is related to the physics of existence and the principles and laws that govern the universe that are yet to be fully understood.
Episode#198 – Sara Walker: The Origin of Life on Earth and Alien Worlds
PodcastLex Fridman Podcast
The podcast explores how physics and computation might be the key to understanding life and our universe.
27:06 - 38:45 (11:38)
Summary
The podcast explores how physics and computation might be the key to understanding life and our universe.
Episode#198 – Sara Walker: The Origin of Life on Earth and Alien Worlds
PodcastLex Fridman Podcast
The origin of life problem is about minimizing the information we put into physics to watch the spontaneous origin of life.
38:45 - 42:06 (03:21)
Summary
The origin of life problem is about minimizing the information we put into physics to watch the spontaneous origin of life. It's part of our biological lineage to put a little bit of life into the experiment, even though we're not actually adding any actual chemistry or biology that could be identified as life.
Episode#198 – Sara Walker: The Origin of Life on Earth and Alien Worlds
PodcastLex Fridman Podcast
The historical origins of life are often overlooked in comparison with the search for the Higgs mechanism, despite being related, and ultimate validation of life's origin could be achieved by observing a bacteria created from low complexity substances.
42:06 - 51:51 (09:45)
Summary
The historical origins of life are often overlooked in comparison with the search for the Higgs mechanism, despite being related, and ultimate validation of life's origin could be achieved by observing a bacteria created from low complexity substances. The experiment of seating assembly, where an object of higher causal history is placed into a system of lower causal history, aims to create such a bacteria.
Episode#198 – Sara Walker: The Origin of Life on Earth and Alien Worlds
PodcastLex Fridman Podcast
Physicist and mathematician Chetan Prakash discusses the relationship between the hard problem of consciousness and the hard problem of matter in the context of the physics of life, asking whether there are things in the universe that can only happen because of physical systems with subjective experience.
51:51 - 57:25 (05:34)
Summary
Physicist and mathematician Chetan Prakash discusses the relationship between the hard problem of consciousness and the hard problem of matter in the context of the physics of life, asking whether there are things in the universe that can only happen because of physical systems with subjective experience.
Episode#198 – Sara Walker: The Origin of Life on Earth and Alien Worlds
PodcastLex Fridman Podcast
Neuroscientist Christof Koch discusses the challenging search for neural correlates of consciousness and draws parallels between this search and the search for chemical correlates of life.
57:25 - 1:02:20 (04:55)
Summary
Neuroscientist Christof Koch discusses the challenging search for neural correlates of consciousness and draws parallels between this search and the search for chemical correlates of life.
Episode#198 – Sara Walker: The Origin of Life on Earth and Alien Worlds
PodcastLex Fridman Podcast
This episode discusses the difference between human and artificial intelligence, specifically how imagination and the ability to imagine possibilities affects free will.
1:02:20 - 1:09:53 (07:32)
Summary
This episode discusses the difference between human and artificial intelligence, specifically how imagination and the ability to imagine possibilities affects free will. They also touch on the difference between conscious and subconscious processing.
Episode#198 – Sara Walker: The Origin of Life on Earth and Alien Worlds
PodcastLex Fridman Podcast
Assembly theory attempts to understand complex objects by breaking them down into component parts which encode all the possible histories they could have.
1:09:53 - 1:13:47 (03:54)
Summary
Assembly theory attempts to understand complex objects by breaking them down into component parts which encode all the possible histories they could have. The intriguing idea is posed that the physics of consciousness may emerge from a causal set, similar to how space-time is an emergent concept in general relativity.
Episode#198 – Sara Walker: The Origin of Life on Earth and Alien Worlds
PodcastLex Fridman Podcast
The instruments built by space agencies are searching for chemical correlates of life in the universe.
1:13:47 - 1:21:14 (07:26)
Summary
The instruments built by space agencies are searching for chemical correlates of life in the universe. Researchers are exploring ways to determine what to look for in alien life and the idea is to ask what should be looked for rather than assuming that it will be easy to detect.
Episode#198 – Sara Walker: The Origin of Life on Earth and Alien Worlds
PodcastLex Fridman Podcast
The way we observe the universe raises fundamental questions and there is a hope that we can detect an extraterrestrial species with our current sensors.
1:21:14 - 1:26:20 (05:05)
Summary
The way we observe the universe raises fundamental questions and there is a hope that we can detect an extraterrestrial species with our current sensors. Applying physics to explain life is also an area of interest.
Episode#198 – Sara Walker: The Origin of Life on Earth and Alien Worlds
PodcastLex Fridman Podcast
The chances of finding extraterrestrial life may be influenced by how divergent the histories of alien organisms are from our own.
1:26:20 - 1:32:09 (05:49)
Summary
The chances of finding extraterrestrial life may be influenced by how divergent the histories of alien organisms are from our own. Due to the number of earth-like planets in the universe, there may be a variety of organisms with a range of common ancestors, impacting the likelihood of sexual reproduction and the probability of finding intelligent life.
Episode#198 – Sara Walker: The Origin of Life on Earth and Alien Worlds
PodcastLex Fridman Podcast
This podcast episode discusses the concept of the shadow biosphere, which suggests that there may have been independent life events that occurred on earth, and how it challenges current understanding of life as a planetary scale process.
1:32:09 - 1:41:45 (09:35)
Summary
This podcast episode discusses the concept of the shadow biosphere, which suggests that there may have been independent life events that occurred on earth, and how it challenges current understanding of life as a planetary scale process.
Episode#198 – Sara Walker: The Origin of Life on Earth and Alien Worlds
PodcastLex Fridman Podcast
Astrobiologist David Grinspoon discusses the need for exponential growth in technology and the importance of unlearning what we think we know about aliens in order to explore the possibilities of life beyond Earth.
1:41:45 - 1:49:49 (08:04)
Summary
Astrobiologist David Grinspoon discusses the need for exponential growth in technology and the importance of unlearning what we think we know about aliens in order to explore the possibilities of life beyond Earth.
Episode#198 – Sara Walker: The Origin of Life on Earth and Alien Worlds
PodcastLex Fridman Podcast
The fear or the concept of non-existence may be a fundamental phenomenon that gave birth to existence and the desire to maximize existence.
1:49:49 - 1:57:08 (07:18)
Summary
The fear or the concept of non-existence may be a fundamental phenomenon that gave birth to existence and the desire to maximize existence. The idea of death may not induce fear in individuals who rationally think about it, as they will not be aware of it once it happens.
Episode#198 – Sara Walker: The Origin of Life on Earth and Alien Worlds
PodcastLex Fridman Podcast
The interviewee talks about the motivation behind working on the human-robot interaction problem and the beauty that arises when humans and robots interact.
1:57:10 - 2:01:36 (04:26)
Summary
The interviewee talks about the motivation behind working on the human-robot interaction problem and the beauty that arises when humans and robots interact. They also touch on the concept of consciousness and the debate around it in philosophy.
Episode#198 – Sara Walker: The Origin of Life on Earth and Alien Worlds
PodcastLex Fridman Podcast
The speaker explores his belief that the creative process in the universe is what we are, and that the world contains an ocean of loneliness that could be alleviated by love and connection.
2:01:36 - 2:05:08 (03:31)
Summary
The speaker explores his belief that the creative process in the universe is what we are, and that the world contains an ocean of loneliness that could be alleviated by love and connection.