#325 – Michael Levin: Biology, Life, Aliens, Evolution, Embryogenesis & Xenobots

Lex Fridman Podcast

Lex Fridman

Society & Culture, Technology, Science, Philosophy

4.7 • 13K Ratings

🗓️ 1 October 2022

⏱️ 185 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Michael Levin is a biologist at Tufts University working on novel ways to understand and control complex pattern formation in biological systems. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors:
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EPISODE LINKS:
Michael’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/drmichaellevin
Michael’s Website: https://drmichaellevin.org
Michael’s Papers:
Biological Robots: https://arxiv.org/abs/2207.00880
Synthetic Organisms: https://tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19420889.2021.2005863
Limb Regeneration: https://science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abj2164

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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
(06:40) – Embryogenesis
(14:08) – Xenobots: biological robots
(27:55) – Sense of self
(37:27) – Multi-scale competency architecture
(48:58) – Free will
(58:27) – Bioelectricity
(1:11:44) – Planaria
(1:23:33) – Building xenobots
(1:47:08) – Unconventional cognition
(2:11:39) – Origin of evolution
(2:18:42) – Synthetic organisms
(2:25:27) – Regenerative medicine
(2:29:14) – Cancer suppression
(2:33:15) – Viruses
(2:38:28) – Cognitive light cones
(2:43:03) – Advice for young people
(2:47:47) – Death
(2:57:17) – Meaning of life

Transcript

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0:00.0	The following is a conversation with Michael Levin, one of the most fascinating and brilliant
0:05.1	biologists I've ever talked to.
0:07.6	He and his lab at Tufts University works on novel ways to understand and control complex
0:13.4	pattern formation in biological systems.
0:16.5	Andra Karpathi, a world class AI researcher, is the person who first introduced me to
0:21.9	Michael Levin's work.
0:23.6	I bring this up because these two people make me realize that biology has a lot to teach
0:29.4	us about AI.
0:30.4	And AI might have a lot to teach us about biology.
0:36.0	And now a quick two second mention of e-sponsor.
0:38.6	Check them out in the description.
0:40.0	It's the best way to support this podcast.
0:42.7	We got Hansen shaving for a great razor and shave, eight sleep for e-commerce, element
0:49.9	for on-the-go electrolytes, and inside tracker for biological tracking, choose wise and
0:55.8	reference.
0:59.8	I try to make these ads here interesting.
1:06.2	So they're worth listening to perhaps.
1:08.8	Mostly because a lot of them don't have anything to do with a sponsor.
1:11.8	They're almost like inspired by the sponsor.
1:14.1	But if you still must skip, please check out the sponsors.
1:18.4	They're the reason I'm able to do this podcast.
1:20.7	So please support them in any way you can.
	...

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