Lee Cronin, a chemist at University of Glasgow, discusses a controversial Nature paper on the evolution of life and the universe. They explore the assembly theory, object complexity, computing the assembly index of emojis, and using the assembly index to discover alien life. They also delve into the importance of copy number, exploring different detection systems, and searching for life based on complexity and abundance. The podcast touches on the criticism the paper received, assembly theory in drug discovery, the journey of publishing a controversial paper, and the concept of time and determinism. They also discuss the limitations of AI, the impact of AI and social media, and the creative force in the universe.

Lee Cronin is a chemist at the University of Glasgow. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors: – Paperspace: https://gradient.run/lex to get $15 credit – Athletic Greens: https://athleticgreens.com/lex and use code LEX to get 1 month of fish oil – Notion: https://notion.com/startups to get up to $1000 off team plan – Blinkist: https://blinkist.com/lex and use code LEX to get 25% off premium – Onnit: https://lexfridman.com/onnit to get up to 10% off EPISODE LINKS: Lee’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/leecronin Lee’s Website: https://www.chem.gla.ac.uk/cronin/ Chemify’s Website: https://chemify.io PODCAST INFO: Podcast website: https://lexfridman.com/podcast Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2lwqZIr Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2nEwCF8 RSS: https://lexfridman.com/feed/podcast/ YouTube Full Episodes: https://youtube.com/lexfridman YouTube Clips: https://youtube.com/lexclips SUPPORT & CONNECT: – Check out the sponsors above, it’s the best way to support this podcast – Support on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/lexfridman – Twitter: https://twitter.com/lexfridman – Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lexfridman – LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lexfridman – Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lexfridman – 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 (08:31) – Life and chemistry (21:56) – Self-replicating molecules (32:19) – Origin of life (48:45) – Life on Mars (53:49) – Aliens (1:00:30) – Origin of life continued (1:07:24) – Fermi Paradox (1:17:04) – UFOs (1:25:25) – Science and authority (1:31:28) – Pickle experiment (1:34:23) – Assembly theory (2:17:22) – Free will (2:28:37) – Cellular automata (2:52:08) – Chemputation (3:09:23) – Universal programming language for chemistry (3:22:34) – Chemputer safety (3:35:15) – Automated engineering of nanomaterials (3:44:15) – Consciousness (3:53:48) – Joscha Bach (4:05:04) – Meaning of life

Jim talks with Sara Walker and Lee Cronin about the ideas in their Aeon essay "Time Is an Object." They discuss the history of the idea of time, Newton's clockwork universe, the capacity for things to happen, the impossibility of time travel, Einstein's block universe theory, making time testable, conceptions of the arrow of time, irreversibility as an emergent property, the core of assembly theory, measures of complexity, recursive deconstruction, distinguishing random & complex, Kolmogorov complexity, the absence of a useful theory of complexity, counting steps in the assembly pathway, developing theories from measurement, the size of chemical possibility space, the role of memory in the creation of large organic chemicals, memory depth, the assembly index, the origins of life, a sharp phase transition between biotic & non-biotic molecules, life as a stack of objects, a phase transition between life & technology, techno-signatures, error correction in DNA, whether assembly theory is a theory of time, the temporal dimension as a physical feature of objects, implications for SETI & the Fermi paradox, spotting the difference between noise & assembly, the Great Perceptual Filter, looking for complexity in the universe, the probability of life originating, and much more. Episode Transcript "Time is an object," by Sara Walker and Lee Cronin (Aeon) JRS EP5 - Lee Smolin on Quantum Foundations and Einstein’s Unfinished Revolution Professor Sara Walker is an astrobiologist and theoretical physicist. Her work focuses on the origins and nature of life, and in particular whether or not there are universal ‘laws of life’ that would allow predicting when life emerges and can guide our search for other examples on other worlds.  Her research integrates diverse perspectives ranging from chemistry, biology, geology, astronomy and the foundations of physics, to computer science, cheminformatics, artificial life, artificial intelligence and consciousness. At Arizona State University she is Deputy Director of the Beyond Center for Fundamental Concepts in Science, Associate Director of the ASU-Santa Fe Institute Center for Biosocial Complex Systems and Professor in the School of Earth and Space Exploration. She is also a member of the External Faculty at the Santa Fe Institute. She is active in public engagement in science, with appearances on "Through the Wormhole", NPR's Science Friday, and on a number of international science festivals and podcasts. She has published in leading research journals and is an internationally recognized thought leader in the study of the origins of life, alien life and the search for a deeper understanding of ourselves in our universe. Leroy (Lee) Cronin is the Regius Professor of Chemistry in Glasgow. Since the age of 9 Lee has wanted to explore chemistry using electronics to control matter. His research spans many disciplines and has four main aims: the construction of an artificial life form; the digitization of chemistry; the use of artificial intelligence in chemistry including the construction of ‘wet’ chemical computers; the exploration of complexity and information in chemistry. His recent work on the digitization of chemistry has resulted in a new programming paradigm for matter and organic synthesis and discovery – chemputation – which uses the worlds first domain specific and universal programming language for chemistry – XDL, see XDL-standard.com. His team designs and builds all their own robots from the ground up and the team currently has 25 different robotic systems operating across four domains: Organic synthesis; Energy materials discovery; Nanomaterials discovery; Formulation discovery. All the systems use XDL and are easily programmable for both manufacture and discovery. His group is organised and assembled transparently around ideas, avoids hierarchy, and aims to mentor researchers using a problem-based approach. Nothing is impossible until it is tried.

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: – Uncruise: https://uncruise.com/pages/lex – Linode: https://linode.com/lex to get $100 free credit – ExpressVPN: https://expressvpn.com/lexpod and use code LexPod to get 3 months free – ROKA: https://roka.com/ and use code LEX to get 20% off your first order – Athletic Greens: https://athleticgreens.com/lex and use code LEX to get 1 month of fish oil EPISODE LINKS: Sara’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/Sara_Imari Sara’s Website: http://emergence.asu.edu Lee’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/leecronin Lee’s Website: https://www.chem.gla.ac.uk/cronin Chemify’s Website: https://chemify.io PODCAST INFO: Podcast website: https://lexfridman.com/podcast Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2lwqZIr Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2nEwCF8 RSS: https://lexfridman.com/feed/podcast/ YouTube Full Episodes: https://youtube.com/lexfridman YouTube Clips: https://youtube.com/lexclips SUPPORT & CONNECT: – Check out the sponsors above, it’s the best way to support this podcast – Support on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/lexfridman – Twitter: https://twitter.com/lexfridman – Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lexfridman – LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lexfridman – Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lexfridman – 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 (07:47) – 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

Lee Cronin, a chemist and the Regius Chair of Chemistry at the University of Glasgow, dives into fascinating discussions surrounding the origins of life and synthetic biology. He explores the complexities in defining 'life' and challenges traditional notions of entropy. The conversation touches on assembly theory as a key to understanding life's beginnings and hints at humanity's quest for extraterrestrial life through the Drake Equation. With humor and depth, Cronin calls for new laws of physics to better grasp these intricate questions.