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

Lex Fridman Podcast

Sara Walker is an astrobiologist and theoretical physicist interested in the origin of life. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors:
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EPISODE LINKS:
Sara’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/Sara_Imari
Sara’s Website: http://emergence.asu.edu/

PODCAST INFO:
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SUPPORT & CONNECT:
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– Support on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/lexfridman
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– 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