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The Origin of Life and the Hidden Role of Quantum Criticality
KentuckyFC writes One of the great puzzles of biology is how the molecular machinery of life is so finely coordinated. Even the simplest cells are complex three dimensional biochemical factories in which a dazzling array of machines pump, push, copy, and compute in a dance of extraordinarily detailed complexity. Indeed, it is hard to imagine how the ordinary processes of electron transport allow this complexity to emerge given the losses that arise in much simpler circuits. Now a group of researchers led by Stuart Kauffmann have discovered that the electronic properties of biomolecules are entirely different to those of ordinary conductors. It turns out that most biomolecules exist in an exotic state called quantum criticality that sits on the knife edge between conduction and insulation. In other words, biomolecules belong to an entirely new class of conductor that is not bound by the ordinary rules of electron transport. Of course, organic molecules can be ordinary conductors or insulators and the team have found a few biomolecules that fall into these categories. But evolution seems to have mainly selected biomolecules that are quantum critical, implying that that this property must confer some evolutionary advantage. Exactly what this could be isn't yet clear but it must play an important role in the machinery of life and its origin.
Wow, really hitting a sore spot there, funny that you feel justified in attacking others as wannabe slashdoters (ohhh what an exclusive club) because somebody hurt your feelings. Personally I do not understand nosql options, pretty much because I spent a couple of decades with sql and haven't had a reason to use it
The example could be flipped the other way to say that I find nosql complex because of its unfamiliarity to me... wha...? Did I suffer injuries or insult from being used as an example? No, because I have the emotional processing of an adult and can see beyond a perceived insult to see that the real issue is how we find things that are unfamiliar to be complex
Why don't you drop the AC bullshit and just stand up for what you believe in
Wherever You Go, There You Are
that watches are not really all that complex. Nor do they ever evolve to better survive in a changing environment, or reproduce of their own accord. But (scientifically) the fact that we do not completely understand how something works does not mean that, a "God" must therefore have created it. The fact that we find something difficult to understand is not an excuse to abandon the Scientific Method, shrug our intellectually lazy shoulders, and attribute (said difficult to understand thing), to a creator...You are not suggesting we do...are you...really?
The USA is only 4X older than me...perspective
No it doesn't. If you do the chemical equations for respiration using carbon, you end up with CO2 as a waste product that's easy for an organism to get rid of since it's a gas. If you substitute silicon for carbon, the equations still work but you end up with SiO2 as a waste product -- sand -- a solid that's pretty much impossible for an organism to get rid of.
If you reply, do so only to what I explicitly wrote. If I didn't write it, don't assume or infer it.
Do you have any examples of silica-based lifeforms to back that assertion?
Iron is more efficient in environments humans live in.
Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.