"The Origins Institute's Interconf': At the Origins of Life
Part 1
Defining Life
Friday, March 31st 16:15-17:45
Université du Temps Libre
Marseille
In seeking to understand the forms of terrestrial life and possible clues to life in our galaxy, a question arises: what is life?
Answering this question is too ambitious a project to be entrusted to a single scientific discipline. Even biology is struggling to discover what is common to all the beings we call "living". Physicists and chemists can study the elementary bricks that constitute them. However, no definition is agreed upon by scientists. This confusion leads philosophers to question the concept of "life". This transdisciplinary reflection is necessary today, at a time when astrophysicists are searching for traces of life on other planets.
The Origins Institute is organizing a conference for the general public, entitled "Defining life", at the Université du Temps Libre. It brings together three researchers from different disciplines: virologist Jean-Michel Claverie, philosopher Sébastien Motta and astrochemist Grégoire Danger. Each of them will try to answer this ambitious project of defining what life is, with the tools provided by his specialty. Following these three interventions, of 15-20 minutes each, a question period will allow the audience to interact with the speakers.
This event is the first in a series of interdisciplinary conferences for the general public: "The Origins of Life". It will allow the public to discover the research on the origin of life on Earth and its presence in the universe.
Free admission but registration recommended.
Registration link