Explaining Life With Physics
BBC Earth|September - October 2019

In the demon in the machine, Physicist Paul Davies explores an emerging area of research that aims to merge Physics and Biology, to explain how life began

Explaining Life With Physics

What has physics got to do with the origin of life?

Seventy-five years ago, the famous quantum physicist Erwin Schrödinger gave a series of lectures and then wrote a book called What Is Life? Schrödinger was one of the founders of quantum mechanics, which is probably the most successful scientific theory we have. At a stroke it explained the nature of matter, all the way from atomic nuclei up to stars. So here was an architect of a theory so powerful that it explained the nature of matter. Could it also explain the nature of life?

In his lectures, Schrödinger had to admit that, in spite of his brilliance, he still found life very baffling, looked at through the eyes of a physicist. At the level of individual atoms inside a living organism, it is just standard physics – nobody doubts that. But by the time you get to the level of a living cell, it looks like some sort of magic is going on. It’s so extraordinary, so baffling, the things that life does – all those stupid atoms getting together to do such clever things – that Schrödinger felt that some new type of physics must be involved. He said that we must be prepared to find a new type of physical law prevailing in it. Not just a new law, but a new type of law.

Even 75 years on, and in spite of the extraordinary advances in biology during that period of time, nobody knows what life is or how it began. But I think, just in the last few years, we’ve seen a little crack in the wall of mystery that shrouds life. I think we are now beginning to see what makes life tick.

Why do we need a new type of law? What’s wrong with the physics that we have now?

Esta historia es de la edición September - October 2019 de BBC Earth.

Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.

Esta historia es de la edición September - October 2019 de BBC Earth.

Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.

MÁS HISTORIAS DE BBC EARTHVer todo
World's First Malaria Vaccine
BBC Earth

World's First Malaria Vaccine

The World Health Organization’s director-general hails ‘historic moment’ as mass immunisation of African children begins

time-read
2 minutos  |
Volume 14 - Issue 2
Is River Pollution Putting The Species In Jeopardy Again?
BBC Earth

Is River Pollution Putting The Species In Jeopardy Again?

Ten years ago, it was jubilantly announced that o ers had returned to every county in England. But is river pollution putting the species in jeopardy again?

time-read
10+ minutos  |
Volume 14 - Issue 2
The Big Burnout
BBC Earth

The Big Burnout

Long hours, low pay and a lack of appreciation — among other things — can make for a stressful workplace and lead to burnout. It’s something we should all be concerned about, because over half of the workforce reports feeling it

time-read
10 minutos  |
Volume 14 - Issue 2
Putting Nature To Rights
BBC Earth

Putting Nature To Rights

More countries are enshrining the right to a clean environment into law. So if a company or government is impinging upon that right, you could take them to court

time-read
10 minutos  |
Volume 14 - Issue 2
Mega Spaceship: Is It Possible For China To Build A Kilometre-Long Spacecraft?
BBC Earth

Mega Spaceship: Is It Possible For China To Build A Kilometre-Long Spacecraft?

Buoyed on by its successful Moon missions, China has launched a five-year study to investigate the possibility of building the biggest-ever spacecraft

time-read
4 minutos  |
Volume 14 - Issue 2
Are We Getting Happier?
BBC Earth

Are We Getting Happier?

Enjoying more good days than bad? Feel like that bounce in your step’s getting bigger? HELEN RUSSELL looks into whether we’re all feeling more cheery…

time-read
3 minutos  |
Volume 14 - Issue 2
“Unless the Japanese got the US off their backs in the Pacific, they believed they would face complete destruction”
BBC Earth

“Unless the Japanese got the US off their backs in the Pacific, they believed they would face complete destruction”

Eighty years ago Japan’s surprise raid on Pearl Harbor forced the US offthe fence and into the Second World War. Ellie Cawthorne is making a new HistoryExtra podcast series about the attack, and she spoke to Christopher Harding about the long roots of Japan’s disastrous decision

time-read
10+ minutos  |
Volume 14 - Issue 2
Your Mysterious Brain
BBC Earth

Your Mysterious Brain

Science has mapped the surface of Mars and translated the code for life. By comparison, we know next to nothing about what’s between our ears. Over the next few pages, we ask leading scientists to answer some of the most important questions about our brains…

time-read
10+ minutos  |
Volume 14 - Issue 2
Why Do We Fall In Love?
BBC Earth

Why Do We Fall In Love?

Is it companionship, procreation or something more? DR ANNA MACHIN reveals what makes us so willing to become targets for Cupid’s arrow

time-read
2 minutos  |
Volume 14 - Issue 2
Detecting the dead
BBC Earth

Detecting the dead

Following personal tragedy, the creator of that most rational of literary figures, Sherlock Holmes, developed an obsession with spiritualism. Fiona Snailham and Anna Maria Barry explore the supernatural interests of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

time-read
7 minutos  |
Volume 14 - Issue 2