#350 – Betül Kaçar: Origin of Life, Ancient DNA, Panspermia, and Aliens

Hosted byLex Fridman

Betül Kaçar is an astrobiologist at University of Wisconsin. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors:

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EPISODE LINKS:

Betül’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/betulland

Betül’s Instagram: https://instagram.com/betul.kacar.astro/

Kacar Lab: https://kacarlab.org/

Betül’s TED Talk: https://go.ted.com/betulkacar

PODCAST INFO:

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OUTLINE:

Here’s the timestamps for the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time.

(00:00) – Introduction

(08:20) – History of life on Earth

(16:25) – Origin of life

(39:11) – Genetic language of life

(52:08) – Life and energy

(1:02:50) – Ancient DNA

(1:21:48) – Evolution

(1:33:19) – Alien life

(2:01:19) – Panspermia

(2:07:41) – Restarting life on Earth

(2:20:23) – Where ideas come from

(2:27:54) – Science and language

(2:36:31) – Love

(2:37:55) – Advice to young people

(2:42:29) – Meaning of life