Physics of Life, Ep 2: How do we identify life?

02/14/24 • 33 min

2 Listeners

COMPLEXITY

Guests:

Ricard Solé, External Professor at the Santa Fe Institute, Head of the Complex Systems Lab at Universitat Pompeu Fabra
Sara Walker, External Professor at the Santa Fe Institute, Associate Director of the ASU-SFI Center for Biosocial Complex Systems

Hosts: Abha Eli Phoboo & Chris Kempes

Producer: Katherine Moncure

Podcast theme music by: Mitch Mignano

Other music: Matucha, Kijjaz, Klankbeeld, Aesterial-Arts, Dijifishmusic, Greenvwbeetle, Odilon Marcenaro, Jobro, Benboncan, Bone666138, Aiwha, Josh Berry, Rubenvvuuren, and Miksmusic

SFI programs:

Complexity Explorer: Origins of Life
Education

Books & Films:

Frankenstein, directed by James Whale, based on book by Mary Shelley
The Computer and the Brain, by John von Neumann
Signs of life: How complexity pervades biology by Ricard V. Solé and Brian C. Goodwin

Talks:

Liquid and Solid Brains: Mapping the Cognition Space by Ricard Solé
Evolving Brains: Solid, Liquid and Synthetic by Ricard Solé
A Universal Theory of Life: Math, Art & Information by Sara Walker

Papers & Articles:

“Assembly theory explains and quantifies selection and evolution” in Nature (October 4, 2023) doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-06600-9
“Time is an object” in Aeon, May 19, 2023
“The Algorithmic Origins of Life” in Journal of the Royal Society Interface (February 6, 2013) doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2012.0869
“Evolution of Brains and Computers: The Roads Not Taken” in Entropy (May 9, 2022), doi.org/10.3390/e24050665
“Unicellular–multicellular evolutionary branching driven by resource limitations” (June 2, 2022) doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2022.0018

Guests:

Ricard Solé, External Professor at the Santa Fe Institute, Head of the Complex Systems Lab at Universitat Pompeu Fabra
Sara Walker, External Professor at the Santa Fe Institute, Associate Director of the ASU-SFI Center for Biosocial Complex Systems

Hosts: Abha Eli Phoboo & Chris Kempes

Producer: Katherine Moncure

Podcast theme music by: Mitch Mignano

Other music: Matucha, Kijjaz, Klankbeeld, Aesterial-Arts, Dijifishmusic, Greenvwbeetle, Odilon Marcenaro, Jobro, Benboncan, Bone666138, Aiwha, Josh Berry, Rubenvvuuren, and Miksmusic

SFI programs:

Complexity Explorer: Origins of Life
Education

Books & Films:

Frankenstein, directed by James Whale, based on book by Mary Shelley
The Computer and the Brain, by John von Neumann
Signs of life: How complexity pervades biology by Ricard V. Solé and Brian C. Goodwin

Talks:

Liquid and Solid Brains: Mapping the Cognition Space by Ricard Solé
Evolving Brains: Solid, Liquid and Synthetic by Ricard Solé
A Universal Theory of Life: Math, Art & Information by Sara Walker

Papers & Articles:

“Assembly theory explains and quantifies selection and evolution” in Nature (October 4, 2023) doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-06600-9
“Time is an object” in Aeon, May 19, 2023
“The Algorithmic Origins of Life” in Journal of the Royal Society Interface (February 6, 2013) doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2012.0869
“Evolution of Brains and Computers: The Roads Not Taken” in Entropy (May 9, 2022), doi.org/10.3390/e24050665
“Unicellular–multicellular evolutionary branching driven by resource limitations” (June 2, 2022) doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2022.0018

Previous Episode

Physics of Life, Ep 1: What can physics tell us about ourselves?

Guests:

Vijay Balasubramanian, External Professor at the Santa Fe Institute, Cathy and Marc Lasry Professor of Physics at the University of Pennsylvania
Geoffrey West, Shannan Distinguished Professor and Past President, Santa Fe Institute

Hosts: Abha Eli Phoboo & Chris Kempes

Producer: Katherine Moncure

Podcast theme music: Mitch Mignano

Other Music: Blue Dot Sessions, Pink House Music, Eardeer, and Craig Smith.

SFI programs:

Books & Stories:

Tell Me Why by Arkady Leokum
Scale by Geoffrey West
“Funes, the Memorious” by Jorge Luis Borges

Talks:

How the Brain Makes You: Collective Intelligence and Computation by Neural Circuits by Vijay Balasubramanian
The Future of the Planet: Life, Growth and Death in Organisms, Cities and Companies by Geoffrey West
Energy, Scaling & The Future of Life on Earth by Geoffrey West
Complex Time Working Group: “What is Sleep?” with Geoffrey West, Van Savage, Alex Herman

Papers:

“Brain Power” in PNAS (August 2, 2021) doi.org/10.1073/pnas.210702211
“The Physical Effects of Learning” preprint published in biorxiv
“Unraveling why we sleep: Quantitative analysis reveals abrupt transition from neural reorganization to repair in early development” in Science Advances (September 18, 2020) DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aba0398
“The Scales That Limit: The Physical Boundaries of Evolution” in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution (August 7, 2019) doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2019.00242

Next Episode

Physics of Life, Ep 3: Why is life so diverse?

Guests:

Brian Enquist, External Professor at the Santa Fe Institute, Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at University of Arizona
Pablo Marquet, External Professor at the Santa Fe Institute, Professor at Institute of Ecology and Biodiversity, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile

Hosts: Abha Eli Phoboo & Chris Kempes

Producer: Katherine Moncure

Podcast theme music by: Mitch Mignano

Other music: Craig Smith, Justkiddink, MaestroALF, ComputerHotline, James Ro Davidson, SoundEnsemble, Trundlefly, Geoff Bremner, Newagesgroup, Oddmonoliths, Thepla

More info:

SFI programs: Education

Complexity Explorer: Origins of Life: Astrobiology & General Theories for Life - Scaling with Pablo Marquet

Books:

Scale by Geoffrey West
Scaling Biodiversity (Ecological Reviews) edited by David Storch, Pablo Marquet , James Brown
How Landscapes Change: Human Disturbance and Ecosystem Fragmentation in the Americas (Ecological Studies Book 162) edited by Gay A. Bradshaw and Pablo A. Marquet

Talks:

Better Forecasting our Ecological Future: Taming Big Data with Big Theory, Brian Enquist

Papers & Articles:

“More than 17,000 tree species are at risk from rapid global change,” in Nature Communications (January 2, 2024), doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-44321-9
“Metastatic cells exploit their stoichiometric niche in the network of cancer ecosystems,” in Science Advances (December 13, 2023), doi: 10.1126/sciadv.adi79
“Environmental heterogeneity as a driver of terrestrial biodiversity on a global scale” in PPG: Earth and Environment (August 11, 2023), doi.org/10.1177/03091333231189045
“The number of tree species on Earth,” PNAS (Jan 31, 2022), doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2115329119
“Globally important plant functional traits for coping with climate change,” in Frontiers of Biogeography (October 2, 2021), doi.org/10.21425/F5FBG53774
“Scaling from Traits to Ecosystems: Developing a General Trait Driver Theory via Integrating Trait-Based and Metabolic Scaling Theories,” Advances in Ecological
Research (May 4, 2015), doi.org/10.1016/bs.aecr.2015.02.001
“A general quantitative theory of forest structure and dynamics,” PNAS (April 28, 2009), doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0812294106