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Life & Building E. T.

An interview with physicist Paul Davies and microbiologist Ferran Garcia-Pichel who talk about life, extremeophiles, and E.T. Listen in on this lively conversation and see if maybe, just maybe, we might have come from Mars.

Podcast content summary and time log for
Volume 38 of Ask-a-Biologist.

Paul Davies (left) and Ferran Garcia- Pichel (right) consider life and what E.T. might look like.


Key words: SOLS, life, extremeopholes, extra terrestrials, E.T., microbes, astrobiology.

Topic Time
Intro - 00:00
Life on Earth - defining what is living what is not living. 02:29
Defining life requires a flexible definition. 04:15
Three common characteristics used to define life. 05:28
Extremeophiles 06:45
What are some extremeophiles and where do they live? 08:45
Extreme heat - how hot can you get and still be able to live? 08:54
Extreme cold - how cold can you get and still be able to live? 10:19
Looking for extremeophiles 10:52
Extreme depth - how deep in underground can life be found? 11:23
How do you get energy if you are underground without life?
[phototrophs and chemotrophs]
12:09
Why search for extremeophiles on Earth? 13:44
Are there any living things on Earth that could survive on Mars? 16:21
Building E.T. 16:54
Life - E. T. on Europa [Paul Davies] 17:49
E.T. communication 18:57
Fire under water - what? 19:51
Probability of having an E. T. exist. 20:41
The most common and most likely E.T. would be microbes. 22:04
Ferran's E. T. 23:02
Could we be E.T.? Could we be Martins? 24:35
Why do some scientists think life came from space, maybe Mars? 26:14
When did you first know you wanted to be a scientist? [Paul Davies] 27:05
What would you be if you were not a scientist? [Paul Davies] 28:30
Ferran would be an actor - what type of an actor? 29:16
What advice do you have for someone wanting to be a scientist - physicist? 30:09
Sign-off 31:51

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