The Humble Microbe Could Help Us Understand Life Itself
Summary
Dr. Paula Welander explains how ancient microbial chemical fossils, specifically preserved lipids, provide crucial insights into Earth's early history, revealing how life adapted to extreme conditions long before complex organisms existed. She details how studying extremophiles from hot springs informs our understanding of major planetary changes, like the rise of oxygen. Furthermore, this research is vital for identifying potential biosignatures and guiding the search for extraterrestrial life, highlighting the importance of basic scientific discovery in understanding our universe.Episode description
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.
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