Life's Edge: Exploring the Boundary between Living & Nonliving | Carl Zimmer | Into the Impossible

On this episode of The INTO THE IMPOSSIBLE Podcast, Carl Zimmer discusses the importance of ethics in scientific communication and how scientific discoveries can be inaccurately reported by journalists, leading to misunderstandings by the public. The difficulty of defining what it means to be alive is explored and the stakes of this debate, particularly in regards to the autonomy of one's own body, are discussed. The episode also touches on the controversy surrounding gain of function research on pathogens and the importance of verifying scientific findings. The guest shares anecdotes from her career, including her experience covering the controversial discovery of arsenic life, and reflects on why biology continues to surprise and fascinate her. The episode ends with a discussion on the human brain’s difficulty in dealing with ambiguous states and the challenge of capturing people’s interest in retractions or flawed findings. Carl Zimmer is an expert science writer who is highly curious about the mysteries of life and often ponders the question of how to define it. Although scientists all study life, their definitions vary, leading to a unique fascination for Zimmer. He was particularly inspired by the astronomers who study the same thing, making their work seem more straightforward. Zimmer was also driven by the belief that advanced technology can sometimes feel magical. These interests have shaped his career as a science writer, and he has covered everything from genetics to pythons. 00:00:44:08 Introduction 00:02:18:10 Judging Books By Their Cover 00:04:21:14 Brain organoids and spontaneous life 00:06:19:07 Life and nonlife 00:18:55:04 What inspired Carl's work 00:25:01:15 Bias in science journalism 00:31:39:16 Retractions and PR in science 00:40:41:12 Longstanding Misconceptions in science 00:53:55:03 How to define life 00:55:28:04 Carl's work on COVID reporting 01:07:32:15 What's humanity's greatest invention? Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmXH_moPhfkqCk6S3b9RWuw/join 📺 Watch my most popular videos:📺 Neil Turok https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dt5cFLN65fI Frank Wilczek https://youtu.be/3z8RqKMQHe0?sub_confirmation=1 Eric Weinstein vs. Stephen Wolfram https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OI0AZ4Y4Ip4?sub_confirmation=1 Sir Roger Penrose: https://youtu.be/AMuqyAvX7Wo Sabine Hossenfelder: https://youtu.be/g00ilS6tBvs Avi Loeb: https://youtu.be/N9lUceHsLRw Follow me to ask questions of my guests: 🏄‍♂️ 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 ✍️ Detailed Blog posts here: https://briankeating.com/blog.php 🎙️ Listen on audio-only platforms: https://briankeating.com/podcast scientific discoveries, inaccurate reporting, ethics, accurate public information, National Science Foundation, basic understanding, scientific advancements, concepts, exaggerated claims, artificial life, Miller Uri experiment, misleads the public, autonomy, termination of a fetus, gun rights, complex questions, Schrodinger's question, consciousness, genetics, viruses, promotion, publication, funding, Contact, Carl Sagan, Ann Druyan, microbes, Antarctica, Martian microbes, debate, arsenic life, PR budget, transparency, life's edge, border, brain organoids, difficulty defining life, life begins at conception, brain death, conflict, end of life, naturalists, electron microscopy, crystallography, gain of function, manipulation, potential risks, potential outcomes, bird flu virus, scientific community, journalist, Discover magazine, genomics, molecular biology, species, defining life, black and white, California bacteria, arsenic, DNA, flawed findings, verifying findings. #carlzimmer #intotheimpossible #briankeating #linkinbio #universe #podcast #briankeating #intotheimpossible #science #astronomy #cosmology #drbriankeating #ProfessorBrianKeating