#318 – Nick Lane: Origin of Life, Evolution, Aliens, Biology, and Consciousness

Nick Lane is a biochemist at UCL and author of Transformer, The Vital Question, and many other amazing books on biology, chemistry, and life. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors:
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EPISODE LINKS:
Nick’s Website: https://nick-lane.net
Nick’s Books:
Transformer: https://amzn.to/3cy7lpO
The Vital Question: https://amzn.to/3q0vN6q
Oxygen: https://amzn.to/3edy3V5
Power, Sex, Suicide: https://amzn.to/3B3OInk
Life Ascending: https://amzn.to/3wKIsOE
Books mentioned:
21 Lessons for the 21st Century: https://amzn.to/3AZQaqy
The Black Cloud: https://amzn.to/3wJhDKC

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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
(05:45)– Origin of life
(19:31)– Panspermia
(25:05)– What is life?
(38:20)– Photosynthesis
(41:55)– Prokaryotic vs eukaryotic cells
(51:56)– Sex
(59:39)– DNA
(1:06:51)– Violence
(1:17:25)– Human evolution
(1:23:21)– Neanderthals
(1:26:53)– Sensory inputs
(1:37:43)– Consciousness
(2:09:17)– AI and biology
(2:38:36)– Evolution
(2:59:07)– Fermi paradox
(3:12:27)– Cities
(3:20:14)– Depression
(3:22:50)– Writing
(3:30:49)– Advice for young people
(3:37:57)– Earth