Lee Cronin: Origin of Life, Aliens, Complexity, and Consciousness | Lex Fridman Podcast #269
Why Hacker News recommends it
HN points to it in origin-of-life and complexity threads as a fascinating long-form introduction to assembly theory.
What it is
Lex Fridman interviews University of Glasgow chemist Lee Cronin about the origin of life, aliens, complexity and consciousness. The conversation centers on Cronin's assembly theory.
Recommended by 2 HN commenters across 3 different months, 2022 to 2022.
What Hacker News said
Strong rec nomel · 2022-07 · on “Scientists discover new “origins of life” chemical reactions”
I highly recommend the Lex Fridman podcast with Lee Cronin (#269), about the origins of life and complexity theory [1]. The discussion is really incredible. It really changed my naive perspective of life, and the universe. 1. [this video]
Recommends egman_ekki · 2022-04 · on “Do the same mechanisms that create complex life also create complex technology?”
On the topic of complexity of life created structures, I found this Lex Fridman's interview with Lee Cronin fascinating and thought-provoking: [this video]
Recommends nomel · 2022-06 · on “Amino acids found in asteroid samples collected by Japan's Hayabusa2 probe”
There’s a great Lex Fridman podcast related to this, about “Assembly Theory”, by Lee Cronin. I thought it was fascinating. Youtube: [this video] Spotify: [LINK]
Cites ssl232 · 2022-03 · on “Identifying biosignatures with assembly theory and mass spectrometry”
This was recently discussed in an interview with Lee Cronin on the Lex Fridman podcast [1]. The idea is that using only mass spectroscopy and a (hard to compute, but not impossible) look-up table, one can determine with vanishingly low uncertainty whether a complex molecule came from a biotic or abiotic process. This has implications for the detection of life on other planets. [1] [this video]
Cites Barrera · 2022-06 · on “Japan asteroid probe finds 23 amino acids, researchers confirm”
> A total of 23 types of amino acids were found in asteroid samples brought back by Japan's Hayabusa2 space probe, according to new studies published in the journal Science and elsewhere, shedding further light on the origins of life on Earth. This intersects with a raging debate in Origins of Life research. The Miller-Urey experiment demonstrated the production of amino acids from simple gasses thought the be present in the early Earth atmosphere and energy. The problem is that you can add amino acids into a flask, stir, and not much will happen. You can pump in all the energy you want and all you'll get it tar. Before you can even start to make proteins, which is what makes life, you need