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25 -- Is the Universe Optimally Right for Life?
TUESDAY, April 15, 2008: AFTERNOON
Paul Davies
Arizona State University
Tempe, AZ, USA
Description
Cosmologists have long recognized that the laws of physics and the cosmological initial conditions seem surprisingly well suited to permit life to emerge in the universe. A popular explanation for this "fine tuning" is that our universe forms part of a much larger "multiverse" - an ensemble of universes with varying laws and initial states. Most discussions of this topic are, however, astrobiologically simplistic; they consider only crude pre-requististes for life, such as the formation and dissemination of carbon and the existence of stable long-lived stars. Left open is the question of whether the universe is optimally tuned for life, or whether life is a marginal and freakish phenomenon - i.e. permitted, but only just. Astrobiologists can help address this issue by refining the list of crucial prerequisites for life, and for identifying how sensitively these additional prerequisites depend on the basic parameters of physics and cosmology.
ORAL SESSION
3:15 25-01-O. Coincidences and Dangers in the Mulitverse [invited] A. Aguirre
3:30 25-04-O. The Use and Misuse of Cosmic Contrafactuals [invited] C. Lineweaver
4:00 25-03-O. Statistics of One: Applying Earth History to Life in the Universe
E. Korpela
BREAK
4:30 25-02-O. How Many Hard Steps in Our Evolution? [invited] B. Carter
5:00 25-07-O. The Universe as a Complex System [invited] S. Weinstein
5:15 25-06-O. Implications of the Fermi Paradox on the Anthropogenic Principle
[invited] D. Schulze-Makuch