Sarah Walker

They always require an environment. So being self-sustaining is coupled in some sense to the world around you. We don't live in a vacuum. So that part's already challenging. And then you can go to chemical system. I don't think that's good either. I think there's a confusion because life emerges in chemistry, that life is chemical. I don't think life is chemical.

They always require an environment. So being self-sustaining is coupled in some sense to the world around you. We don't live in a vacuum. So that part's already challenging. And then you can go to chemical system. I don't think that's good either. I think there's a confusion because life emerges in chemistry, that life is chemical. I don't think life is chemical.

I think life emerges in chemistry because chemistry is the first thing the universe builds where it cannot exhaust all the possibilities because the combinatorial space of chemistry is too large.

I think life emerges in chemistry because chemistry is the first thing the universe builds where it cannot exhaust all the possibilities because the combinatorial space of chemistry is too large.

I think life emerges in chemistry because chemistry is the first thing the universe builds where it cannot exhaust all the possibilities because the combinatorial space of chemistry is too large.

Yes.

Yes.

Yes.

Oh, sure. Or maybe. I don't know.

Oh, sure. Or maybe. I don't know.

Oh, sure. Or maybe. I don't know.

Where the – very precisely, it's not the first thing it creates. Obviously, like, it has to make atoms first. But it's the first thing. Like, if you think about, you know, the universe originated, atoms were made in, you know, Big Bang nuclear synthesis and then later in stars and then planets formed and planets become engines of chemistry. They start exploring what kind of chemistry is possible.

Where the – very precisely, it's not the first thing it creates. Obviously, like, it has to make atoms first. But it's the first thing. Like, if you think about, you know, the universe originated, atoms were made in, you know, Big Bang nuclear synthesis and then later in stars and then planets formed and planets become engines of chemistry. They start exploring what kind of chemistry is possible.

Where the – very precisely, it's not the first thing it creates. Obviously, like, it has to make atoms first. But it's the first thing. Like, if you think about, you know, the universe originated, atoms were made in, you know, Big Bang nuclear synthesis and then later in stars and then planets formed and planets become engines of chemistry. They start exploring what kind of chemistry is possible.

Okay. And the combinatorial space of chemistry is so large that even on every planet in the entire universe, you will never express every possible molecule. I like this example actually that Lee gave me, which is to think about taxol. It has a molecular weight of about It's got, you know, a lot of atoms, but it's not astronomically large.

Okay. And the combinatorial space of chemistry is so large that even on every planet in the entire universe, you will never express every possible molecule. I like this example actually that Lee gave me, which is to think about taxol. It has a molecular weight of about It's got, you know, a lot of atoms, but it's not astronomically large.

Okay. And the combinatorial space of chemistry is so large that even on every planet in the entire universe, you will never express every possible molecule. I like this example actually that Lee gave me, which is to think about taxol. It has a molecular weight of about It's got, you know, a lot of atoms, but it's not astronomically large.

And if you tried to make one molecule with that molecular formula and every three-dimensional shape you could make with that molecular formula, it would fill 1.5 universes. So with one unique molecule. That's just one molecule. So chemical space is huge.

And if you tried to make one molecule with that molecular formula and every three-dimensional shape you could make with that molecular formula, it would fill 1.5 universes. So with one unique molecule. That's just one molecule. So chemical space is huge.

And if you tried to make one molecule with that molecular formula and every three-dimensional shape you could make with that molecular formula, it would fill 1.5 universes. So with one unique molecule. That's just one molecule. So chemical space is huge.