Our next IPI Lecture will be on Saturday, 6th of July at 16.00 London time.
Title: An informational
perspective of life
Abstract: Information
processing is a central feature of life and may be the key to developing bio-signatures
that are capable of detecting life as we do not know it. First, I will describe
how concepts that we generally associate with the field of data science are
strikingly descriptive of the way that life, in general, processes information
about its environment. Second, I will explore how the topologies of atmospheric
chemical reaction networks of Solar System bodies are distinct from one
another, with potential applications to exoplanet bio-signatures. Third, I will
show how a robust method that combines pyrolysis–GC–MS measurements of a wide
variety of terrestrial and extraterrestrial carbonaceous materials with
machine-learning-based classification to achieve ~90% accuracy in the
differentiation between samples of abiotic origins vs. biotic specimens.
Fourth, I will propose a new time-asymmetric law that states that the
functional information of a system will increase over time when subjected to
selection for function(s).
BIO: Dr. Michael L. Wong is an NHFP Sagan Postdoctoral Fellow at the Carnegie Institution for Science, Earth & Planets Laboratory studying astrobiology and planetary science. In his spare time, he hosts a podcast called Strange New Worlds, which examines science, technology, and culture through the lens of Star Trek.
6th of July at 16.00 London time. Online ZOOM lecture - link will be emailed to the IPI members.
