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There’s a black hole in the middle of the history of life: how did we go from tiny bags of chemicals to the vast menagerie of creatures we see around us?  Today, we explore one of the most underrated mysteries of all time, and present one possible answer that takes us from an unexpected houseguest to a tiny bolt of lightning to every critter you hold dear. It’s the story of one cosmic oops moment that changed the game of life forever.   Production help from Matt Kielty and Annie McEwen. Reporting help from Latif Nasser. Special thanks to Eric Steinbrook, Scott Dawson, Ahna Skop & Rachel Whittaker
Duration
34m
Broadcast on
06 Apr 2016
Audio Format
other

There’s a black hole in the middle of the history of life: how did we go from tiny bags of chemicals to the vast menagerie of creatures we see around us? 

Today, we explore one of the most underrated mysteries of all time, and present one possible answer that takes us from an unexpected houseguest to a tiny bolt of lightning to every critter you hold dear. It’s the story of one cosmic oops moment that changed the game of life forever.  

Production help from Matt Kielty and Annie McEwen. Reporting help from Latif Nasser. Special thanks to Eric Steinbrook, Scott Dawson, Ahna Skop & Rachel Whittaker


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WNYC Studios is supported by WISE. WISE, the smart way to manage the currencies you need around the world. With a WISE account, you can send, spend, and receive in up to 40 currencies with only a few simple taps. Be smart, get WISE. Download the WISE app today. Terms and conditions apply. WNYC Studios is supported by Odo. When you buy business software from lots of vendors, the costs add up and it gets complicated and confusing. Odo solves this. It's a single company that sells a suite of enterprise apps that handles everything from accounting to inventory to sales. Odo is all connected on a single platform in a simple and affordable way. You can save money without missing out on the features you need. Check out Odo at ODOO.com. That's ODOO.com. RadioLab is supported by AT&T. We all love to connect via video, a text, or a group chat that never stops. And right now, AT&T has a deal that will keep the connection going. You can get the new iPhone 18 Pro for $0 with eligible trade-in. It has the ultimate pro camera system and a big leap in battery life, so you can turn this deal into a long lasting connection. Learn how you can trade in your phone for the new iPhone 18 Pro at AT&T. Connecting changes everything. Required trade-in of $230 or more and eligible plan, terms, and restrictions apply subject to change, visit an AT&T store for details. Egg, this is Chad. Before we get started on the podcast, just two things. First, the MailChimp Challenge we did a little while back. We did it. You guys did it. I mean, the deal was if a certain number of you became sustaining members, MailChimp would pitch in with some money, it happened. We're super grateful. So thank you. We freaking did it. Okay, number two. I want to let you know that toward the end of this podcast, it's about to happen. I want to say hi, Chad. We haven't even said it yet. Wait, wait, wait, wait. I know, but we're excited. Yeah, we're happy to be here. Okay, but you guys will have to hang out until the end. Is that cool? Why do we have to be at the end? Yeah. Can we just be up top? But that was the deal we talked about. This is my Rosa Parks moment. I'm at the front of this episode. Yeah, and you know why we can say that is because we are Black. Yeah, you're putting me in a box here. Okay, so what I was going to say is we're going to, at the end of this podcast, we're going to come back. And I'm going to introduce you guys listening to two very funny people who you just heard, Phoebe Robbins and Jessica Williams, they're starting a podcast here at WNYC Studios. It's called Two Dope Queens. It's awesome. We'll talk about it. All right, so you guys will hang out? Yeah, yeah. I got to do it. Yeah. All right, cool. Wait, you're listening to Radio Lab Lab. Radio Lab. From WNYC Studios. Jad. Robert. Radio Lab. So I'm going to just tell you the story. Just very briefly, I'm going to tell you the story of three enormous mysteries, two of which you know very well and one of which I bet you've never heard of ever. Okay. Mystery number one. This is the one I know or the one I don't. This is the one you know. All right. So about four billion years ago, the Earth is one huge, mostly ocean of lifeless chemicals. And then for some reason, which we have never really been able to understand, lifeless chemicals suddenly produce a pulse and you get life. Hello. Yes, I have just arrived now. Okay. Wonderful. Like Nick, for example. Nick Lane. I'm a professor of evolutionary biochemistry at University College in London. Nick is the main guy in the story I'm about to tell you. But just to continue this setup, that was mystery number one. Where does life come from? Next, mystery number three, to make it more interesting. What about the two? Two is going to be the subject of the stories. And more important, the middle one is the deep surprise because you've never heard of it. So I thought I would skip over two to remind you how familiar you are with one and three. All right, fine. Go to three and then come back to two. It's fine. Three. All right. Consciousness. For some reason, one animal on the planet and only one that we can know seems to spring into this very elaborate sense of self-awareness. We don't know why it happened. We don't know how it happened. It just did. Right. I am familiar with one and three. You are. Now, here's number two. That's

Transcription truncated.

There’s a black hole in the middle of the history of life: how did we go from tiny bags of chemicals to the vast menagerie of creatures we see around us?  Today, we explore one of the most underrated mysteries of all time, and present one possible answer that takes us from an unexpected houseguest to a tiny bolt of lightning to every critter you hold dear. It’s the story of one cosmic oops moment that changed the game of life forever.   Production help from Matt Kielty and Annie McEwen. Reporting help from Latif Nasser. Special thanks to Eric Steinbrook, Scott Dawson, Ahna Skop & Rachel Whittaker