Nick Lane: Origin of Life, Evolution, Aliens, Biology, and Consciousness | Lex Fridman Podcast #318

Nick Lane is a biochemist at UCL and author of Transformer, The Vital Question, and many other amazing books on biology, chemistry, and life.
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*Transcript:*
https://lexfridman.com/nick-lane-transcript

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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:*
0:00 – Introduction
1:09 – Origin of life
14:56 – Panspermia
20:30 – What is life?
33:44 – Photosynthesis
37:19 – Prokaryotic vs eukaryotic cells
47:20 – Sex
55:03 – DNA
1:02:15 – Violence
1:12:50 – Human evolution
1:18:45 – Neanderthals
1:22:18 – Sensory inputs
1:33:08 – Consciousness
2:04:41 – AI and biology
2:34:00 – Evolution
2:54:32 – Fermi paradox
3:07:52 – Cities
3:15:39 – Depression
3:18:14 – Writing
3:26:13 – Advice for young people
3:33:22 – Earth

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Written by Lex Fridman