DrZoidberg
Contributor
http://www.businessinsider.com/groundbreaking-idea-of-lifes-origin-2014-12
A smart physist has (maybe) figured out the mathematical formula that underlies evolution and explains how life will inevitably get started if the environment is suitable.
A smart physist has (maybe) figured out the mathematical formula that underlies evolution and explains how life will inevitably get started if the environment is suitable.
The formula, based on established physics, indicates that when a group of atoms is driven by an external source of energy (like the sun or chemical fuel) and surrounded by a heat bath (like the ocean or atmosphere), it will often gradually restructure itself in order to dissipate increasingly more energy. This could mean that under certain conditions, matter inexorably acquires the key physical attribute associated with life. “You start with a random clump of atoms, and if you shine light on it for long enough, it should not be so surprising that you get a plant,”