Related papers: Life and Water
A recent study reported that there is evidence life may have originated prior to the formation of the Earth. That conclusion was based on a regression analysis of a certain data set involving evolution of functional genome size across major…
Energy dissipation in water is very fast and more efficient than in many other liquids. This behavior is commonly attributed to the intermolecular interactions associated with hydrogen bonding. Here, we investigate the dynamic energy flow…
Some aspects of direct ion transfer across the water/1,2-dichloroethane are analyzed using a very simple model based on thermodynamic considerations. It was concluded that ion solvation by water molecules may occur in some particular cases…
We present the relatively less known thermodynamic concept of exergy in the context of ecology and sustainability. To this end, we first very briefly outline thermodynamics as it arose historically via engineering studies. This enables us…
Photosynthetic microbes have evolved and successfully adapted to the ever-changing environmental conditions in complex microhabitats throughout almost all ecosystems on Earth. In the absence of light, they can sustain their biological…
Four scenarios have been proposed for the low--temperature phase behavior of liquid water, each predicting different thermodynamics. The physical mechanism which leads to each is debated. Moreover, it is still unclear which of the scenarios…
Life occurs in ionic solutions, not pure water. The ionic mixtures of these solutions are very different from water and have dramatic effects on the cells and molecules of biological systems, yet theories and simulations cannot calculate…
Ancient Venus and Earth may have been similar in crucial ways for the development of life, such as liquid water oceans, land-ocean interfaces, favorable chemical ingredients and energy pathways. If life ever developed on, or was transported…
Despite great advances in our understanding of the formation of the Solar System, the evolution of the Earth, and the chemical basis for life, we are not much closer than the ancient Greeks to an answer of whether life has arisen and…
We study deterministic continuous-time lossy dynamical flow networks with constant exogenous demands, fixed routing, and finite flow and buffer capacities. In the considered model, when the total net flow in a cell ---consisting of the…
Abundant interfacial phenomena in nature, such as water droplets on lotus leaves and water transport in plant vessels, originate from partial-wetting phenomena, which can be well described by Young's equation. It remains an intriguing…
Life depends as much on the flow of information as on the flow of energy. Here we review the many efforts to make this intuition precise. Starting with the building blocks of information theory, we explore examples where it has been…
Our current understanding of the Universe depends on the interplay of several distinct "matter" components, which interact mainly through gravity, and electromagnetic radiation. The nature of the different components, and possible…
To maintain homeostasis, living cells process information with networks of interacting molecules. Traditional models for cellular information processing have focused on networks of chemical reactions between molecules. Here, we describe how…
How do habitable environments arise and evolve within the context of their planetary systems? This is one fundamental question, and it can be addressed partly by identifying how planets in habitable zones obtain water. Historically,…
Recent experimental realizations of liquid-liquid phase separation of active liquid crystals have offered an insight into the interaction between phase separation, ubiquitous in soft matter and biology, and chaotic active flows. In this…
Certain subterranean environments of Earth have naturally accumulated long-lived radionuclides, such as 238U, 232Th and 40K, near the presence of liquid water. In these natural radioactive environments (NRE), water radiolysis can produce…
When the swimming of micro-organisms is viewed from the string and membrane theories coupled to the velocity field of the fluid, a number of interesting results are derived; 1) importance of the area (or volume) preserving algebra, 2)…
The persistent motility of the individual constituents in microbial suspensions represents a prime example of so-called active matter systems. Cells consume energy, exert forces and move, overall releasing the constraints of equilibrium…
The natural evolution of life seems to proceed through steps characterized by phases of relatively rapid changes, followed by longer, more stable periods. In the light of the string-theory derived physical scenario proposed in [1], we…