51 min listen
Living on Life's Edge | Carl Zimmer on The Search for What It Means to Be Alive
FromPoint of Inquiry
ratings:
Length:
59 minutes
Released:
Dec 22, 2021
Format:
Podcast episode
Description
What does it mean to be alive? Does life have a clear definition? On this week's episode, Carl Zimmer joins host Jim Underdown to discuss his new book, Life's Edge: The Search for What It Means to Be Alive to help answer those questions. Can we clearly define what it means to be alive? Scientists have been struggling with this question for centuries. For every rule or idea that's brought to the table, it seems a new species of plant or animal comes along that turns the whole thing on its head. For example, tardigrades, everyone's favorite microorganisms, are able to put themselves into a kind of suspended animation that stops their metabolization. Are they alive or dead at that point? Zimmer speaks about tardigrades and their special cryptobiosis, the intelligence of slime molds, and where viruses fit in the question of life. Carl Zimmer is an award-winning New York Times columnist and the author of fourteen books about science. His newest book is Life’s Edge: The Search for What It Means to Be Alive (hardcover, Kindle, or audio.) You can find Zimmer on twitter @carlzimmer.
Released:
Dec 22, 2021
Format:
Podcast episode
Titles in the series (100)
Paul Kurtz - Science and Religion: Are They Compatible?: Paul Kurtz, considered the father of the modern secular humanist movement, is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at the State University of New York at Buffalo. As chair of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal... by Point of Inquiry