If Darwin Had A Spaceship | Arik Kershenbaum: The Zoologist’s Guide to the Galaxy (#222)
04/04/22 • 96 min
1 Listener
What would a modern-day 'Voyage of the Beagle ' be like? Cambridge zoologist Arik Kershenbaum evokes Charles Darwin's travels in a trip not confined to the earth's confines. Come along with us on a journey of discovery through the entire galaxy where we encounter aliens and their planets with supersonic creatures, a moon where aliens have a language composed of smells, and aliens who scream with fear, act honestly and have technology. The Zoologist's Guide to the Galaxy answers these questions using the latest science to tell the story of how life really works, on Earth and in space.
This is a wildly fun and scientifically sound exploration of what alien life must be like, using universal laws that govern life on Earth and in space.
But short of aliens landing in New York City, how do we know what they are like? Using his own expert understanding of life on Earth and Darwin's theory of evolution - which applies throughout the universe - Cambridge zoologist Dr. Arik Kershenbaum explains what alien life must be like: how these creatures will move, socialize, and communicate. For example, by observing fish whose electrical pulses indicate social status, we can see that other planets might allow for communication by electricity. As there was evolutionary pressure to wriggle along a seafloor, Earthling animals tend to have left/right symmetry; on planets where creatures evolved in midair or in soupy tar, they might be lacking any symmetry at all.
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Topics discussed:
- Why natural selection is both a universal and predictable process, the existence and results of which are likely to be present on alien planets.
- What are Animals and What are Aliens?
- Examines the definition of animals, from the historical definitions derived from observation (e.g. Aristotle), to modern phylogenetic relationships. The book argues that a purely phylogenetic definition of what is an animal cannot be sufficient for classifying alien life.
- Movement – Scuttling and Gliding Across Space
- How the constraints of physics and mechanics combined with evolutionary laws to produce the movement strategies we see on Earth, and why many of these strategies (e.g. legs) are likely to exist on other planets too.
Get The Zoologist's Guide to the Galaxy https://amzn.to/3K2JHgx
Follow Arik https://twitter.com/arikkershenbaum
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✍️ Detailed Blog posts here: https://briankeating.com/blog.php
🎙️ Listen on audio-only platforms: https://briankeating.com/podcast.php
A production of http://imagination.ucsd.edu/
Support the podcast: https://www.patreon.com/drbriankeating
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What would a modern-day 'Voyage of the Beagle ' be like? Cambridge zoologist Arik Kershenbaum evokes Charles Darwin's travels in a trip not confined to the earth's confines. Come along with us on a journey of discovery through the entire galaxy where we encounter aliens and their planets with supersonic creatures, a moon where aliens have a language composed of smells, and aliens who scream with fear, act honestly and have technology. The Zoologist's Guide to the Galaxy answers these questions using the latest science to tell the story of how life really works, on Earth and in space.
This is a wildly fun and scientifically sound exploration of what alien life must be like, using universal laws that govern life on Earth and in space.
But short of aliens landing in New York City, how do we know what they are like? Using his own expert understanding of life on Earth and Darwin's theory of evolution - which applies throughout the universe - Cambridge zoologist Dr. Arik Kershenbaum explains what alien life must be like: how these creatures will move, socialize, and communicate. For example, by observing fish whose electrical pulses indicate social status, we can see that other planets might allow for communication by electricity. As there was evolutionary pressure to wriggle along a seafloor, Earthling animals tend to have left/right symmetry; on planets where creatures evolved in midair or in soupy tar, they might be lacking any symmetry at all.
Please join my mailing list; just click here http://briankeating.com/mailing_list.php
Topics discussed:
- Why natural selection is both a universal and predictable process, the existence and results of which are likely to be present on alien planets.
- What are Animals and What are Aliens?
- Examines the definition of animals, from the historical definitions derived from observation (e.g. Aristotle), to modern phylogenetic relationships. The book argues that a purely phylogenetic definition of what is an animal cannot be sufficient for classifying alien life.
- Movement – Scuttling and Gliding Across Space
- How the constraints of physics and mechanics combined with evolutionary laws to produce the movement strategies we see on Earth, and why many of these strategies (e.g. legs) are likely to exist on other planets too.
Get The Zoologist's Guide to the Galaxy https://amzn.to/3K2JHgx
Follow Arik https://twitter.com/arikkershenbaum
Please Visit our Sponsors:
- LinkedIn: LinkedIn.com/impossible to post a job for FREE
- Athletic Greens, makers of AG1 which I take every day. Get an exclusive offer when you visit https://athleticgreens.com/impossible AG1 is made from the highest quality ingredients, in accordance with the strictest standards and obsessively improved based on the latest science.
- All 33 Chairs. My All33 Chair is the ideal chair for all of us ‘knowledge workers’ suffering through unending Zoom calls. Sitting still is bad for you. All33 chairs are my choice because they allow your pelvis to move the way it does while you walk — so all 33 vertebrae align into perfect posture. The result? Better breathing, better blood flow, and relief from pain. It’s crazy what you can do when you set your body to it. To get $100 off your order, visit https://all33.com/impossible
- Search for The Jordan Harbinger Show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, wherever you listen to podcasts, or go to jordanharbinger.com/subscribe
Be my friend:
🏄♂️ Twitter: https://twitter.com/DrBrianKeating
🔔 Subscribe https://www.youtube.com/DrBrianKeating?sub_confirmation=1
📝 Join my mailing list; just click here http://briankeating.com/mailing_list.php
✍️ Detailed Blog posts here: https://briankeating.com/blog.php
🎙️ Listen on audio-only platforms: https://briankeating.com/podcast.php
A production of http://imagination.ucsd.edu/
Support the podcast: https://www.patreon.com/drbriankeating
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Previous Episode
Brian Keating On The Leon Logothetis Podcast (#221)
The following is my appearance on the Leon Logothetis Podcast. Leon is the creator of THE KINDNESS DIARIES on Netflix and Amazon. He’s known for creating content around the world to highlight the best in humanity, and it was a privilege to be on his show. The show’s premise is that Leon does NOT know who is going to be his guest. That is why we start off with introductions. I was a bit nervous about going in blind, but Leon made it a great experience.
Subscribe to his podcast here. From Leon’s show notes:
“My guest this week is Brian Keating, who is an expert in the study of the universe’s oldest light, the cosmic microwave background, using it to learn about the origins and evolution of the universe.
Brian is an author, speaker, inventor and a Chancellor’s Distinguished Professor of physics at the Center for Astrophysics & Space Sciences (CASS) in the Department of Physics at the University of California, San Diego.
It was a privilege to have Brian on the show and share his incredible knowledge about the cosmos. I left this conversation 38% smarter than before it!”
Please Visit our Sponsors:
- LinkedIn: LinkedIn.com/impossible to post a job for FREE
- Athletic Greens, makers of AG1 which I take every day. Get an exclusive offer when you visit https://athleticgreens.com/impossible AG1 is made from the highest quality ingredients, in accordance with the strictest standards and obsessively improved based on the latest science.
- All 33 Chairs. My All33 Chair is the ideal chair for all of us ‘knowledge workers’ suffering through unending Zoom calls. Sitting still is bad for you. All33 chairs are my choice because they allow your pelvis to move the way it does while you walk — so all 33 vertebrae align into perfect posture. The result? Better breathing, better blood flow, and relief from pain. It’s crazy what you can do when you set your body to it. To get $100 off your order, visit https://all33.com/impossible
- Search for The Jordan Harbinger Show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, wherever you listen to podcasts, or go to jordanharbinger.com/subscribe
Please join my mailing list; just click here http://briankeating.com/mailing_list.php
- Produced by Stuart Volkow (P.G.A) and Brian Keating
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Next Episode
Jim Al-Khalili Why I Love the Life Scientific! (#223)
Jim is a theoretical physicist at the University of Surrey where he holds a Distinguished Chair in physics as well as a university chair in the public engagement in science. He received his PhD in nuclear reaction theory in 1989 and has published widely in the field. His current interest is in open quantum systems and the application of quantum mechanics in biology.
He is a prominent author and broadcaster. He has written 14 books on popular science and the history of science, between them translated into twenty-six languages. His latest book, The World According to Physics, was shortlisted for the Royal Society Book Prize. He is a regular presenter of TV science documentaries, such as the Bafta nominated Chemistry: a volatile history, and he hosts the long-running weekly BBC Radio 4 programme, The Life Scientific.
Jim is a past president of the British Science Association and a recipient of the Royal Society Michael Faraday medal and the Wilkins-Bernal-Medawar Medal, the Institute of Physics Kelvin Medal and the Stephen Hawking Medal for Science Communication. He received an OBE in 2007 and a CBE in 2021 for ‘services to science’.
In his latest book, The Joy of Science, Jim presents 8 short lessons on how to unlock the clarity, empowerment, and joy of thinking and living a little more scientifically.
In this brief guide, Professor Al-Khalili invites readers to engage with the world as scientists have been trained to do. The scientific method has served humankind well in its quest to see things as they really are, and underpinning the scientific method are core principles that can help us all navigate modern life more confidently. Discussing the nature of truth and uncertainty, the role of doubt, the pros and cons of simplification, the value of guarding against bias, the importance of evidence-based thinking, and more, Al-Khalili shows how the powerful ideas at the heart of the scientific method are deeply relevant to the complicated times we live in and the difficult choices we make.
https://twitter.com/jimalkhalili
Topics in this interview include:
- The tension between art (poetics) and science. What can science learn from poetry?
- What is the difference between wisdom and knowledge?
- What does the phrase "follow the science" mean to you?
- What is the "scientific method”?
- What do you think about Karl Popper's philosophy and the falsification rule?
- The problem with authority bias.
- What's your philosophy regarding science outreach and popularization?
Please Visit our Sponsors:
LinkedIn: LinkedIn.com/impossible to post a job for FREE
Athletic Greens, makers of AG1 which I take every day. Get an exclusive offer when you visit https://athleticgreens.com/impossible AG1 is made from the highest quality ingredients, in accordance with the strictest standards and obsessively improved based on the latest science.
All 33 Chairs. My All33 Chair is the ideal chair for all of us ‘knowledge workers’ suffering through unending Zoom calls. Sitting still is bad for you. All33 chairs are my choice because they allow your pelvis to move the way it does while you walk — so all 33 vertebrae align into perfect posture. The result? Better breathing, better blood flow, and relief from pain. It’s crazy what you can do when you set your body to it. To get $100 off your order, visit https://all33.com/impossible
Search for The Jordan Harbinger Show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, wherever you listen to podcasts, or go to jordanharbinger.com/subscribe
Be my friend:
- 🏄♂️ Twitter: https://twitter.com/DrBrianKeating
- 🔔 Subscribe https://www.youtube.com/DrBrianKeating?sub_confirmation=1
- 📝 Join my mailing list; just click here http://briankeating.com/mailing_list.php
- ✍️ Detailed Blog posts here: https://briankeating.com/blog.php
- 🎙️ Listen on audio-only platforms: https://briankeating.com/podcast.php
A production of http://imagination.ucsd.edu/
Support the podcast: https://www.patreon.com/drbriankeating
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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