Today we're bouncing off our recent conversation with evolutionary biologist, Dr. Michael Lachmann from SFI, and unpacking why the modern definition of life sucks and why it matters. We attempt to construct a more scientific (i.e. less circular) definition of life and take it for a walk in the park. As a test case we examine an inadvertent hypothesis, which stems from Olaf Stapledon’s Star Maker, a science fiction work that supposes stars themselves have an interior life and that when they move according to gravity they are simply doing the dance of a school of fishes or drivers on a freeway. We pull out cases where the stars satisfy a scientific definition of life and also problems with the theory. The notion forces us to reconsider the limits of life and its possible forms in the universe.
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(00:00) Go!
(00:06:01) Rethinking Life's Definition
(00:09:03) Anthropocentric cosmology
(00:14:47) Life's Persistence
(00:23:16) Harnessing Tension
(00:30:20) Information and Evolution
(00:36:29) Life Beyond Earth
(00:41:13) Cosmic Communication
(00:47:37) Communication and Understanding
(00:57:00) Communication Across the Cosmos
(01:10:47) Galactic Dynamics and Gravity
(01:13:31) Stars as Autonomous Entities; Olaf Stapledon
(01:22:29) Life's Potential Ubiquity
(01:25:32 )Science's Quest for Understanding
#LifeBeyondEarth, #LifeDefinition, #ExtraterrestrialLife, #starmaker, #CosmicPerception, #StellarLife, #Astrobiology, #PhilosophyOfLife, #CosmicCommunication, #GalacticDynamics, #StellarConsciousness, #UniversalLife, #ScienceAndPhilosophy, , #CosmicInteractions, #StellarProcesses, #LifeInTheUniverse, #Astrophysics, #SpaceExploration, #CosmicEvolution, #InterstellarCommunication, #LifeAndTheCosmos, #sciencepodcast, #longformpodcast
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PODCAST INFO: Anastasia completed her PhD studying bioelectricity at Columbia University. When not talking to brilliant people or making movies, she spends her time painting, reading, and guiding backcountry excursions. Shilo also did his PhD at Columbia studying the elastic properties of molecular water. When he's not in the film studio, he's exploring sound in music. They are both freelance professors at various universities.
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