#198 – Sara Walker: The Origin of Life on Earth and Alien Worlds

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