Liquid Crystal Us

1
Liquid Crystal Us

• The Physics of Life
• With thanks to Mae-Wan Ho

2
What is Life?

• Schrödingers classic (1944) work raised the
  question Can life be accounted for by physics
  and chemistry?

His answer Yes, but not at that moment.
3
Problem Life and the Second Law

• First Law Matter is neither created nor
  destroyed.
• Second Law Useful energy continually degrades,
  increasing entropy.
• Life looks like Maxwells demon organizing
  energy for work without generating much entropy.

4
Whats the Problem with Explaining Life?

• Scientific methods have tended to smash things
  into tiny pieces, and then try to understand
  their structure and function.

5
Closed Systems

• Where the classic thermodynamics work took place.
  
• No inputs, no outputs, system runs down to
  equilibrium.

6
Open Systems

• Inputs of energy, outputs of waste.
• More cycling within system than without defines
  system.
• Organization happens within energy flow.

7
So, What is Life?

• Ho Life is a process of becoming an organizing
  whole.

Extremely sensitive to environmental
cues Convert and amplify minute signals into
actions Achieve long range coordination of
astronomical numbers of submicroscopic, molecular
reactions over macroscopic distances Summon
energy at will and engage in rapid and efficient
energy conversion
8
Organized Complexity

• Life is an open system, maintained by a flow of
  energy and chemicals.
• No homogeneity, multiple levels of organization,
  dynamic communication.

9
Life as Quantum Molecular Machine

• Energy released by molecules and converted so
  quickly that theres no time to become heat.
• Sum of individual molecular processes molecular
  cascades -- produces macroscopic process.

10
Coherent Excitation

• Living organisms have predominantly dipolar
  molecules, with oppositely charged ends.
• These are packed tightly in cells, and each has a
  characteristic vibration.
• Vibrations are transmitted from molecule to
  molecule.

11
Resonance

• An alternative to the lock-and-key model of
  enzyme function.
• The resonance between complex molecules creates
  spontaneous organization.

12
Within the Cell

• Classic image Organelles and enzymes float
  around in cytosol.
• New image Cytosol contains a dynamic lattice of
  proteins connecting all the structures in the
  cell. Virtually none of the cell contents are
  disconnected from this lattice.

13
Flows through the Electric Body

• Electrons flow along and between polar molecules.
• Flows are organized into larger scale spatial
  patterns.
• This forms the coherent electrodynamical field
  that underlies living organization.

14
Detecting CoherenceConventional Biological
Evidence

• Biological rhythms, e.g. heartbeat and
  respiration, are frequently coupled and
  responsive to each other.
• Brain imaging reveals rapid coherent changes
  sweeping over parts of the brain.
• Synchronous flashing of fireflies, chirping of
  crickets, function of pacemaker cells in the
  heart.

15
The Rainbow in the Worm

• Using polarized light microscopy, the colors of a
  living organism can be seen. Areas of greatest
  activity have greatest depth of color.

16
Liquid Crystals and the Development of Form

• The polarized nature of organic molecules makes
  the development of particular patterns an
  alignment to electromagnetic fields.
• The alignment of the molecules forms a sort of
  memory for the cell.

17
Collagen, Consciousness, and Memory

• Collagen forms a sensitive and responsive matrix
  in contact with all cells.
• Experiences modify form, so experiences are
  stored in living matter.
• Collagen holds consciousness and memory.

18
Body and Brain

• The brain may not be the master coordinator of
  bodily functions.
• Instead, the brain may be seen as functioning
  simultaneously with the instantaneous
  synchronization of organ system processes.
• Coordination is mediated through the liquid
  crystal continuum of the body.

19
Quantum Coherence and Life

• A coherent state in matter maximizes both global
  cohesion and also local freedom.
• Coherence does not mean uniformity
• Imagine an immensely huge superorchestra

20
The Meaning of Life (for a Scientist)The
Ignorance of the External Observer

• There is an inseparability of observer and
  observed we influence, and are influenced by,
  what we watch.
• Entropy may only measure what we do not know.
• For the most knowledge, we must become one with
  the system.

21
Space, Time, and Us

• Quantum theory describes the universe as process,
  ever-present.
• We are also process, generating our perception of
  space and time as part of our process.
• Consciousness happens at multiple levels in a
  nested hierarchy of being.