Are there universal laws of life and can we find them? Is there a physics of society, of ecology, of evolution? Join us for six episodes of thought-provoking insights on the physics of life and its profound implications on our understanding of the universe. In this season of the Santa Fe Institute’s Complexity podcast’s relaunch, we talk to researchers who have been exploring these questions and more through the lens of complexity science. Subscribe now and be part of the exploration!
https://complexity.simplecast.com
episode 1: What can physics tell us about ourselves?
Guests:
- Vijay Balasubramanian, External Professor at the Santa Fe Institute, Cathy and Marc Lasry Professor of Physics at the University of Pennsylvania
- Geoffrey West, Shannan Distinguished Professor and Past President, Santa Fe Institute
Hosts: Abha Eli Phoboo & Chris Kempes
Producer: Katherine Moncure
Podcast theme music: Mitch Mignano
Other Music: Blue Dot Sessions, Pink House Music, Eardeer, and Craig Smith.
Follow us on: Twitter • YouTube • Facebook • Instagram • LinkedIn • Bluesky
SFI programs:
- Complexity Global School
- Complexity Explorer: Fractals & Scaling
- Education
Books & Stories:
- Tell Me Why by Arkady Leokum
- Scale by Geoffrey West
- “Funes, the Memorious” by Jorge Luis Borges
Talks:
- How the Brain Makes You: Collective Intelligence and Computation by Neural Circuits by Vijay Balasubramanian
- The Future of the Planet: Life, Growth and Death in Organisms, Cities and Companies by Geoffrey West
- Energy, Scaling & The Future of Life on Earth by Geoffrey West
- Complex Time Working Group: “What is Sleep?” with Geoffrey West, Van Savage, Alex Herman
Papers:
- “Brain Power” in PNAS (August 2, 2021) doi.org/10.1073/pnas.210702211
- “The Physical Effects of Learning” preprint published in biorxiv
- “Unraveling why we sleep: Quantitative analysis reveals abrupt transition from neural reorganization to repair in early development” in Science Advances (September 18, 2020) DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aba0398
- “The Scales That Limit: The Physical Boundaries of Evolution” in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution (August 7, 2019) doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2019.00242