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

Lex Fridman Podcast - A podcast by Lex Fridman

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