Exploring the Nature of Life through a Sci-Fi Lens

In this Back To School episode we consider the "List of Life": the criteria that define what it is to be a living thing. Some are easy calls: A kitten is alive. A grain of salt is not.

But what about the tricky cases, like a virus? Or, more importantly, what about futuristic android robots?

As part of our Black History Month celebration, developmental biologist Crystal Rogers and Short Wave co-host Regina G. Barber dig into what makes something alive, and wade into a Star-Trek-themed debate.

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