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1127: The Humble Microbe Could Help Us Understand Life Itself

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Manage episode 508088178 series 3381328
Content provided by Audioboom and Science Friday. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by Audioboom and Science Friday or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://podcastplayer.com/legal.

Sift through your memories and excavate an image of a fossil. Maybe you’re picturing dinosaur bones, the imprint of an ammonite, or the fronds of a fern etched into stone. But there’s a whole other category of fossilized remains that can tell us about life way before T. rexes, or even twigs, existed on this planet. That’s fossilized evidence of microbes.

Microbiologist Paula Welander uses these ancient remains to understand how life began on Earth. She joined Host Flora Lichtman for our live show at the Fox Theater in Redwood City, California, to talk about how her work may help us find life elsewhere in the universe.

Guest: Dr. Paula Welander is a professor of Earth system science at Stanford University.

Transcripts for each episode are available within 1-3 days at sciencefriday.com.

Subscribe to this podcast. Plus, to stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.

  continue reading

1559 episodes

Artwork
iconShare
 
Manage episode 508088178 series 3381328
Content provided by Audioboom and Science Friday. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by Audioboom and Science Friday or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://podcastplayer.com/legal.

Sift through your memories and excavate an image of a fossil. Maybe you’re picturing dinosaur bones, the imprint of an ammonite, or the fronds of a fern etched into stone. But there’s a whole other category of fossilized remains that can tell us about life way before T. rexes, or even twigs, existed on this planet. That’s fossilized evidence of microbes.

Microbiologist Paula Welander uses these ancient remains to understand how life began on Earth. She joined Host Flora Lichtman for our live show at the Fox Theater in Redwood City, California, to talk about how her work may help us find life elsewhere in the universe.

Guest: Dr. Paula Welander is a professor of Earth system science at Stanford University.

Transcripts for each episode are available within 1-3 days at sciencefriday.com.

Subscribe to this podcast. Plus, to stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.

  continue reading

1559 episodes

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