Skip to content
Is Life Inevitable [rebroadcast] episode artwork

Nov 28, 2022 55 min

Is Life Inevitable [rebroadcast]

from Big Picture Science Hosted by Big Picture Science

A new theory about life’s origins updates Darwin’s warm little pond. Scientists say they’ve created the building blocks of biology in steaming hot springs. Meanwhile, we visit a NASA lab where scientists simulate deep-sea vent chemistry to produce the type of environment that might spawn life. Which site is best suited for producing biology from chemistry? Find out how the conditions of the early Earth were different from today, how meteors seeded Earth with organics, and a provocative idea that life arose as an inevitable consequence of matter shape-shifting to dissipate heat. Could physics be the driving force behind life’s emergence? Guests: Caleb Scharf – Director of Astrobiology at Columbia University, New York Laurie Barge – Research scientist in astrobiology at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory Bruce Damer – Research scientist in biomolecular engineering, University of California, Jeremy England – Physicist, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Originally aired May 13, 2019 Big Picture Science is part of the Airwave Media podcast network. Please contact [email protected] to inquire about advertising on Big Picture Science. You can get early access to ad-free versions of every episode by joining us on Patreon. Thanks for your support!

Episode details come from the podcast's RSS feed.

Embed this episode

Ready to play

Is Life Inevitable [rebroadcast]

0:00 55:00

No transcript yet.

Requests help us decide what to transcribe next.

Frequently asked questions

How long is this episode of Big Picture Science?

This episode is 55 minutes long.

When was this Big Picture Science episode published?

This episode was published on November 28, 2022.

Can I download this Big Picture Science episode?

Yes. Use the download control on the episode player to save the publisher-provided media file.