ASEF Podcast
The American Slovenian Education Foundation (ASEF) is the leading foundation fostering talented individuals and higher education of deserving Slovenians worldwide through its exchange Fellowship programs and promotion of Slovenian culture and language. In the ASEF Podcast, we interview professors about their research, best practices in their field, and their vision for the development of the field in Slovenia as well as collaboration amongst Slovenians worldwide.
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The podcast's introductory theme is the "C Minor Jazz Blues Backing Track" by Quist.
ASEF Podcast
#54 (EN): Assembly Theory and the Emergence of Complexity with Lee Cronin
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In this episode of the ASEF Podcast, host Tanja Janko speaks with chemist Lee Cronin, Professor of Chemistry at the University of Glasgow, creator of the Chemputer, and one of the leading developers of Assembly Theory.
Cronin explains how molecules may carry “memory” of the processes that built them, why complexity might be measurable through assembly processes, and how chemistry could eventually become programmable. Through discussions of Assembly Theory, molecular complexity, inorganic chemical systems, and the search for life beyond Earth, the conversation explores whether life is a rare accident or a natural consequence of matter organizing itself over time.
Along the way, we discuss:
- Whether the distinction between patterns and codes is meaningful in biology
- How Assembly Theory attempts to measure complexity in chemistry
- Whether homochirality could represent an early form of historical selection in chemistry
- Whether chemistry could become fully programmable through the Chemputer
- If highly complex molecules on Mars could already count as signs of life
- Polyoxometalates and the emergence of primitive cell-like behavior in inorganic chemistry
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