From StarTalk.

Host Neil deGrasse Tyson sits down with Venki Ramakrishnan to connect physics and biology. Because Earth is an open system powered by the Sun, life can build complexity—but every energy conversion (food → ATP → work/heat) leaks energy. That loss means maintenance and repair are never perfect, so damage accumulates over time. Venki explains why different organs can age at different rates, how the body’s “energy currency” (ATP) underwrites everything from temperature control to brain signals, and why there are no perpetual-motion humans. Though his lab focuses on protein synthesis (not running mouse longevity trials), Venki weighs the ethics and limits of extending lifespan.

From ‘Do We Have To Die? With Venki Ramakrishnan’: https://youtu.be/O35KGzkS4VA?si=5Q-aQGZnpZgXWTSC

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