Ayahuasca, NASA & the Origins of Life
Ayahuasca, NASA & the Origins of Life | Dr. Bruce Damer on Psychedelics, Science & Consciousness
What if psychedelics aren’t just medicines for healing—but elixirs of discovery?
In this boundary-breaking episode of The Awaken Podcast, Dr. Bruce Damer—astrophysicist, visionary researcher, and President of the Center for MINDS—joins Natasja Pelgrom for a groundbreaking conversation on psychedelic-catalyzed insight and its role in shaping the future of science, technology, and human understanding.
📍 Recorded live at Breaking Convention 2025, Bruce shares the story behind how an ayahuasca journey catalyzed a breakthrough in origin-of-life research—a theory now being explored by NASA and peer-reviewed by the scientific community.
This is where mysticism meets microbiology, where altered states ignite innovation, and where the line between science and spirit dissolves.
🌍 In this episode, we explore:
🌱 How a visionary ayahuasca experience led to a breakthrough in astrobiology
🧠 Why healing medicines may also be tools for discovery, creativity, and leadership
🧬 The question: Can psychedelics accelerate scientific understanding?
👁️ Encountering an “entity” that delivered insight even NASA couldn’t discredit
🌀 The role of psilocybin, creative flow, and memory in cognitive research
🤖 Collaborating with AI to extend ancient knowledge systems
🌐 Ethical and methodological guardrails for researchers coming “out of the psychedelic closet”
📚 About Dr. Bruce Damer:
- President, Center for MINDS
- Astrobiologist & origin-of-life researcher
- Former NASA consultant & visionary systems designer
- Author, public speaker, and psychedelic science pioneer
🌐 More: www.damer.com
🎟️ This episode was recorded live at Breaking Convention – Europe’s leading psychedelic conference:
🔗 breakingconvention.co.uk
🎥 Subscribe for more episodes on YouTube:
🔗/@natasjapelgrom
🌿 Retreats, integration & community:
🔗 natasjapelgrom.com
📲 Connect on Instagram:
🔗 @natasja_pelgrom
