1 00:00:00,790 --> 00:00:07,320 [Music] 2 00:00:11,650 --> 00:00:08,680 [Applause] 3 00:00:14,560 --> 00:00:11,660 I like the Sierra's tournament she 4 00:00:18,220 --> 00:00:14,570 brought up earlier about talking about 5 00:00:19,240 --> 00:00:18,230 weird life and I feel like we maybe we 6 00:00:20,710 --> 00:00:19,250 should have kept it maybe we lost 7 00:00:24,339 --> 00:00:20,720 something when we convened the topic 8 00:00:26,710 --> 00:00:24,349 because what I'm obsessed with what 9 00:00:28,179 --> 00:00:26,720 Vladimir's obsessed with and Kobayashi 10 00:00:30,849 --> 00:00:28,189 sensei is obsessed with his weird 11 00:00:33,070 --> 00:00:30,859 chemistry we are so far beyond 12 00:00:35,710 --> 00:00:33,080 equilibrium it's not even funny 13 00:00:38,439 --> 00:00:35,720 right so what happens when we are really 14 00:00:40,360 --> 00:00:38,449 really far away from conditions that are 15 00:00:42,490 --> 00:00:40,370 near and dear and Clement to us as 16 00:00:46,540 --> 00:00:42,500 organisms what does the chemistry look 17 00:00:49,180 --> 00:00:46,550 like and I'm basically obsessed with 18 00:00:52,209 --> 00:00:49,190 this question and it's tied to getting 19 00:00:54,880 --> 00:00:52,219 really far from equilibrium about at 20 00:00:56,770 --> 00:00:54,890 what point in the prebiotic history did 21 00:00:58,660 --> 00:00:56,780 life's organizational attributes arise 22 00:01:00,189 --> 00:00:58,670 I'm not the first one and this is not 23 00:01:03,880 --> 00:01:00,199 even my main thing but I'm obsessed with 24 00:01:06,070 --> 00:01:03,890 this question and there are a couple of 25 00:01:08,109 --> 00:01:06,080 ways that we can approach this or think 26 00:01:09,850 --> 00:01:08,119 about how it could have happened one is 27 00:01:11,950 --> 00:01:09,860 to just say well it showed up as an 28 00:01:13,900 --> 00:01:11,960 emergent property and maybe it's nearer 29 00:01:18,669 --> 00:01:13,910 to the emergence of a cell than it was 30 00:01:20,020 --> 00:01:18,679 the chemistry or perhaps it was if you 31 00:01:21,880 --> 00:01:20,030 strip away everything you know about a 32 00:01:24,040 --> 00:01:21,890 cell everything you know about chemistry 33 00:01:27,040 --> 00:01:24,050 and molecules and you only talk about 34 00:01:28,449 --> 00:01:27,050 the relationships among objects to me 35 00:01:30,249 --> 00:01:28,459 it's really intriguing if those 36 00:01:32,230 --> 00:01:30,259 organizational attributes go all the way 37 00:01:34,570 --> 00:01:32,240 back all the way back to the very 38 00:01:36,370 --> 00:01:34,580 beginning of the process itself and in 39 00:01:38,469 --> 00:01:36,380 fact maybe could have only life could 40 00:01:42,389 --> 00:01:38,479 have only arisen in those circumstances 41 00:01:45,070 --> 00:01:42,399 and localities where the environment is 42 00:01:46,839 --> 00:01:45,080 driving organizational attributes to 43 00:01:48,309 --> 00:01:46,849 arise among objects from the very 44 00:01:53,830 --> 00:01:48,319 beginning and that's what this talk is 45 00:01:55,419 --> 00:01:53,840 about today so when we talk about making 46 00:01:57,339 --> 00:01:55,429 this transition we have to go from 47 00:01:59,290 --> 00:01:57,349 prebiotic chemistry which is just a 48 00:02:00,580 --> 00:01:59,300 bunch of of reactions that are occurring 49 00:02:03,240 --> 00:02:00,590 and products that are coming out and 50 00:02:05,949 --> 00:02:03,250 coming up with some integrated holistic 51 00:02:07,779 --> 00:02:05,959 entity something that's reacting with 52 00:02:10,630 --> 00:02:07,789 itself and its environment in a very 53 00:02:13,150 --> 00:02:10,640 complex way and when we think about this 54 00:02:14,140 --> 00:02:13,160 transition we can think about it and 55 00:02:16,660 --> 00:02:14,150 looking at it from a network perspective 56 00:02:19,030 --> 00:02:16,670 I know Sarah Walker's been working on 57 00:02:21,940 --> 00:02:19,040 things like this for a long time but 58 00:02:23,800 --> 00:02:21,950 something about the network the network 59 00:02:25,270 --> 00:02:23,810 active gives us this information when we 60 00:02:26,920 --> 00:02:25,280 look at it so you're looking at a 61 00:02:29,380 --> 00:02:26,930 protein interaction map for an e coli 62 00:02:31,290 --> 00:02:29,390 cell and it might not make a lot of 63 00:02:33,729 --> 00:02:31,300 sense to you when you first see it but 64 00:02:35,110 --> 00:02:33,739 to people who study these things there 65 00:02:36,490 --> 00:02:35,120 are a couple of attributes that jump out 66 00:02:38,830 --> 00:02:36,500 with a network like this that are very 67 00:02:41,259 --> 00:02:38,840 striking they're very unusual very 68 00:02:43,630 --> 00:02:41,269 unlikely and one of those things is that 69 00:02:47,410 --> 00:02:43,640 the arrangement of objects is is very 70 00:02:49,330 --> 00:02:47,420 heterogeneous there's a cluster of very 71 00:02:51,250 --> 00:02:49,340 highly connected things in the center 72 00:02:52,570 --> 00:02:51,260 and there's a relatively small number of 73 00:02:55,120 --> 00:02:52,580 the total number of things in the 74 00:02:57,699 --> 00:02:55,130 network around it are a moderate number 75 00:03:00,309 --> 00:02:57,709 of moderately well connected objects and 76 00:03:01,539 --> 00:03:00,319 all around the periphery are a really 77 00:03:04,600 --> 00:03:01,549 high number of things that are only 78 00:03:05,920 --> 00:03:04,610 connected once or twice all right this 79 00:03:08,770 --> 00:03:05,930 is what's known as a heavy tailed 80 00:03:10,720 --> 00:03:08,780 distribution okay and we're gonna talk 81 00:03:12,910 --> 00:03:10,730 about I'm gonna kind of use this as an 82 00:03:14,589 --> 00:03:12,920 example to compare these two types of 83 00:03:15,819 --> 00:03:14,599 network arrangements and talk about why 84 00:03:18,550 --> 00:03:15,829 they're fundamentally different from one 85 00:03:20,020 --> 00:03:18,560 another so if you imagine a network with 86 00:03:22,120 --> 00:03:20,030 this you know these are two networks 87 00:03:24,160 --> 00:03:22,130 with the same number of components but 88 00:03:27,280 --> 00:03:24,170 one of them has an average distribution 89 00:03:29,020 --> 00:03:27,290 of connections per object in the network 90 00:03:30,309 --> 00:03:29,030 there's going to be this kind of bell 91 00:03:32,680 --> 00:03:30,319 curve it's a called a Poisson 92 00:03:33,970 --> 00:03:32,690 distribution and most nodes have an 93 00:03:36,009 --> 00:03:33,980 average number of links there might be a 94 00:03:37,420 --> 00:03:36,019 couple to have one more two more it 95 00:03:39,610 --> 00:03:37,430 might be a couple that have a little bit 96 00:03:41,590 --> 00:03:39,620 less but basically it's statistically 97 00:03:43,390 --> 00:03:41,600 impossible for highly linked nodes to 98 00:03:46,420 --> 00:03:43,400 occur even with a high number of objects 99 00:03:47,410 --> 00:03:46,430 in this system but this is fundamentally 100 00:03:49,390 --> 00:03:47,420 different from a heavy tailed 101 00:03:52,000 --> 00:03:49,400 distribution because there's basically 102 00:03:54,400 --> 00:03:52,010 no average there's no average property 103 00:03:56,559 --> 00:03:54,410 when that you can extrapolate the kind 104 00:03:58,240 --> 00:03:56,569 of network behavior properties based on 105 00:04:00,670 --> 00:03:58,250 analyzing each of these individual 106 00:04:02,080 --> 00:04:00,680 things and we see hubs that are really 107 00:04:04,330 --> 00:04:02,090 highly connected but there's a 108 00:04:05,530 --> 00:04:04,340 relatively few of them we see a moderate 109 00:04:07,150 --> 00:04:05,540 number of things that are moderately 110 00:04:09,849 --> 00:04:07,160 well-connected and in a bunch of stuff 111 00:04:12,580 --> 00:04:09,859 at the edge that is only connected once 112 00:04:14,740 --> 00:04:12,590 or twice all right so the kind of 113 00:04:17,020 --> 00:04:14,750 analogies I use this is you know 20 114 00:04:20,110 --> 00:04:17,030 people waiting in line at the DMV this 115 00:04:22,839 --> 00:04:20,120 is 20 people at a Flaming Lips concert 116 00:04:25,330 --> 00:04:22,849 all right this is 300 people on a plane 117 00:04:27,550 --> 00:04:25,340 from Chicago to Seattle last Sunday this 118 00:04:29,469 --> 00:04:27,560 is AB saikhan all right in one of these 119 00:04:31,540 --> 00:04:29,479 situations not a lots going to happen 120 00:04:33,610 --> 00:04:31,550 the random people they're interacting in 121 00:04:34,490 --> 00:04:33,620 very limited ways nothing surprising is 122 00:04:36,140 --> 00:04:34,500 gonna happen 123 00:04:39,470 --> 00:04:36,150 but when you connect things like this 124 00:04:41,510 --> 00:04:39,480 you get nonlinear behaviors unexpected 125 00:04:43,310 --> 00:04:41,520 things all right you can force the 126 00:04:43,850 --> 00:04:43,320 system you can perturb it maybe nothing 127 00:04:45,380 --> 00:04:43,860 happens 128 00:04:46,880 --> 00:04:45,390 maybe then all of a sudden a step 129 00:04:50,000 --> 00:04:46,890 function happens in things change very 130 00:04:51,620 --> 00:04:50,010 quickly and it all comes down to the 131 00:04:54,650 --> 00:04:51,630 existence of these links that are 132 00:04:56,660 --> 00:04:54,660 concentrated in relatively few objects 133 00:04:58,880 --> 00:04:56,670 so to understand how the system is going 134 00:05:00,710 --> 00:04:58,890 to unfold you really have to understand 135 00:05:02,870 --> 00:05:00,720 these really highly linked objects and 136 00:05:04,820 --> 00:05:02,880 when we think about the chemistry we 137 00:05:08,960 --> 00:05:04,830 want to maybe look for systems that look 138 00:05:11,390 --> 00:05:08,970 like this from the very beginning why do 139 00:05:13,040 --> 00:05:11,400 we think this because we see it repeated 140 00:05:15,080 --> 00:05:13,050 as a pattern across all of life's 141 00:05:15,650 --> 00:05:15,090 organizational hierarchy all the way to 142 00:05:17,540 --> 00:05:15,660 the top 143 00:05:20,680 --> 00:05:17,550 it's a planetary level to biosphere in 144 00:05:23,270 --> 00:05:20,690 the middle with groups of ecosystems 145 00:05:26,270 --> 00:05:23,280 populations of cells and even at the sub 146 00:05:28,159 --> 00:05:26,280 cellular level with gene transcription 147 00:05:29,900 --> 00:05:28,169 rates and protein protein interaction 148 00:05:32,690 --> 00:05:29,910 networks it's everywhere on this 149 00:05:34,310 --> 00:05:32,700 hierarchy so how far about how far down 150 00:05:37,460 --> 00:05:34,320 does it go and does it proceed all the 151 00:05:39,050 --> 00:05:37,470 way back to the origins of life itself a 152 00:05:40,880 --> 00:05:39,060 lot of work has been done kind of 153 00:05:44,060 --> 00:05:40,890 describing this it was a hot topic about 154 00:05:45,440 --> 00:05:44,070 15 20 years ago and recent work has been 155 00:05:47,690 --> 00:05:45,450 published kind of explaining and 156 00:05:49,280 --> 00:05:47,700 describing why this is interesting what 157 00:05:51,590 --> 00:05:49,290 the unique properties of such systems 158 00:05:56,780 --> 00:05:51,600 might be as they pertain to prebiotic 159 00:06:00,050 --> 00:05:56,790 chemistry and so I got started on this 160 00:06:02,030 --> 00:06:00,060 basically because networks at that have 161 00:06:03,170 --> 00:06:02,040 been reported recently in the literature 162 00:06:05,450 --> 00:06:03,180 this is kind of where things are 163 00:06:07,790 --> 00:06:05,460 progressing we're not as much interested 164 00:06:09,830 --> 00:06:07,800 in whether we find amino acids or 165 00:06:12,260 --> 00:06:09,840 whether we find nucleotides or whether 166 00:06:13,909 --> 00:06:12,270 they join together we want to know how 167 00:06:15,710 --> 00:06:13,919 they relate to one another and if they 168 00:06:17,360 --> 00:06:15,720 interact with one another because if 169 00:06:18,980 --> 00:06:17,370 they don't interact with one another you 170 00:06:20,409 --> 00:06:18,990 have all the amino acids you want on all 171 00:06:23,180 --> 00:06:20,419 the planets in the solar system 172 00:06:25,490 --> 00:06:23,190 nothing's going to happen but the 173 00:06:26,840 --> 00:06:25,500 network's we do have are relatively 174 00:06:29,390 --> 00:06:26,850 limited it is almost like a micro 175 00:06:32,150 --> 00:06:29,400 network and you start with in this case 176 00:06:34,250 --> 00:06:32,160 you're trying to assemble a nucleotide 177 00:06:35,750 --> 00:06:34,260 that will lead you into RNA world and 178 00:06:38,030 --> 00:06:35,760 you're trying to assemble it with the 179 00:06:40,790 --> 00:06:38,040 fewest steps possible and you rely on 180 00:06:42,800 --> 00:06:40,800 these really reactive relatively 181 00:06:45,290 --> 00:06:42,810 unlikely compounds to be present in high 182 00:06:47,779 --> 00:06:45,300 abundance things like cyano acetylene 183 00:06:48,230 --> 00:06:47,789 cyanamide and your sugar precursors 184 00:06:50,540 --> 00:06:48,240 closer 185 00:06:53,300 --> 00:06:50,550 aldehyde and glycol aldehyde so my work 186 00:06:55,850 --> 00:06:53,310 involved trying to generate these 187 00:06:57,409 --> 00:06:55,860 compounds from scratch you know don't 188 00:06:59,480 --> 00:06:57,419 take them as a given in the environment 189 00:07:03,589 --> 00:06:59,490 where do they come from nitrogen carbon 190 00:07:05,749 --> 00:07:03,599 dioxide etc and we focused on one of the 191 00:07:07,520 --> 00:07:05,759 ways of getting to this step and the 192 00:07:09,860 --> 00:07:07,530 shortest way possible would be to use 193 00:07:11,510 --> 00:07:09,870 free radical chemistry chemistry really 194 00:07:14,689 --> 00:07:11,520 far from equilibrium so what are free 195 00:07:16,939 --> 00:07:14,699 radicals free radicals are I don't know 196 00:07:19,640 --> 00:07:16,949 the island of misfit molecules all right 197 00:07:21,559 --> 00:07:19,650 you start with a nice stable 198 00:07:23,659 --> 00:07:21,569 clément molecule it's very happy 199 00:07:26,930 --> 00:07:23,669 relatively unreactive it's not doing 200 00:07:29,350 --> 00:07:26,940 much of anything but if you blink off 201 00:07:32,930 --> 00:07:29,360 one of its electrons and its outer shell 202 00:07:34,879 --> 00:07:32,940 it becomes a free radical and this 203 00:07:36,290 --> 00:07:34,889 radical is very highly reactive and very 204 00:07:38,360 --> 00:07:36,300 promiscuous it doesn't really care 205 00:07:39,770 --> 00:07:38,370 what's around it it's going to react 206 00:07:42,200 --> 00:07:39,780 with something eventually it's going to 207 00:07:44,629 --> 00:07:42,210 do it very very quickly so all of a 208 00:07:46,219 --> 00:07:44,639 sudden you've turned your molecules 209 00:07:47,899 --> 00:07:46,229 which are otherwise kind of spectators 210 00:07:49,760 --> 00:07:47,909 in the chemistry around it and in the 211 00:07:54,230 --> 00:07:49,770 environment around it things like water 212 00:07:55,550 --> 00:07:54,240 or nitrogen or carbon dioxide all of a 213 00:07:58,070 --> 00:07:55,560 sudden they've become highly reactive 214 00:07:59,600 --> 00:07:58,080 and they can interact the the number of 215 00:08:01,879 --> 00:07:59,610 interactions that are possible increased 216 00:08:03,290 --> 00:08:01,889 dramatically we haven't added any 217 00:08:05,270 --> 00:08:03,300 reactive compounds we don't need to 218 00:08:07,459 --> 00:08:05,280 remove any waste products we're just 219 00:08:09,860 --> 00:08:07,469 adding energy to the system and we're 220 00:08:11,540 --> 00:08:09,870 asking where does this take us so we 221 00:08:13,430 --> 00:08:11,550 started investigating the radio lytic 222 00:08:14,870 --> 00:08:13,440 chemistry of these ribonucleotide 223 00:08:17,510 --> 00:08:14,880 precursors and we found some really 224 00:08:19,430 --> 00:08:17,520 interesting things over the last three 225 00:08:21,350 --> 00:08:19,440 years we've kind of distilled these kind 226 00:08:23,240 --> 00:08:21,360 of high-level rules that might point to 227 00:08:24,980 --> 00:08:23,250 where what a network would look like if 228 00:08:27,499 --> 00:08:24,990 we were to build one or actually realize 229 00:08:29,540 --> 00:08:27,509 the system and the first is that you 230 00:08:30,980 --> 00:08:29,550 think if you've got energy that's so far 231 00:08:33,769 --> 00:08:30,990 from equilibrium that you're going to 232 00:08:35,360 --> 00:08:33,779 degrade compounds in equal measure as 233 00:08:38,240 --> 00:08:35,370 you produce them but that's just not the 234 00:08:41,389 --> 00:08:38,250 case in these systems what you're seeing 235 00:08:43,130 --> 00:08:41,399 here is a sequential kind of increase in 236 00:08:45,199 --> 00:08:43,140 dose as you go up on this chromatogram 237 00:08:47,060 --> 00:08:45,209 and what you see is that the relative 238 00:08:49,819 --> 00:08:47,070 concentrations of some compounds 239 00:08:51,199 --> 00:08:49,829 increase with total dose so your 240 00:08:54,139 --> 00:08:51,209 irradiating the hell out of this system 241 00:08:56,720 --> 00:08:54,149 some compounds are responding to that in 242 00:08:58,400 --> 00:08:56,730 in terms of growing over time and the 243 00:08:59,780 --> 00:08:58,410 more you radiate it the more compounds 244 00:09:03,079 --> 00:08:59,790 are going to come out they don't get 245 00:09:06,229 --> 00:09:03,089 degraded so that's interesting 246 00:09:08,299 --> 00:09:06,239 it scales with energy and but the next 247 00:09:11,119 --> 00:09:08,309 rule we discerned is that we could see 248 00:09:12,949 --> 00:09:11,129 repeated actions of the usual suspects 249 00:09:15,139 --> 00:09:12,959 the same radical showing up over and 250 00:09:17,720 --> 00:09:15,149 over and over and over again to kind of 251 00:09:20,530 --> 00:09:17,730 impart order on this system so we didn't 252 00:09:22,879 --> 00:09:20,540 get some kind of complicated Malou of 253 00:09:24,499 --> 00:09:22,889 sugars reacting with other sugars and 254 00:09:26,809 --> 00:09:24,509 spitting out this kind of shotgun blast 255 00:09:29,329 --> 00:09:26,819 of compounds the reason we only see some 256 00:09:32,749 --> 00:09:29,339 counts compounds produced in excess over 257 00:09:35,150 --> 00:09:32,759 others is because these same radicals 258 00:09:37,579 --> 00:09:35,160 interact with the secondary products the 259 00:09:39,319 --> 00:09:37,589 tertiary products and end up directing 260 00:09:41,119 --> 00:09:39,329 the chemistry in a very specific way and 261 00:09:42,829 --> 00:09:41,129 this was a finding that we just reported 262 00:09:45,439 --> 00:09:42,839 over this last year I think it's really 263 00:09:47,979 --> 00:09:45,449 really profound to think that we can 264 00:09:50,989 --> 00:09:47,989 generate our sugar precursors from 265 00:09:53,299 --> 00:09:50,999 basically water hydrogen cyanide a 266 00:09:54,799 --> 00:09:53,309 little bit of energy and we end up with 267 00:09:56,539 --> 00:09:54,809 exactly the sugars that we need for 268 00:09:59,059 --> 00:09:56,549 ribonucleotide assembly without creating 269 00:10:00,379 --> 00:09:59,069 the the excess mixture of sugars that 270 00:10:01,879 --> 00:10:00,389 are associated with the for most 271 00:10:05,119 --> 00:10:01,889 reaction this is a very significant 272 00:10:07,039 --> 00:10:05,129 finding but it allows us to kind of 273 00:10:08,780 --> 00:10:07,049 extract this room we saw this repeated 274 00:10:12,799 --> 00:10:08,790 in other areas of the work we were doing 275 00:10:14,269 --> 00:10:12,809 as well and the final rule is that it's 276 00:10:16,549 --> 00:10:14,279 really interesting to think but we can 277 00:10:18,710 --> 00:10:16,559 do reducing and oxidizing reactions in 278 00:10:21,220 --> 00:10:18,720 the exact same volume without a need for 279 00:10:24,169 --> 00:10:21,230 spatial or temporal compartmentalization 280 00:10:25,939 --> 00:10:24,179 these reactions can occur micrometer x' 281 00:10:27,650 --> 00:10:25,949 or maybe even nano nano meters from each 282 00:10:30,049 --> 00:10:27,660 other all right the species are so 283 00:10:32,720 --> 00:10:30,059 energetic and the compounds are moving 284 00:10:34,069 --> 00:10:32,730 so quickly in the system that right next 285 00:10:36,169 --> 00:10:34,079 to you can have a water molecule which 286 00:10:39,169 --> 00:10:36,179 becomes a hydroxyl radical and a 287 00:10:41,090 --> 00:10:39,179 hydrogen radical or you can have a salt 288 00:10:43,999 --> 00:10:41,100 ion that ends up contributing to the 289 00:10:46,009 --> 00:10:44,009 formation of hypochlorite in the same 290 00:10:47,900 --> 00:10:46,019 system they don't just back react with 291 00:10:49,699 --> 00:10:47,910 each other and dissipate the energy they 292 00:10:52,069 --> 00:10:49,709 end up driving very specific pathways 293 00:10:53,840 --> 00:10:52,079 that lead to our nucleotide precursors 294 00:10:56,539 --> 00:10:53,850 that we need our assembly compounds are 295 00:10:59,119 --> 00:10:56,549 condensing agents when you add up all 296 00:11:01,039 --> 00:10:59,129 these three rules together you can start 297 00:11:02,299 --> 00:11:01,049 to ask okay what's the smallest box that 298 00:11:04,939 --> 00:11:02,309 we could put this in and what would 299 00:11:06,650 --> 00:11:04,949 happen what's the smallest number of 300 00:11:08,509 --> 00:11:06,660 reactants that we would need to assemble 301 00:11:10,100 --> 00:11:08,519 a nucleotide what would be the energy 302 00:11:12,409 --> 00:11:10,110 source that you'd use as a proxy for 303 00:11:13,939 --> 00:11:12,419 analyzing the system so we came up with 304 00:11:15,410 --> 00:11:13,949 this kind of idea that we completely 305 00:11:17,810 --> 00:11:15,420 enclose the system 306 00:11:20,050 --> 00:11:17,820 we set it at some average temperature T 307 00:11:23,480 --> 00:11:20,060 and we account for all the schnapps 308 00:11:25,310 --> 00:11:23,490 carbon hydrogen nitrogen sulfur we throw 309 00:11:27,230 --> 00:11:25,320 in some iron sulfide because we know at 310 00:11:30,200 --> 00:11:27,240 some point in life iron sulfur clusters 311 00:11:33,110 --> 00:11:30,210 are important as metabolic cofactors in 312 00:11:34,700 --> 00:11:33,120 enzymes and we throw in uranium oxide as 313 00:11:36,950 --> 00:11:34,710 a proxy for this really high energy 314 00:11:39,830 --> 00:11:36,960 system that we're looking for basically 315 00:11:41,600 --> 00:11:39,840 mega electron volts millions of times 316 00:11:43,910 --> 00:11:41,610 past the bond dissociation energy of 317 00:11:45,350 --> 00:11:43,920 these compounds and even just putting 318 00:11:46,670 --> 00:11:45,360 them in the box we can see okay there's 319 00:11:50,150 --> 00:11:46,680 gonna be some Network what is it going 320 00:11:51,470 --> 00:11:50,160 to look like what are the network 321 00:11:53,240 --> 00:11:51,480 properties that we observe in this 322 00:11:55,520 --> 00:11:53,250 system and do they look like properties 323 00:11:57,320 --> 00:11:55,530 we see in biological systems and if so 324 00:12:00,350 --> 00:11:57,330 would these network properties confer 325 00:12:02,570 --> 00:12:00,360 really unique dynamic robust chemical 326 00:12:04,160 --> 00:12:02,580 capabilities that we would see in life 327 00:12:07,670 --> 00:12:04,170 that we otherwise wouldn't see in these 328 00:12:09,500 --> 00:12:07,680 chemical systems we basically have been 329 00:12:10,910 --> 00:12:09,510 collecting free radical and radiolysis 330 00:12:13,070 --> 00:12:10,920 experiments that have been reported in 331 00:12:14,480 --> 00:12:13,080 the literature of the last 30 years some 332 00:12:16,450 --> 00:12:14,490 of them are the ones that we help piece 333 00:12:19,400 --> 00:12:16,460 together you saw in the previous slides 334 00:12:21,200 --> 00:12:19,410 we've been the photonic spectrum into 335 00:12:23,390 --> 00:12:21,210 these really coarse categories to 336 00:12:25,970 --> 00:12:23,400 account for energy transitions across 337 00:12:27,980 --> 00:12:25,980 these thresholds associated with say the 338 00:12:32,330 --> 00:12:27,990 nuclear force intervene lines electrons 339 00:12:33,860 --> 00:12:32,340 outer valence electrons and rotational 340 00:12:36,350 --> 00:12:33,870 and vibrational modes of the molecules 341 00:12:38,270 --> 00:12:36,360 just to try to keep track of where the 342 00:12:39,560 --> 00:12:38,280 non molecular species in the system of 343 00:12:42,680 --> 00:12:39,570 what they're doing how often they show 344 00:12:46,400 --> 00:12:42,690 up on top of this kind of fundamental 345 00:12:48,500 --> 00:12:46,410 base of free radical reactions we also 346 00:12:50,120 --> 00:12:48,510 added redox equations that would 347 00:12:52,010 --> 00:12:50,130 naturally occur because you have this 348 00:12:54,320 --> 00:12:52,020 abundance of reactive species showing up 349 00:12:56,300 --> 00:12:54,330 and getting produced over time and then 350 00:12:57,620 --> 00:12:56,310 we analyze the network in Jeffie to try 351 00:13:00,170 --> 00:12:57,630 to visualize what the network will look 352 00:13:01,340 --> 00:13:00,180 playing and what does the network look 353 00:13:04,250 --> 00:13:01,350 like it looks like this 354 00:13:05,660 --> 00:13:04,260 it looks something like what we saw in 355 00:13:08,780 --> 00:13:05,670 that first slide about the e coli 356 00:13:10,400 --> 00:13:08,790 protein interaction Network we see what 357 00:13:13,250 --> 00:13:10,410 we have here are all of the molecular 358 00:13:15,230 --> 00:13:13,260 and atomic species in green we have the 359 00:13:18,740 --> 00:13:15,240 equations that connect them in red and 360 00:13:20,510 --> 00:13:18,750 we've scaled the size of the molecular 361 00:13:22,490 --> 00:13:20,520 species by the number of times they're 362 00:13:24,050 --> 00:13:22,500 referenced in the network so if you're a 363 00:13:25,910 --> 00:13:24,060 hub if you're connected to a lot of 364 00:13:27,350 --> 00:13:25,920 other things you're being produced in 365 00:13:28,970 --> 00:13:27,360 excess and you're also producing a bunch 366 00:13:32,660 --> 00:13:28,980 of other things in excess 367 00:13:34,730 --> 00:13:32,670 you are a big hub in this and we see one 368 00:13:36,020 --> 00:13:34,740 or two major hubs a small assortment of 369 00:13:37,550 --> 00:13:36,030 minor hubs and a whole bunch of 370 00:13:40,490 --> 00:13:37,560 peripheral stuff that's only connected 371 00:13:41,900 --> 00:13:40,500 say twice right in the system so let's 372 00:13:44,240 --> 00:13:41,910 break this down let's put some names on 373 00:13:46,010 --> 00:13:44,250 this and see what we're looking at you 374 00:13:48,860 --> 00:13:46,020 can classify these by the types of 375 00:13:50,660 --> 00:13:48,870 reactions that are going on and we have 376 00:13:52,520 --> 00:13:50,670 basically all the high-energy stuff 377 00:13:54,590 --> 00:13:52,530 going on in the lower left-hand portion 378 00:13:56,180 --> 00:13:54,600 of this Network stuff that is really 379 00:13:59,540 --> 00:13:56,190 really above the bond dissociation 380 00:14:01,390 --> 00:13:59,550 energy and in between we have a range of 381 00:14:03,830 --> 00:14:01,400 geochemical chloride and nitrile 382 00:14:06,290 --> 00:14:03,840 reactions that are attenuating this 383 00:14:07,810 --> 00:14:06,300 energy kind of stepping it down from 384 00:14:11,000 --> 00:14:07,820 really far from equilibrium and 385 00:14:12,950 --> 00:14:11,010 eventually supporting a nest of 386 00:14:14,870 --> 00:14:12,960 reactions it's actually very very 387 00:14:16,820 --> 00:14:14,880 similar to that micro network that I 388 00:14:18,620 --> 00:14:16,830 first showed you that involves the 389 00:14:20,810 --> 00:14:18,630 abiotic assembly of a nucleotide 390 00:14:22,130 --> 00:14:20,820 compound and there's a couple of 391 00:14:24,290 --> 00:14:22,140 features that are interesting here one 392 00:14:26,810 --> 00:14:24,300 is that there are no parts of the 393 00:14:28,400 --> 00:14:26,820 nucleotide assembly equations that are 394 00:14:30,260 --> 00:14:28,410 really dependent or contingent upon 395 00:14:32,510 --> 00:14:30,270 these high-energy stuff they're kind of 396 00:14:34,610 --> 00:14:32,520 secondary and tertiary reactions that 397 00:14:36,260 --> 00:14:34,620 have already gone on so by the time the 398 00:14:38,090 --> 00:14:36,270 energy is here it's really not strong 399 00:14:41,840 --> 00:14:38,100 enough to disrupt or disturb the 400 00:14:43,550 --> 00:14:41,850 assembly process itself so let's look at 401 00:14:47,920 --> 00:14:43,560 what the inputs and outputs look like 402 00:14:49,940 --> 00:14:47,930 basically all of your environmental 403 00:14:51,920 --> 00:14:49,950 environmentally abundant molecules that 404 00:14:53,480 --> 00:14:51,930 drive the system undergird the system 405 00:14:56,390 --> 00:14:53,490 are all found kind of at the periphery 406 00:14:58,100 --> 00:14:56,400 and I pick out a couple of the outputs 407 00:15:01,580 --> 00:14:58,110 that are I think are interesting namely 408 00:15:04,520 --> 00:15:01,590 the assemble nucleotide and gypsum so 409 00:15:06,650 --> 00:15:04,530 gypsum has a a very interesting role 410 00:15:08,570 --> 00:15:06,660 here in that you're basically 411 00:15:10,820 --> 00:15:08,580 sequestering and dumping a bunch of 412 00:15:12,440 --> 00:15:10,830 oxygen into an insoluble phase that no 413 00:15:14,780 --> 00:15:12,450 longer participates in the free radical 414 00:15:17,240 --> 00:15:14,790 reactions what that means is that if you 415 00:15:19,910 --> 00:15:17,250 have a closed box and you have pyrite 416 00:15:21,470 --> 00:15:19,920 and you have apatite your sulfur and a 417 00:15:23,330 --> 00:15:21,480 lot of your oxygen is going to become 418 00:15:25,160 --> 00:15:23,340 locked up and it's going to drive the 419 00:15:27,410 --> 00:15:25,170 overall redox state of that system to a 420 00:15:29,720 --> 00:15:27,420 more reduced state over time without any 421 00:15:31,070 --> 00:15:29,730 external manipulation so what that means 422 00:15:33,050 --> 00:15:31,080 is that it really doesn't matter what 423 00:15:35,420 --> 00:15:33,060 the global redox state of the planet was 424 00:15:37,460 --> 00:15:35,430 if your box is smaller than a planet and 425 00:15:39,450 --> 00:15:37,470 this is a somewhat isolated system from 426 00:15:40,720 --> 00:15:39,460 that broader system 427 00:15:46,030 --> 00:15:40,730 [Music] 428 00:15:48,580 --> 00:15:46,040 Oh also what we see here also is that 429 00:15:51,340 --> 00:15:48,590 the dominant hubs the biggest hubs in 430 00:15:52,960 --> 00:15:51,350 this system are all water derived the 431 00:15:55,360 --> 00:15:52,970 biggest hub is actually the hydrogen 432 00:15:58,510 --> 00:15:55,370 radical right behind it water is here 433 00:16:00,070 --> 00:15:58,520 and a hydroxyl radical so you can kind 434 00:16:02,440 --> 00:16:00,080 of see in this radio lytic system that 435 00:16:04,750 --> 00:16:02,450 water is not just a solvent it's not 436 00:16:07,360 --> 00:16:04,760 just a remarkable solvent when you get 437 00:16:09,760 --> 00:16:07,370 really far from equilibrium water is 438 00:16:12,280 --> 00:16:09,770 channelizing your energy into very very 439 00:16:15,040 --> 00:16:12,290 specific compounds and very specific 440 00:16:17,500 --> 00:16:15,050 chemical outputs of the system so water 441 00:16:20,140 --> 00:16:17,510 in this sense is attenuating all of this 442 00:16:22,660 --> 00:16:20,150 energy and giving imparting some level 443 00:16:24,460 --> 00:16:22,670 of structure on the resulting network I 444 00:16:26,260 --> 00:16:24,470 think that's pretty remarkable it's it's 445 00:16:27,430 --> 00:16:26,270 a property of water that we normally 446 00:16:29,950 --> 00:16:27,440 wouldn't think about in a chemical 447 00:16:32,350 --> 00:16:29,960 context but there it is it jumps out 448 00:16:33,910 --> 00:16:32,360 plain as day in the network as being all 449 00:16:37,720 --> 00:16:33,920 of these major hubs around which 450 00:16:39,400 --> 00:16:37,730 everything else occurs the network 451 00:16:42,340 --> 00:16:39,410 connectivity histogram this has meaning 452 00:16:45,010 --> 00:16:42,350 for complex systems theorists people who 453 00:16:47,290 --> 00:16:45,020 know that when we plot out basically the 454 00:16:49,840 --> 00:16:47,300 relative occurrence and the connectivity 455 00:16:51,760 --> 00:16:49,850 of these different objects this pattern 456 00:16:54,760 --> 00:16:51,770 and the relatively linear slope in log 457 00:16:57,160 --> 00:16:54,770 log space is basically implying that 458 00:16:58,720 --> 00:16:57,170 it's possible that at least within the 459 00:17:00,760 --> 00:16:58,730 limits of resolution for this very core 460 00:17:02,500 --> 00:17:00,770 system this chemical system might be 461 00:17:06,280 --> 00:17:02,510 operating near a phase transition 462 00:17:08,170 --> 00:17:06,290 between chaos and order that doesn't 463 00:17:09,819 --> 00:17:08,180 really mean a lot of to us that study 464 00:17:12,340 --> 00:17:09,829 chemistry but what it means in terms of 465 00:17:14,380 --> 00:17:12,350 systems physics is that it should be a 466 00:17:16,960 --> 00:17:14,390 highly dynamic system it should maintain 467 00:17:19,660 --> 00:17:16,970 its overall cohesion even if you 468 00:17:21,490 --> 00:17:19,670 introduce disturbances perturbance azure 469 00:17:23,620 --> 00:17:21,500 even if you try to manipulate the 470 00:17:26,380 --> 00:17:23,630 external parameters of the system it 471 00:17:28,930 --> 00:17:26,390 should still recapitulate aspects of 472 00:17:30,910 --> 00:17:28,940 this broader Network framework in 473 00:17:33,160 --> 00:17:30,920 structure which is kind of like what 474 00:17:35,050 --> 00:17:33,170 life is right we're very versatile when 475 00:17:36,850 --> 00:17:35,060 we reproduce our child looks kind of 476 00:17:39,280 --> 00:17:36,860 like us but not exactly like us and you 477 00:17:41,110 --> 00:17:39,290 can you know we can go to the top of a 478 00:17:42,670 --> 00:17:41,120 mountain we can go swim in a lake we're 479 00:17:45,280 --> 00:17:42,680 still going to be our bodies and still 480 00:17:47,290 --> 00:17:45,290 maintain our structure so there's some 481 00:17:49,540 --> 00:17:47,300 aspect of dynamism and robustness hidden 482 00:17:52,450 --> 00:17:49,550 in here but when we dive into why this 483 00:17:54,130 --> 00:17:52,460 system might be robust I just picked out 484 00:17:55,930 --> 00:17:54,140 two of these lower level exchange 485 00:17:58,210 --> 00:17:55,940 which I think we can consider as closed 486 00:18:00,910 --> 00:17:58,220 sets of molecules they're kind of 487 00:18:02,860 --> 00:18:00,920 interlinked between H n o HC o and CN 488 00:18:05,280 --> 00:18:02,870 and basically these things are occurring 489 00:18:07,510 --> 00:18:05,290 very very quickly at the basal level if 490 00:18:08,980 --> 00:18:07,520 you go a level above that to the 491 00:18:11,200 --> 00:18:08,990 compounds that tend to accumulate over 492 00:18:14,080 --> 00:18:11,210 time and these radio lytic systems you 493 00:18:16,210 --> 00:18:14,090 see another level above it of more 494 00:18:18,490 --> 00:18:16,220 stable long-lived but still reactive 495 00:18:20,770 --> 00:18:18,500 compounds and we can if you look with 496 00:18:22,870 --> 00:18:20,780 the close eye you can discern a broader 497 00:18:25,060 --> 00:18:22,880 cycle of each of the compounds needed to 498 00:18:26,770 --> 00:18:25,070 assemble a sim single nucleotide all 499 00:18:29,200 --> 00:18:26,780 occurring at this kind of hierarchical 500 00:18:31,450 --> 00:18:29,210 level your condensing agents your 501 00:18:34,450 --> 00:18:31,460 nucleobases your polyphosphates and your 502 00:18:37,210 --> 00:18:34,460 sugar precursors and at a level even 503 00:18:39,130 --> 00:18:37,220 higher than that your condensing agents 504 00:18:40,840 --> 00:18:39,140 and imidazoles eveing agents can also be 505 00:18:43,210 --> 00:18:40,850 theoretically used to assemble your 506 00:18:45,070 --> 00:18:43,220 oligonucleotides at a level that even 507 00:18:47,110 --> 00:18:45,080 transcends and explores a phase space 508 00:18:50,380 --> 00:18:47,120 above even this kind of radio lytic 509 00:18:51,700 --> 00:18:50,390 chemistry so we think that it might have 510 00:18:53,050 --> 00:18:51,710 a lot of these properties that have been 511 00:18:55,780 --> 00:18:53,060 described or inferred to have been 512 00:18:57,040 --> 00:18:55,790 needed very much at the very beginning 513 00:18:59,320 --> 00:18:57,050 for the chemistry of the origins of life 514 00:19:02,860 --> 00:18:59,330 to yield a dynamic chemical system like 515 00:19:05,230 --> 00:19:02,870 life and the production of these 516 00:19:06,730 --> 00:19:05,240 compounds should be relatively as simple 517 00:19:08,620 --> 00:19:06,740 as a rock rolling down a hill in an 518 00:19:10,060 --> 00:19:08,630 energetic sense it's going to happen one 519 00:19:13,060 --> 00:19:10,070 way or the other it's just a question of 520 00:19:14,740 --> 00:19:13,070 what happens along the way and this 521 00:19:16,630 --> 00:19:14,750 where could this kind of network occur 522 00:19:18,310 --> 00:19:16,640 it really down selects two relatively 523 00:19:20,560 --> 00:19:18,320 few places in our universe where you 524 00:19:23,160 --> 00:19:20,570 could have both mixed phases of 525 00:19:26,650 --> 00:19:23,170 reactants gas liquid and solid and 526 00:19:29,440 --> 00:19:26,660 really high-energy radiation coming from 527 00:19:32,400 --> 00:19:29,450 either super solar flares radiation 528 00:19:35,980 --> 00:19:32,410 belts around large magnetic field 529 00:19:37,960 --> 00:19:35,990 planets and radioactive mineral seams in 530 00:19:41,710 --> 00:19:37,970 geologic formations with relatively 531 00:19:43,090 --> 00:19:41,720 mature crust mantle systems so there's a 532 00:19:45,130 --> 00:19:43,100 lot of questions looking forward about 533 00:19:46,540 --> 00:19:45,140 integrating all of these equations and 534 00:19:48,160 --> 00:19:46,550 asking whether or not this would be 535 00:19:50,470 --> 00:19:48,170 realized in a physical system and 536 00:19:52,360 --> 00:19:50,480 whether that system itself would exhibit 537 00:19:55,180 --> 00:19:52,370 these kind of emergent properties at a 538 00:19:56,800 --> 00:19:55,190 really top level this is version one of 539 00:19:58,270 --> 00:19:56,810 the network version two we're working on 540 00:20:00,640 --> 00:19:58,280 getting it out we'll have a preprint and 541 00:20:02,620 --> 00:20:00,650 chem archive soon and I thank you for 542 00:20:05,330 --> 00:20:02,630 your time 543 00:20:08,159 --> 00:20:05,340 [Music] 544 00:20:12,129 --> 00:20:08,169 [Applause] 545 00:20:14,489 --> 00:20:12,139 we as we don't have our final speaker we 546 00:20:18,579 --> 00:20:14,499 do have some time for questions and 547 00:20:21,989 --> 00:20:18,589 before you all head to lunch because we 548 00:20:24,699 --> 00:20:21,999 feel free to do so I've been very 549 00:20:26,979 --> 00:20:24,709 encouraged to promote this wonderful new 550 00:20:30,249 --> 00:20:26,989 publication from NASA it's the issue 551 00:20:32,079 --> 00:20:30,259 number seven of the astrobiology graphic 552 00:20:34,869 --> 00:20:32,089 novel series and it will be given away 553 00:20:37,029 --> 00:20:34,879 tonight at 7 o'clock in the poster 554 00:20:40,029 --> 00:20:37,039 session and several of you are pictured 555 00:20:42,639 --> 00:20:40,039 as here as cartoon characters so it's a 556 00:20:44,109 --> 00:20:42,649 wonderful telling of where life might be 557 00:20:46,769 --> 00:20:44,119 found in the universe and the origin of 558 00:20:49,899 --> 00:20:46,779 life questions beautifully creatively 559 00:20:54,310 --> 00:20:49,909 produced by Aaron who may be here in the 560 00:20:57,489 --> 00:20:54,320 room and with that let's just also an 561 00:20:59,949 --> 00:20:57,499 announcement that after lunch please 562 00:21:02,129 --> 00:20:59,959 return we're having the next part of the 563 00:21:03,999 --> 00:21:02,139 session session 2 is more complex 564 00:21:06,369 --> 00:21:04,009 environments polymerization and 565 00:21:07,899 --> 00:21:06,379 capsulation selection so that's how 566 00:21:09,579 --> 00:21:07,909 we're doing this we're going from the 567 00:21:11,709 --> 00:21:09,589 simple formation of the compounds all 568 00:21:14,319 --> 00:21:11,719 the way up to complex away from 569 00:21:16,539 --> 00:21:14,329 equilibrium systems so first question in 570 00:21:18,099 --> 00:21:16,549 the center here hi Mike Wong from the 571 00:21:20,469 --> 00:21:18,109 University of Washington this is really 572 00:21:22,569 --> 00:21:20,479 fascinating work so at the plenary this 573 00:21:24,310 --> 00:21:22,579 morning eric smith said that in the 574 00:21:25,989 --> 00:21:24,320 origin of life community were very state 575 00:21:28,089 --> 00:21:25,999 focused and we should probably be a 576 00:21:29,649 --> 00:21:28,099 little more process focused so i'm 577 00:21:32,829 --> 00:21:29,659 wondering if one of the takeaways from 578 00:21:36,639 --> 00:21:32,839 your talk is that we can sort of distill 579 00:21:39,669 --> 00:21:36,649 the process behind the network topology 580 00:21:42,459 --> 00:21:39,679 of life to essentially the properties of 581 00:21:45,459 --> 00:21:42,469 free radical chemistry and that of water 582 00:21:48,279 --> 00:21:45,469 is that is that a comprehensive take 583 00:21:50,709 --> 00:21:48,289 away or yeah I think that's a excellent 584 00:21:53,079 --> 00:21:50,719 summary I would specify a couple of 585 00:21:54,699 --> 00:21:53,089 things that I think whether you believe 586 00:21:56,259 --> 00:21:54,709 this participated in the origins of life 587 00:21:57,699 --> 00:21:56,269 or not I think there are some really 588 00:21:59,379 --> 00:21:57,709 interesting dynamical properties 589 00:22:01,569 --> 00:21:59,389 associated with this Network that should 590 00:22:03,369 --> 00:22:01,579 be investigated but what I think is an 591 00:22:05,289 --> 00:22:03,379 advantage of this particular Network and 592 00:22:07,029 --> 00:22:05,299 tying to the origin of life you can 593 00:22:09,339 --> 00:22:07,039 create a lot of tractable hypotheses 594 00:22:12,099 --> 00:22:09,349 that connect these two for example with 595 00:22:14,000 --> 00:22:12,109 these closed networks of of radicals as 596 00:22:16,130 --> 00:22:14,010 long as the network is closed and as 597 00:22:18,049 --> 00:22:16,140 as at a network level there's some sink 598 00:22:20,030 --> 00:22:18,059 for oxygen it really shouldn't matter 599 00:22:23,299 --> 00:22:20,040 what the redox state of say the carbon 600 00:22:24,830 --> 00:22:23,309 is or the sulfur or the nitrogen at some 601 00:22:26,840 --> 00:22:24,840 point the system will be driven to be 602 00:22:29,390 --> 00:22:26,850 reduced over time that's an example 603 00:22:32,210 --> 00:22:29,400 another is that this is an idea I've 604 00:22:34,010 --> 00:22:32,220 been working on recently is that in 605 00:22:36,730 --> 00:22:34,020 making this jump from the radio lytic 606 00:22:40,070 --> 00:22:36,740 chemistry to say an oligomers chemistry 607 00:22:42,980 --> 00:22:40,080 that's explored by the hutt group Irene 608 00:22:44,720 --> 00:22:42,990 Chen we can actually say maybe in terms 609 00:22:46,549 --> 00:22:44,730 of exploring what functionality means 610 00:22:48,230 --> 00:22:46,559 for oligomers if we're looking for 611 00:22:50,870 --> 00:22:48,240 biological functionality that might be a 612 00:22:53,840 --> 00:22:50,880 very limited way of viewing what those 613 00:22:56,270 --> 00:22:53,850 short polymers can do these oligomers 614 00:22:58,970 --> 00:22:56,280 might have some emergent functionality 615 00:23:00,500 --> 00:22:58,980 with notes that are located near its 616 00:23:01,430 --> 00:23:00,510 emergence within the the chemical 617 00:23:04,430 --> 00:23:01,440 Network that we haven't thought about 618 00:23:06,740 --> 00:23:04,440 either manipulating alternative solvents 619 00:23:09,530 --> 00:23:06,750 or turning them into particular 620 00:23:11,840 --> 00:23:09,540 substrates that might be useful so maybe 621 00:23:13,850 --> 00:23:11,850 looking in terms of a radio lytic 622 00:23:15,380 --> 00:23:13,860 chemical functionality as opposed to a 623 00:23:16,730 --> 00:23:15,390 biological functionality for these 624 00:23:20,600 --> 00:23:16,740 shorter lemur sequences might be 625 00:23:21,950 --> 00:23:20,610 productive yeah cool thank you I might 626 00:23:23,690 --> 00:23:21,960 try signing University of Minnesota 627 00:23:27,830 --> 00:23:23,700 thanks for their really interesting talk 628 00:23:29,720 --> 00:23:27,840 I have maybe sort of probably answered 629 00:23:31,220 --> 00:23:29,730 it but I'd like to hear you articulate a 630 00:23:32,630 --> 00:23:31,230 little bit better perhaps so you 631 00:23:33,980 --> 00:23:32,640 described a really interesting system 632 00:23:35,690 --> 00:23:33,990 where you have a high energy source and 633 00:23:37,039 --> 00:23:35,700 you're sort of down just with 634 00:23:38,840 --> 00:23:37,049 consequences of the high energy source 635 00:23:41,630 --> 00:23:38,850 that is right reminiscent of a life like 636 00:23:43,970 --> 00:23:41,640 system and I I kind of wonder how much 637 00:23:48,669 --> 00:23:43,980 more how much of this of your model is 638 00:23:51,380 --> 00:23:48,679 really a metaphor or a model for life 639 00:23:55,280 --> 00:23:51,390 that's interesting okay oh oh 640 00:23:57,289 --> 00:23:55,290 I will first state that this is a 641 00:23:59,780 --> 00:23:57,299 collection of equations these represent 642 00:24:01,430 --> 00:23:59,790 data so as much as an ecosystem is a 643 00:24:02,750 --> 00:24:01,440 collection of individuals for which we 644 00:24:05,690 --> 00:24:02,760 have never have complete information 645 00:24:08,870 --> 00:24:05,700 this is definitely a data-driven it's 646 00:24:09,860 --> 00:24:08,880 not a model but that's an I think that's 647 00:24:11,210 --> 00:24:09,870 an interesting way of looking at 648 00:24:12,770 --> 00:24:11,220 especially when it comes to how we think 649 00:24:14,450 --> 00:24:12,780 about these things and how we design 650 00:24:16,640 --> 00:24:14,460 experiments and we acknowledge the 651 00:24:19,010 --> 00:24:16,650 limits and bias that are implicit with 652 00:24:21,049 --> 00:24:19,020 any study like this at what point does 653 00:24:22,970 --> 00:24:21,059 it is it undergirded by a complete 654 00:24:24,150 --> 00:24:22,980 mechanistic description and at what 655 00:24:26,250 --> 00:24:24,160 point does it become 656 00:24:28,050 --> 00:24:26,260 inferred model I don't really have an 657 00:24:29,670 --> 00:24:28,060 answer except that there are a lot of 658 00:24:32,250 --> 00:24:29,680 other people working on questions like 659 00:24:33,900 --> 00:24:32,260 this that have better answers than I do 660 00:24:35,490 --> 00:24:33,910 and I'm sorry I can't give me one but 661 00:24:37,290 --> 00:24:35,500 but it's an interesting level of 662 00:24:39,240 --> 00:24:37,300 inference when we can actually distill 663 00:24:40,710 --> 00:24:39,250 rules that make sense and seem to be 664 00:24:42,960 --> 00:24:40,720 repeated there's something about 665 00:24:44,390 --> 00:24:42,970 hierarchy implicit in our ability to 666 00:24:48,660 --> 00:24:44,400 make that statement with some assurance 667 00:24:52,710 --> 00:24:48,670 Thanks Thank You Ralph Madrid's McMaster 668 00:24:54,360 --> 00:24:52,720 is there the kind of relations in the 669 00:24:56,550 --> 00:24:54,370 peril law relations that you have for 670 00:24:58,680 --> 00:24:56,560 these heavy tales you'd show two of them 671 00:25:00,810 --> 00:24:58,690 this one and the protein want to begin 672 00:25:03,390 --> 00:25:00,820 with are they do they have some real 673 00:25:06,480 --> 00:25:03,400 indices is there kind of universality 674 00:25:09,870 --> 00:25:06,490 here and these power laws or are they 675 00:25:12,660 --> 00:25:09,880 quite distinct actually so there there 676 00:25:14,550 --> 00:25:12,670 is some degree of universality when we 677 00:25:15,990 --> 00:25:14,560 get down to the basic nuts and bolts 678 00:25:18,810 --> 00:25:16,000 description for how these things can 679 00:25:20,670 --> 00:25:18,820 show up in a physical sense and I'll 680 00:25:22,290 --> 00:25:20,680 defer to Sarah because I know she 681 00:25:23,430 --> 00:25:22,300 studies these things a lot better if you 682 00:25:25,710 --> 00:25:23,440 have a follow-up question if I don't 683 00:25:28,560 --> 00:25:25,720 answer it sufficiently well but 684 00:25:30,120 --> 00:25:28,570 basically the the exponent is very very 685 00:25:31,500 --> 00:25:30,130 meaningful I also point to one Juan 686 00:25:33,960 --> 00:25:31,510 Perez Mercator is gonna give a talk 687 00:25:36,810 --> 00:25:33,970 later on with this kind of exponential 688 00:25:39,030 --> 00:25:36,820 relationship between objects 689 00:25:40,950 --> 00:25:39,040 it basically means like the system is 690 00:25:42,690 --> 00:25:40,960 not completely frozen and crystallized 691 00:25:44,220 --> 00:25:42,700 and rigid but it also means it's not 692 00:25:46,980 --> 00:25:44,230 completely chaotic and doing something 693 00:25:48,270 --> 00:25:46,990 different every time you perturb it so 694 00:25:49,800 --> 00:25:48,280 this should give us a number of very 695 00:25:52,290 --> 00:25:49,810 interesting qualities at a physical 696 00:25:54,540 --> 00:25:52,300 level such as there it might be possible 697 00:25:56,520 --> 00:25:54,550 that this isn't a realization of a 698 00:25:58,620 --> 00:25:56,530 chemical computation system for example 699 00:26:01,080 --> 00:25:58,630 there might be computational primitives 700 00:26:04,350 --> 00:26:01,090 that are extractable from certain modes 701 00:26:05,400 --> 00:26:04,360 of this system being excited there is so 702 00:26:07,890 --> 00:26:05,410 there's a kind of a class of 703 00:26:11,430 --> 00:26:07,900 universality whether it transfers to 704 00:26:13,530 --> 00:26:11,440 this and what those Universal attributes 705 00:26:15,270 --> 00:26:13,540 might be we really have to flesh it out 706 00:26:18,340 --> 00:26:15,280 and actually try to build it to to make 707 00:26:20,530 --> 00:26:18,350 those kind of conclusions thank you 708 00:26:23,530 --> 00:26:20,540 Vladimir Putin NASA Goddard Space Flight 709 00:26:25,960 --> 00:26:23,540 Center yeah I want to comment on the 710 00:26:27,880 --> 00:26:25,970 last question on the universality the 711 00:26:31,650 --> 00:26:27,890 point is that this is a nonlinear system 712 00:26:34,930 --> 00:26:31,660 that eventually you know leads to the 713 00:26:37,420 --> 00:26:34,940 self-organized criticality and the 714 00:26:39,910 --> 00:26:37,430 general signature of self-organized 715 00:26:42,610 --> 00:26:39,920 criticality is the parallel distribution 716 00:26:45,850 --> 00:26:42,620 and actually it's interesting that the 717 00:26:48,340 --> 00:26:45,860 index of the distribution 0.8 is very 718 00:26:50,980 --> 00:26:48,350 characteristic for the any kind of 719 00:26:53,920 --> 00:26:50,990 system that we observe let's say solar 720 00:26:56,850 --> 00:26:53,930 flares they go with the they're the 721 00:27:00,490 --> 00:26:56,860 result of the self-organized criticality 722 00:27:03,490 --> 00:27:00,500 with the index of 0.8 or earthquake 723 00:27:07,270 --> 00:27:03,500 salvo Oh point of quakes so this index 724 00:27:09,670 --> 00:27:07,280 is very very interesting yeah and I 725 00:27:11,170 --> 00:27:09,680 think I don't want to make an overly 726 00:27:12,970 --> 00:27:11,180 broad statement but what we're hoping is 727 00:27:15,280 --> 00:27:12,980 that this might be the first Organo 728 00:27:17,590 --> 00:27:15,290 synthetic system that also has these 729 00:27:22,810 --> 00:27:17,600 these power-law relationship and perhaps 730 00:27:24,430 --> 00:27:22,820 self-organized critical attributes hi am 731 00:27:25,810 --> 00:27:24,440 my name is Steven freed from Johns 732 00:27:26,710 --> 00:27:25,820 Hopkins and I really enjoyed your 733 00:27:28,870 --> 00:27:26,720 presentation was really 734 00:27:30,640 --> 00:27:28,880 thought-provoking and I really 735 00:27:33,700 --> 00:27:30,650 appreciated how your discussion 736 00:27:36,100 --> 00:27:33,710 emphasized that by fertilizing water 737 00:27:39,190 --> 00:27:36,110 with these high energy photons to 738 00:27:40,600 --> 00:27:39,200 generate HOH da and those basically give 739 00:27:43,750 --> 00:27:40,610 you ingredients to start to assemble 740 00:27:45,490 --> 00:27:43,760 larger things but I guess what may be 741 00:27:47,710 --> 00:27:45,500 your discussion didn't focus as much on 742 00:27:49,840 --> 00:27:47,720 as how if you have already have complex 743 00:27:52,150 --> 00:27:49,850 molecules than they get they absorb a 744 00:27:53,950 --> 00:27:52,160 gamma photon there's probably more ways 745 00:27:55,330 --> 00:27:53,960 for them to fall apart than for them to 746 00:27:57,310 --> 00:27:55,340 come back together so I guess my 747 00:27:58,740 --> 00:27:57,320 question is how do you balance you know 748 00:28:01,690 --> 00:27:58,750 you have this hi a source of energy 749 00:28:04,300 --> 00:28:01,700 entropy is generally going to favor you 750 00:28:05,800 --> 00:28:04,310 know complex molecules falling apart we 751 00:28:07,990 --> 00:28:05,810 can draw a network that doesn't really 752 00:28:09,490 --> 00:28:08,000 tell us much about yield and the 753 00:28:11,980 --> 00:28:09,500 efficiency of things kind of staying 754 00:28:13,270 --> 00:28:11,990 together versus you know kind of falling 755 00:28:15,130 --> 00:28:13,280 back apart and curious what your 756 00:28:17,290 --> 00:28:15,140 thoughts might be on that yeah this is a 757 00:28:18,910 --> 00:28:17,300 recurring question about I think it 758 00:28:21,340 --> 00:28:18,920 leads to a broader discussion of 759 00:28:23,710 --> 00:28:21,350 plausibility because at the end of the 760 00:28:25,810 --> 00:28:23,720 day it's not enough to presume that 761 00:28:27,520 --> 00:28:25,820 there's an assembled nucleotide on one 762 00:28:28,570 --> 00:28:27,530 side of the planet and another one on 763 00:28:30,190 --> 00:28:28,580 the other side of the planet from a 764 00:28:30,730 --> 00:28:30,200 statistical point of view they're never 765 00:28:32,530 --> 00:28:30,740 going to enter 766 00:28:34,240 --> 00:28:32,540 or form a polymer or anything like that 767 00:28:35,950 --> 00:28:34,250 and basically at that scale that's 768 00:28:39,010 --> 00:28:35,960 that's like it saved this scale and 769 00:28:41,350 --> 00:28:39,020 we're at the scale way down here what I 770 00:28:43,299 --> 00:28:41,360 see here is that you can have a regime 771 00:28:45,340 --> 00:28:43,309 within this enclosed box and you also 772 00:28:46,390 --> 00:28:45,350 have a gradient within that box like if 773 00:28:48,600 --> 00:28:46,400 you really want to start to tear it 774 00:28:51,310 --> 00:28:48,610 apart and you can have a really strong 775 00:28:53,799 --> 00:28:51,320 zone of radiolysis occurring within a 776 00:28:55,419 --> 00:28:53,809 sub volume there that is being 777 00:28:57,280 --> 00:28:55,429 attenuated more or less within that 778 00:28:59,020 --> 00:28:57,290 volume and the products are kind of 779 00:29:00,280 --> 00:28:59,030 spilling out the edge so I put up this 780 00:29:01,720 --> 00:29:00,290 plot I didn't talk about it 781 00:29:04,870 --> 00:29:01,730 but basically if you have a really 782 00:29:07,000 --> 00:29:04,880 concentrated zone or like a boundary 783 00:29:08,260 --> 00:29:07,010 condition where a lot of radiation is 784 00:29:10,419 --> 00:29:08,270 spilling in one side but then there are 785 00:29:12,549 --> 00:29:10,429 other parts that are very very low 786 00:29:14,260 --> 00:29:12,559 absorb dose rates or none all right 787 00:29:16,180 --> 00:29:14,270 basically these products would be 788 00:29:19,900 --> 00:29:16,190 expected to spill off the edge of that 789 00:29:22,450 --> 00:29:19,910 energy attenuation volume and accumulate 790 00:29:26,200 --> 00:29:22,460 in the system elsewhere yeah that leads 791 00:29:27,820 --> 00:29:26,210 to inferences about how plausible is the 792 00:29:30,160 --> 00:29:27,830 system would you see it say on a 793 00:29:32,650 --> 00:29:30,170 planetary scale with super solar flares 794 00:29:34,510 --> 00:29:32,660 and pinching on on a on a atmospheric 795 00:29:36,040 --> 00:29:34,520 envelope would it be raining down below 796 00:29:38,320 --> 00:29:36,050 whether you're out of reach of those 797 00:29:39,940 --> 00:29:38,330 things those are all types of 798 00:29:42,630 --> 00:29:39,950 environmental inferences that could be 799 00:29:49,440 --> 00:29:42,640 made presuming this kind of 800 00:29:54,340 --> 00:29:49,450 heterogeneity within the box itself your 801 00:29:56,080 --> 00:29:54,350 network is at a certain energy level you 802 00:29:58,810 --> 00:29:56,090 shows about six energy levels from 803 00:30:00,910 --> 00:29:58,820 infrared to gamma rays and was that 804 00:30:04,299 --> 00:30:00,920 network that you showed for just one of 805 00:30:07,350 --> 00:30:04,309 those energy levels or did you have all 806 00:30:11,590 --> 00:30:07,360 of them somehow imposed on one another 807 00:30:13,450 --> 00:30:11,600 there there was no finer binning of the 808 00:30:15,520 --> 00:30:13,460 photonic spectrum and it's really really 809 00:30:17,200 --> 00:30:15,530 coarse and I had admit that it has its 810 00:30:18,850 --> 00:30:17,210 limitations but we were just trying to 811 00:30:21,180 --> 00:30:18,860 account for these really gross 812 00:30:24,960 --> 00:30:21,190 transformations and entropy production 813 00:30:27,610 --> 00:30:24,970 so then the model has no finer division 814 00:30:29,799 --> 00:30:27,620 and I realized that for some species 815 00:30:32,560 --> 00:30:29,809 might be very UV sensitive and then 816 00:30:34,690 --> 00:30:32,570 completely opaque invisible or infrared 817 00:30:36,850 --> 00:30:34,700 or there might be some species that are 818 00:30:39,130 --> 00:30:36,860 sensitive within divisions of these bins 819 00:30:40,539 --> 00:30:39,140 that that really matter those are not 820 00:30:43,060 --> 00:30:40,549 accounted for in this plane 821 00:30:46,299 --> 00:30:43,070 yeah just a interesting point I notice 822 00:30:49,509 --> 00:30:46,309 your title slide had vials glass vials 823 00:30:53,769 --> 00:30:49,519 around a cobalt-60 source and the glass 824 00:30:56,560 --> 00:30:53,779 turns brown because the silicate in the 825 00:30:58,810 --> 00:30:56,570 glass is being activated by the gamma 826 00:31:01,779 --> 00:30:58,820 radiation so it's a visual indication of 827 00:31:03,849 --> 00:31:01,789 some of what you're talking about yeah 828 00:31:05,889 --> 00:31:03,859 very much those are fun experiments to 829 00:31:07,599 --> 00:31:05,899 run and basically at the end of the day 830 00:31:09,310 --> 00:31:07,609 those experiments are completely 831 00:31:11,289 --> 00:31:09,320 hands-off all of the experiments that we 832 00:31:13,389 --> 00:31:11,299 present are more or less hands-off and 833 00:31:15,249 --> 00:31:13,399 that's why we think this might be a 834 00:31:17,109 --> 00:31:15,259 self-organizing system if it has this 835 00:31:19,869 --> 00:31:17,119 structure and there's no further 836 00:31:21,339 --> 00:31:19,879 internal manipulation that should be the 837 00:31:23,379 --> 00:31:21,349 most likely outcome whether it's the 838 00:31:24,940 --> 00:31:23,389 actual outcome and a realized system we 839 00:31:26,409 --> 00:31:24,950 would have to kind of more statistically 840 00:31:27,219 --> 00:31:26,419 compare and conduct more experiments 841 00:31:30,519 --> 00:31:27,229 along those lines 842 00:31:33,180 --> 00:31:30,529 yeah thank you 843 00:31:37,389 --> 00:31:33,190 Zak so much our fascinating work and