Episode Notes This is Receding Horizons, Episode 1, where we talk about biology, the science of life, both on Earth and in the realm of the cosmos. We also talk about dinosaurs. Our guest in this episode is Andrew Maurer. Andrew has a bachelor of science in biology from the University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, received in 2016. His research interests span comparative herpetological phylogenetics and paleobiological studies, as well as genomic mapping and comprehensive studies in Aves, Lissamphibia, and Squamata. He is currently a data entry worker at MicroGenDX in Lubbock, TX. Previously, he's been a shift lead and veterinary assistant at Banfield Pet Hospital in North Wales, Pennslyvania, and was an intern at the Harleysville Veterinary Clinic. Recorded on 8 February 2021. 00:00:00 - Introduction 00:01:13 - Andrew Maurer 00:04:22 - Paleobiological detective work 00:12:04 - What's your favorite dinosaur? 00:14:42 - How do you determine past behavior? 00:17:14 - Paleontology and astronomy 00:18:40 - Dinosaur constellations 00:19:53 - Oldest surviving DNA 00:22:26 - Extraterrestrial reptiles 00:23:39 - Yoshi 00:24:45 - The definition of life 00:31:26 - A Prime Directive for humanity 00:37:06 - Why carbon? 00:44:51 - Life on moons 00:47:14 - A forum of scientific discussion 00:51:21 - Memetics 00:57:16 - Replicators 00:59:18 - Not the climax of creation 01:02:53 - Fermi paradox 01:05:52 - Earliest life on Earth 01:08:50 - Photosynthesis 01:10:51 - Nucleosynthesis 01:13:51 - The biomass distribution on Earth 01:21:01 - Extraterrestrial plants 01:27:44 - Cosmological natural selection 01:30:01 - Consciousness and anxiety 01:36:33 - Cosmological metal bands 01:39:15 - The frontiers of science 01:42:27 - Closing remarks 01:46:48 - Outro Sources: 00:07:51 - Spinosaurus (Credit: M. Bowler, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...) 00:08:06 - Spinosaurus (Credit: M. Witton, https://dinopedia.fandom.com/wiki/Spi...) 00:10:39 - Theropoda (Credit: ABelov2014, C. Homler, E. Willoughby, D. Bogdanov, R. Nicholls, N. Tamura, and K. Rex, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...) 00:11:00 - "Figure 2. Biogenesis and transport of melanosomes in mammalian epidermal melanocytes" (Credit: M. Fukuda, "Organizational Cell Biology", Encyclopedia of Cell Biology, 2016, https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/...) 00:13:01 - Allosaurus (Credit: F. Wierum, http://www.dinochecker.com/gallery/al...) 00:38:32 - The elements of life (Credit: Dana Berry/SkyWorks Digital Inc.; SDSS Collaboration, https://phys.org/news/2017-01-element...) Check out these awesome paleoartists and wildlife photographers: ABelov2014, https://www.deviantart.com/abelov2014Dmitry Bodganov, https://www.deviantart.com/dibgdJulius T. Csotonyi, https://csotonyi.com/Michael DiGiorgio, https://www.mdigiorgio.com/Daniel Eskridge, https://daniel-eskridge.pixels.com/Robert Nicholls, http://paleocreations.com/Nobu Tamura, http://spinops.blogspot.com/Frederic Wierum, https://fredthedinosaurman.artstation...Emily Willoughby, https://www.emilywilloughby.com/Mark Witton, http://www.markwitton.com/ Related papers and books: H. C. Betts, M. N. Puttick, J. W. Clark, T. A. Williams, P. C. J. Donoghue, D. Pisani, "Integrated Genomic and Fossil Evidence Illuminates Life's Early Evolution and Eukaryote Origin", Nature Ecology & Evolution, 2, 1556-1562 (2018), https://www.nature.com/articles/s4155... J. H. Jiang, A. J. Zhai, J. Herman, C. Zhai, R. Hu, H. Su, V. Natraj, J. Li, F. Xu, and Y. L. Yung, "Using Deep Space Climate Observatory Measurements to Study the Earth as an Exoplanet", The Astronomical Journal, 156:26, 1-17 (2018), https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/aac6e2 D. Lambert, "The Kingfisher Young People's Book of the Universe", Kingfisher, (2001), https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3... Q. Li, K.-Q. Gao, J. Vinther, M. D. Shawkey, J.A. Clarke, L. D'Alba, Q. Meng, D. E. G. Briggs, R. O. Prum, "Plumage Color Patterns of an Extinct Dinosaur", Science, Volume 327, Issue 5971, 1369-1372 (2010), https://science.sciencemag.org/conten... A. Sandberg, S. Armstrong, M. Cirkovic, "That Is Not Dead Which Can Eternal Lie: The Aestivation Hypothesis for Resolving Fermi's Paradox" (2017), https://arxiv.org/abs/1705.03394 A. Sandberg, E. Drexler, T. Ord, "Dissolving the Fermi Paradox", (2018), https://arxiv.org/abs/1806.02404 F. M. Smithwick, R. Nicholls, I. C. Cuthill, J. Vinther, "Countershading and Stripes in the Theropod Dinosaur Sinosauropteryx Reveal Heterogeneous Habitats in the Early Cretaceous Jehol Biota", Current Biology, Volume 27, Issue 21, P3337-3343.E2 (2017), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2017.09... YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieP96trrbdk
