Ask a physicist anything. (7)

[Zippy the Wonderslug]

Spontaneous generation is a long-discredited idea

Wow.

I'm not following you at all on this.

To me, either you have life, or you don't.

Something magical or spontaneous needs to happen for this great leap, I can't seem to picture anything in between of this.

But hey, I'm not posting here to start a debate.

I just wanted to know if I could grow a monster in a backyard pool filled with junk.

Obviously, I would spend too long of a time waiting for this. *lol*

 

[Chalnoth]

Wow.

I'm not following you at all on this.

To me, either you have life, or you don't.

Spontaneous generation is a very specific model which has long been discredited.

Something magical or spontaneous needs to happen for this great leap, I can't seem to picture anything in between of this.

No, not at all. The road to life did not occur in one single step. It may be worthwhile to read up a bit on abiogenesis.

 

[Wiccan_Child]

Wow.

I'm not following you at all on this.

To me, either you have life, or you don't.

Something magical or spontaneous needs to happen for this great leap, I can't seem to picture anything in between of this.

But hey, I'm not posting here to start a debate.

I just wanted to know if I could grow a monster in a backyard pool filled with junk.

Obviously, I would spend too long of a time waiting for this. *lol*

'Spontaneous Generation' refers to the old idea of how life originated - rotten meat would generate flies, bales of hay would generate mice, that sort of thing. We know better nowadays, but the term 'Spontaneous Generation' still refers to that idea. The modern theory of how life began is called Abiogenesis, which describes it as the successive coming-together of successively more complex molecules (something we see happen spontaneously in the lab; qv. the Miller-Urey experiment). Eventually, you get a replicating protein, and then evolution (or evolution-like processes) take over. It's more detailed than that, but that's the jist of it.

There's also the issue that it's not quite as simple as "either you have life, or you don't" - it's not especially clear just what constitutes life. There are some popular definitions ('metabolic replicator', etc), but no consensus. This makes it hard to say whether viruses are alive or not, and also where the line between life and non-life lies during abiogenesis - just when do inert chemicals constitute 'life'?

I like to think of it as our own bodies. Clearly, we are alive. When we eat, that food goes into us. But when does the food itself take on this living quality? When it's digested by the gut? Ingested by a cell?

 

[Zippy the Wonderslug]

To be honest here....

I wish God would find someone to write an extended release, 18th edition to the modern bible for today.

I mean Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine can do this. Why not Him?

Anyway, thank you for the great responses. This honestly is making my brain reel with what life is really all about.

 

[Wiccan_Child]

To be honest here....

I wish God would find someone to write an extended release, 18th edition to the modern bible for today.

Probably not what you were thinking of, but that reminds me of the Epic of Evolution.

I mean Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine can do this. Why not Him?

Anyway, thank you for the great responses. This honestly is making my brain reel with what life is really all about.

To paraphrase the Doctor, science is cool

 

[Naraoia]

If I filled an empty, backyard pool full of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, then pumped some amino acids, fatty lipids, a lot of sodium and potassium into it, perhaps the right amount of enzymes, along with a dash of vitamins and minerals.... Is there any possible chance of ever creating, in theory, some type of franken entity that would emerge and come alive, even if it was just a small speck of moving life?

I'm actually a little serious about this. *lol*

Make sure you keep it absolutely sterile and preferable RNAse free

If your strategy worked, though, don't you think scientists would've succeeded in creating life long ago?

 

[acropolis]

This thread seems like a good place for this:

 

[Zippy the Wonderslug]

Okay, so the water here at my place is being all stupid.

It only comes out by gravity/difference of potential.

Something is seriously wrong.

The water flow is like watching urinary leakage now.

It's like my faucets are all impotent. *lol*

What might be the reason for no longer having any water pressure?

Nothing has happened lately except for a really gross dinner I made a few days back which I tried to flush down the sink..... and now it's completely clogged.

Any outstanding ideas on this?

 

[Chalnoth]

Okay, so the water here at my place is being all stupid.

It only comes out by gravity/difference of potential.

Do you have a city water system or a well?

 

[Zippy the Wonderslug]

It's city garbage.

 

[Chalnoth]

It's city garbage.

Well, then, I think that means one of two things:
1. A pump died.
2. There is a pipe leaking somewhere.

If you rent, it's time to call the landlord. If it's your own place, you'll probably have to call a plumber. Though it would be best to check with the neighbors first to ensure it is localized to your own house (if it's shared between apartments/houses, it's more likely a city problem).

 

[Zippy the Wonderslug]

Yeah, my first thought was a water pump just seconds after posting here.

Anyway, I guess I should call my landlord.

Would it help if I did not mention to him I forgot to pay rent this month?

 

[Chalnoth]

Would it help if I did not mention to him I forgot to pay rent this month?

Maybe it would help more if you paid it...

 

[Zippy the Wonderslug]

I'll look into that. *lol*

 

[Zippy the Wonderslug]

Okay, here's a question...

I kind of believe that God has a love or an affinity to certain numbers such as 3, 7, and 144,000.

Are any of these numbers found in physics or equations that unify complex theories about our existence?

 

[Chalnoth]

Okay, here's a question...

I kind of believe that God has a love or an affinity to certain numbers such as 3, 7, and 144,000.

Are any of these numbers found in physics or equations that unify complex theories about our existence?

The only integers I'm aware of that are common are 1, 2, and 3. The fraction 1/2 is common as well. The rest seem to be real numbers, such as pi, e, 1/137.036.

 

[Zippy the Wonderslug]

Thank you.

So there isn't any formula that comes to the front of your mind that has a seven in it?

 

[Chalnoth]

Thank you.

So there isn't any formula that comes to the front of your mind that has a seven in it?

Not that I recall.

Oh, I did forget, though. There are also 4 (the number of space-time dimensions easily observable), 10 (the number of space-time dimensions required by superstring theory), 11 (the number of space-time dimensions in M-theory), and 26 (the number of space-time dimensions in heterotic string theory).

 

[Lillen]

I can only picture myself five dimensions. Three dimentional room, wormholes as a forth and the largest buildingstones in the universe also being the smallest buildingstones as a fift (strings???)

 

[Lillen]

My question for today is, do you believe... R.E.M. Man On The Moon Lyrics - YouTube ...