Dr. Michael Levin: "You Won't Believe What These Tiny Robots Can Do!"

Video Description

Get started with 1 month free of Superhuman today, using my link: https://try.sprh.mn/briankeating What if cells from your own trachea sitting in a petri dish right now, could spontaneously organize into swimming robots that heal brain tissue? What if frog skin cells with no genetic modification whatsoever, could build copies of themselves from spare parts lying around? This isn't science fiction. This is the work of Michael Levin at Tufts University and is completely rewriting the rules of biology. Michael Levin's research challenges our fundamental understanding of what life is and where biological properties emerge from. Michael Levin is a distinguished biologist at Tufts University and director of the Allen Discovery Center, whose groundbreaking research on bio electricity and regenerative biology is reshaping our understanding of how biological systems process information and pursue goals. His Xenobots, living robots built from frog cells, swim around, work together, and reproduce in ways that have never existed on Earth. What does this tell us about consciousness, intelligence, and the nature of life itself? KEY TAKEAWAYS 00:00:00 – 00:00:47 Intro to Michael Levin and bioelectric life discussion. 00:01:10 – 00:02:22 Electricity acts as evolution’s “cognitive glue.” 00:03:28 – 00:05:13 Cells use ion channels to create voltage signals. 00:06:47 – 00:08:11 Voltage differences let cells communicate. 00:08:31 – 00:09:01 Magnetic effects in tissues are minimal. 00:09:01 – 00:10:13 Bioelectricity is ancient, seen in bacteria. 00:11:04 – 00:12:14 Injury currents may be life’s first pain signals. 00:13:05 – 00:15:05 Cells form electrical circuits that compute and adapt. 00:16:16 – 00:17:09 Electric fields guide healing and regeneration. 00:18:04 – 00:18:52 Ion-channel drugs can reprogram tissues. 00:19:00 – 00:20:25 Embryonic asymmetry may reflect cosmic chirality. 00:26:08 – 00:27:05 Life is part of a continuum of cognition. 00:27:42 – 00:29:22 “Cognitive light cone” defines an organism’s goal range. 00:31:05 – 00:31:52 Life scales cognition from cells to bodies. 00:32:09 – 00:33:01 Cognition may predate biological life. 00:34:00 – 00:35:32 Chemical networks can learn and self-organize. 00:36:08 – 00:37:38 Tribute to Daniel Dennett’s influence. 00:38:18 – 00:39:03 Intro to Xenobots—living machines from frog cells. 00:40:01 – 00:41:12 Freed skin cells form mobile, organized spheres. 00:42:02 – 00:42:22 Xenobots self-replicate using nearby cells. 00:43:15 – 00:44:03 Human “Anthrobots” can heal neural tissue. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Additional resources: Levin Lab https://www.drmichaellevin.org/ Follow Michael on X https://x.com/drmichaellevin?s=21 Michael Levin’s book: https://a.co/d/dzl9wPQ Please join my mailing list here 👉 https://briankeating.com/yt to win a meteorite 💥 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Join this channel to get access to perks like monthly Office Hours: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmXH_moPhfkqCk6S3b9RWuw/join 📚 Get a copy of my books: Think Like a Nobel Prize Winner, with life changing interviews with 9 Nobel Prizewinners: https://a.co/d/03ezQFu My tell-all cosmic memoir Losing the Nobel Prize: http://amzn.to/2sa5UpA The first-ever audiobook from Galileo: Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems: Ptolemaic and Copernican https://a.co/d/iZPi9Un 📺 Watch my most popular videos:📺 Neil Turok https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dt5cFLN65fI Frank Wilczek https://youtu.be/3z8RqKMQHe0?sub_confirmation=1 Eric Weinstein vs. Stephen Wolfram https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OI0AZ4Y4Ip4?sub_confirmation=1 Sir Roger Penrose: https://youtu.be/AMuqyAvX7Wo Sabine Hossenfelder: https://youtu.be/g00ilS6tBvs Avi Loeb: https://youtu.be/N9lUceHsLRw Follow me to ask questions of my guests: 🏄‍♂️ Twitter: https://twitter.com/DrBrianKeating 🔔 Subscribe https://www.youtube.com/DrBrianKeating?sub_confirmation=1 📝 Join my mailing list; just click here http://briankeating.com/list ✍️ Detailed Blog posts here: https://briankeating.com/blog 🎙️ Listen on audio-only platforms: https://briankeating.com/podcast #universe #podcast #briankeating #intotheimpossible #science #astronomy #cosmology #cosmicmicrowavebackground #intotheimpossible #briankeating #michaellevin