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Fundamental
Steps During
October 2003 a very compelling paper titled “Minimal-cell
system created in laboratory by self-organization” in the journal Solitons and Fractals (vol.
18, issue 2, pp. 335-343(9) Elsevier Science). In a
nutshell, a group of scientists created plasma balls that were able to grow,
replicate and “communicate”. Sounds like something akin to what we know as
living, yes? Actually these little transient plasma blobs fulfilled 3 of the 6
fundamental characteristics of what we call “being alive” http://www.resa.net/nasa/biology_systematics.htm Though
these plasma balls are not biological entities, they reflect ways in which
nature’s laws tend to craft and organize matter into complex forms that possess
basic, emergent properties we recognize as “life-like”. Indeed, it would seem that when you boil
it down, these “life-ways” are essentially expressions of physical laws that
govern energy transfer, utilization and transformation. When applied to biology, one quickly
sees that biological and biochemical pathways are but algorithms for
energy-information use, exchange and transformation; which is to say, ways of
dealing
with energy ebb and flow. From these pathways emerged networks, likewise a mix
of successful algorithms that endured (were perpetuated across time) with little
modification and those that were more heuristic (Amenable to modification).
The
flowchart that follows below is of a core or fundamental algorithm that appears
to operationally govern many aspects of the physical realm:
 This
“mechanism” is given a more detailed treatment with respect to human evolution
in this article: 3 Primal Drives,
Essay
Submitted
for your consideration by Dr. Anthony G. Payne ©
2005 by Dr. Anthony G. Payne.
All rights reserved.
"Physicists
have created blobs of gaseous plasma that can grow, replicate and communicate -
fulfilling most of the traditional requirements for biological cells. Without
inherited material they cannot be described as alive, but the researchers
believe these curious spheres may offer a radical new explanation for how life
began" http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994174
Minimal-cell
system created in laboratory by self-organization |