#455 – Adam Frank: Alien Civilizations and the Search for Extraterrestrial Life

Lex Fridman Podcast

Adam Frank is an astrophysicist studying star systems and the search for extraterrestrial life and alien civilizations.
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Transcript:
https://lexfridman.com/adam-frank-transcript

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EPISODE LINKS:
Adam’s Website: https://adamfrankscience.com
Adam’s X: https://x.com/adamfrank4
Adam’s Instagram: https://instagram.com/adamfrankscience
Adam’s Books:
The Little Book of Aliens: https://amzn.to/3OTX1rP
Light of the Stars: https://amzn.to/4iMKC6C
The Blind Spot: https://amzn.to/4gOCe4K
The Constant Fire: https://amzn.to/3ZVnxX4

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OUTLINE:
(00:00) – Introduction
(14:22) – Planet formation
(19:32) – Plate tectonics
(26:54) – Extinction events
(31:04) – Biosphere
(34:02) – Technosphere
(38:17) – Emergence of intelligence
(44:29) – Drake equation
(48:43) – Exoplanets
(51:28) – Habitable zones
(54:30) – Fermi Paradox
(1:03:28) – Alien civilizations
(1:12:55) – Colonizing Mars
(1:25:11) – Search for aliens
(1:41:37) – Alien megastructures
(1:47:43) – Kardashev scale
(1:52:56) – Detecting aliens
(1:59:38) – Warp drives
(2:05:45) – Cryogenics
(2:09:03) – What aliens look like
(2:17:48) – Alien contact
(2:28:53) – UFO sightings
(2:40:38) – Physics of life
(3:06:29) – Nature of time
(3:22:53) – Cognition
(3:27:16) – Mortality