Dr. Steven (Steve) Novella

speaker

1,490 appearances 2 recordings 1 series first heard May 2026 last heard 27 Jun

Dr. Steven (Steve) Novella’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.

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recordings per month · last 12 months

Recordings per month over the last 12 months — 2 in all, peaking in Jun 2026 with 1.

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The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe · The Skeptics Guide #872 - Mar 26 2022 podcast

Symbiotic. voice-verified

Yeah, symbiotically, you know, and sometimes parasitically, which, of course, we all know that that happens. voice-verified

There may have been, quote, unquote, viruses. voice-verified

Before there were even cells. voice-verified

Think about that. voice-verified

There was parasitic – what's parasitic RNA other than a virus, right? voice-verified

Yeah, right. voice-verified

So, sure. voice-verified

provides evidence that it could have happened right yeah that's possible scenario that's what we can't disprove that it could have happened that's what this research is focused on what could have happened not what did happen we don't know what happened we you know we can't go back in time we can't again we maybe one day we'll be able to look at other evolutionary systems at different stages you know when we travel to other worlds but for for now what do we got we have proof of concept this is what could happen and maybe simulations you know computer simulations voice-verified

That's pretty much it, you know, but there's no way to go back and look and say what actually did happen. voice-verified

I mean, we may be able to infer it in some way. voice-verified

But that's it. voice-verified

So this answers a specific question. voice-verified

Can multiple lineages of RNA coexist even in the same niche of building off the same resources? voice-verified

It also showed something very interesting, and that is these RNA molecules evolved, right? voice-verified

They were able to produce variation. voice-verified

There were selective pressures involved. voice-verified

They changed over time. voice-verified

They reached an equilibrium in their environment and with multiple different lineages coexisting and even cooperating. voice-verified

So that, I think, really raises the plausibility of RNA world as the origin of life, as a possible pathway. voice-verified

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