What Is Life?

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"I love asking that question because it's so absurdly big. It's my absolute favorite question in the whole universe," he says. "Life is how information structures matter across space and time." The pair are trying to find a more fundamental theory of life, which should explain certain attributes.

Sara Walker is an astrobiologist and theoretical physicist. Lee Cronin is a chemist. This is a conversation and debate about alien life and alien civilizations. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors:
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Lee’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/leecronin
Lee’s Website: https://www.chem.gla.ac.uk/cronin
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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
(07:47) – Aliens
(21:53) – What is life?
(29:35) – Assembly theory
(52:03) – Math
(1:03:45) – Communication with aliens
(1:28:38) – Evolution of the universe
(1:37:56) – Creating alien life
(1:45:29) – Origin of life
(1:52:29) – Before the Big Bang
(1:59:22) – God
(2:09:39) – Goal-directed behavior
(2:27:37) – Time
(2:35:54) – Free will and imagination
(2:51:06) – UFO sightings
(2:56:06) – Alien life forms debate
(3:11:14) – Robots
(3:20:29) – Love and emotion
(3:38:55) – Beauty in science
(3:49:06) – Random questions
(3:58:30) – Advice for young people
(4:01:48) – Life on Earth
(4:06:12) – Memory