Computer Model Shows the Universe is Alive!!! (???)

Discussion in 'Astronomy, Exobiology, & Cosmology' started by TruthSeeker, Aug 14, 2007.

  1. TruthSeeker Fancy Virtual Reality Monkey Valued Senior Member

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    "Hot gas in space mimics life
    Scientists say it's an example of how difficult it is to define life
    By Ker Than

    Updated: 10:19 a.m. PT Aug 14, 2007
    Electrically charged specks of interstellar dust organize into DNA-like double helixes and display properties normally attributed to living systems, such as evolving and reproducing, new computer simulations show.

    But scientists are hesitant to call the dancing dust particles "alive," and instead say they are just another example of how difficult it is to define life.

    The computer model, detailed in the Aug. 14 issue of the New Journal of Physics, shows what happens to microscopic dust particles when they are injected into plasma. "

    Ok, now hold on! Is there a similar hypothesis about the origin of life on earth? To put it simply, "life" forming in water that is charged?

    Is this really a matter of the definition of "life"? Well, maybe "life" is just our imagination? Maybe everything in the universe is equally "alive" depending on our perspective? Or maybe there is a range of "alive"? Or maybe by "life" we mean sentient beings that make "choices"? And are we making "choices" anyways or it only LOOKS like we are making choices?

    I'm confused.... :wtf:
     
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  3. draqon Banned Banned

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    Ever thought this gas is controlled by aliens?

    what if...

    we found them.
     
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  5. Orleander OH JOY!!!! Valued Senior Member

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    doesn't fire grow, reproduce, consume?
     
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  7. draqon Banned Banned

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    Doesn't love get created, fades, and than dies?
     
  8. s0meguy Worship me or suffer eternally Valued Senior Member

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    All we do is react to external stimuli, using experience that we gained earlier to make 'choices'. You could say it's more like logical behavior, like the behavior of fire.
     
    Last edited: Aug 15, 2007
  9. Enmos Valued Senior Member

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    Everything is equally dead. But some dead things that reproduce, grow etc is called 'life'. The definition of the word life will be modified by us to be increasingly specific to 'life' on earth. Everything that does not fit the definition of life the way we define it is not considered life. Ofcourse if we ever discover aliens that dont fit our definition we will change the definition. But we cant be wrong... and we cant be right... its all pretty shaky

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  10. orcot Valued Senior Member

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    the defenition of life is like that of a planet it doesn't really exist their are yust a lot of strange things out there that we like to define as something
     
  11. Yorda Registered Senior Member

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    everything is alive, but animals are less alive than humans, and plants are less alive than animals, and rocks are less alive than plants.

    that something is alive means that it has life, a spirit, consciousness...

    more conscious = more alive
     
  12. orcot Valued Senior Member

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    ... you might want to rethink a bid abouth that
     
  13. superluminal I am MalcomR Valued Senior Member

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    It's a computer model, people. And the instant they use the words "DNA like" it gets on MSNBC. It's just another type of interaction between particles in a complex environment. Bah.
     
  14. Avatar smoking revolver Valued Senior Member

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    Of course the universe is alive, or what are you and every other living being?
     
  15. superluminal I am MalcomR Valued Senior Member

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    Good point.
     
  16. leopold Valued Senior Member

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    it cannot willfully change anything about itself so no, it isn't alive.
     
  17. superluminal I am MalcomR Valued Senior Member

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    Well, only if you consider life as something seperate and distinct from the universe. You are as much "the universe" as is the sun or some galaxy 10 billion ly away. You are made of hydrogen that first formed in the primordial soup in the first milliseconds of the BB, and other atoms that were forged in subsequent supergiant stars that spewed forth their atomic alchemy in supernova explosions.
     
  18. Avatar smoking revolver Valued Senior Member

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    And most of all you are the eternal energy that is the expanding universe, in one form or another.
     
  19. cosmictraveler Be kind to yourself always. Valued Senior Member

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    1) Living things need to take in energy
    2) Living things get rid of waste
    3) Living things grow and develop
    4) Living things respond to their environment
    5) Living things reproduce and pass their traits onto their offspring
    6) Over time, living things evolve (change slowly) in response to their environment

    Therefore, in order for something to be considered to "have life" as we know it, it must possess these characteristics.


    http://www.dogpile.com/info.dogpl/c...ows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/earth/Life/life1.html
     
  20. leopold Valued Senior Member

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    since this thread isn't in the philosophy forum i will reiterate:
    the universe isn't alive simply because it has no will of its own.
     
  21. superluminal I am MalcomR Valued Senior Member

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    Fair enough.
     
  22. Enmos Valued Senior Member

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    :bugeye:
     
  23. Avatar smoking revolver Valued Senior Member

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    Yorda is just stupid and hasn't learned biology.
    He also not conscious of the fact that humans are animals.
    So by his own definition he is less alive than I am.
    Therefore it's ok for me to kill and eat him.
     

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