Following up on our interview with Julie Czerneda and continuing with the theme of exo-biology, in this episode Marty sits down with zoologist Arik Kershenbaum from Cambridge University, author of The Zoologist’s Guide to the Galaxy: What Animals on Earth Reveal About Aliens – and Ourselves. We talk about the science of evolution, and what it may have to tell us about exo-biology, by first establishing that the Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything is actually Evolution (not 42!). We discuss why animals make so much noise, the difference between communication and language, the universal laws of biology and the mathematics of how evolution works. We also think about about convergent solutions to problems that all living organisms must face, asexual evolution, horizontal gene transfer, immortality, consciousness and the transporter problem. We discuss how intelligence arises from the essential ingredients of movement, communication, sociality and language. Finally, we consider the difference between general intelligence and technological intelligence, and what that might mean for our expectations of what extra-terrestrials might be like if they are to be capable of communicating and possibly even travelling between planets and stars.
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Arik Kershenbaum:
Arik Kershenbaum
Dr Arik Kershenbaum | Department of Zoology (cam.ac.uk)
What Your Dog Can Teach You About Aliens | Arik Kershenbaum | TEDxCambridgeUniversity - YouTube
The Zoologist’s Guide to the Galaxy:
The Zoologist's Guide to the Galaxy by Arik Kershenbaum: 9781984881984 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books
The Zoologist's Guide to the Galaxy - Wikipedia
The Zoologist's Guide to the Galaxy: What Animals on Earth Reveal About Aliens--and Ourselves: Kershenbaum, Arik: 9781984881984: Books - Amazon.ca
The Zoologist's Guide to the Galaxy: What Animals on Earth Reveal about Aliens – and Ourselves by Arik Kershenbaum | Goodreads
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