My blog title above has been borrowed from a recent email by the John Templeton Foundation. The answer depends on your precise definition of Evolution and of Life. The definition of Life is (very) complex. For example: Does Life include bacteria and viruses?? Does Evolution include collisions with asteroids and comets? Does water constitute Evolution, Life or a...
Bacteria and Viruses
Consciousness on a cellular level
17 Oct, 2024
Intro LO: In my view, the impact of this Quanta Magazine article reaches much and much further than its topic, being: even a single bacterial cell senses seasonal change. Hence, my blog title: consciousness on a cellular level. Lately, many more articles are about consciousness in other life-forms than humans (eg, animals, plants and trees). The (alleged)...
Machine learning vs AI
15 Oct, 2024
Intro LO: The Scientific American article below might be a good example why the future of technology is with machine learning rather than with artificial intelligence (AI). This quote from online news source 1440 may help understand: “Researchers found 70,500 previously unknown RNA viruses using an AI model that combines machine learning with protein structure...
The complexity bias (14): layers of complexity
24 Sep, 2024
Yesterday’s blog, Is the Universe alive?, gave me a new idea: layers of complexity rather than a revised definition of life, following the what is life scientific debate (eg, NYT-2024). The drawing below appeared and developed in my mind, following my inspiration, and/but might well change over time. It still feels rather elementary. The bottom of my triangle...
Is the Universe alive?
23 Sep, 2024
A recent Nature article, Black hole jets on the scale of the cosmic web, makes you wonder if the Universe is “alive” (eg, Phys, Volkskrant). Actually, the question of what is life is a debate within science (eg, ASU, NYT-2024, Templeton). The problem with our current definition of life (eg, eating, digestion, pooping) is that viruses are not included. How can a...
How Did Life Get Big and Complex? (Quanta)
11 Sep, 2024
Introduction LO: This fine Quanta article focuses on the how of evolution. I miss an explanation for why did life get big and complex? In my view, Everything follows Why (eg, how, what, when, where, who). The article briefly mentions the multiple attempts in transferring from successful simple single cell organisms (eg, bacteria) towards complex multicellular...
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