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Interstellar Dust Could Be "Alive"

Posted by kdawson on from the negative-entropy-abounding dept.

reezle writes "An international team has discovered that, under the right conditions, particles of inorganic dust can become organized into helical structures. These structures can interact with one another in ways that are usually associated with organic compounds and with life. Not only do these helical strands interact in a counterintuitive way in which like can attract like, but they also undergo changes that are normally associated with biological molecules, such as DNA and proteins, say the researchers. For example, they can divide to form two copies of the original structure. These new structures can also interact to induce changes in their neighbors. And they can even evolve into yet more structures as less stable ones break down, leaving behind only the fittest structures in the plasma. 'These complex, self-organized plasma structures exhibit all the necessary properties to qualify them as candidates for inorganic living matter,' said the lead researcher. 'They are autonomous, they reproduce and they evolve.'" The research, published in the New Journal of Physics, was carried out using a computer model of molecular dynamics.

8 of 332 comments (clear)

  1. Simulated inorganic life .... by haluness · · Score: 5, Informative

    They could have mentioned that somewhere at the beginning of the summary. I was reading the damn thing and my heart rate was increasing. And then I saw that it was all from an MD simulation :(

    1. Re:Simulated inorganic life .... by pluther · · Score: 5, Funny

      If we ever have a computer powerful enough to fully simulate a human brain, would, would the simulation qualify as human?

      Depends on whose brain it was simulating, I suppose.

      --
      If the masses can keep you down, you're not the Ubermensch.
    2. Re:Simulated inorganic life .... by isomeme · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I believe it was Roger Schank who was once asked "Do you think computers will ever be as intelligent as humans?" and replied "Yes. Briefly."

      --
      When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a skull.
  2. Mostly Water by kannibal_klown · · Score: 5, Funny

    Great, I may live to hear some alien life form call us "ugly bags of mostly water." Just don't let them near the laser drill.

  3. Peaceful dust? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    If the dust decides to invade Earth (the next John Carpenter flick, The Dust), duct tape your door and window seams and arm yourself with a Swiffer and bottle of Pledge.

  4. Or maybe... by spun · · Score: 5, Funny

    Maybe our universe is just a simulation, running inside a simulation, in a much bigger universe that itself is just a molecule in an even bigger universe that is just a molecule in that cloud of pot smoke you just exhaled. Ever think of that?

    --
    - None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
    1. Re:Or maybe... by Pojut · · Score: 5, Funny

      Ever think of that?


      Look at my sig. What do you think?
      --
      Living With a Nerd
  5. Hmm, life in the suns by Colin+Smith · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Lots of them out there... We could be the strange and unusual forms of life in the universe...

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    Deleted