How a Cup of Water Can Unlock the Secrets of Our Universe
Researchers from Queen Mary University of London have made a discovery that could change our understanding of the universe. In their study published on August 23 in the journal Science Advances, they reveal, for the first time, that there is a range in which fundamental constants can vary, allowing for the viscosity needed for life processes to occur within and between living cells. This is an important piece of the puzzle in determining where these constants come from and how they impact life as we know it.
Previous Findings and New Insights
In 2020, the same team discovered that the viscosity of liquids is determined by fundamental physical constants, setting a limit on how runny a liquid can be. Now this result is taken into the realm of life sciences.
Fundamental physical constants shape the fabric of the universe we live in. Physical constants are quantities with a value that is generally believed to be both universal in nature and to remain unchanged over time – for example, the mass of the electron. They govern nuclear reactions and can lead to the formation of molecular structures essential to life, but their origin is unknown. This research might bring scientists one step closer to determining where these constants come from.
The Role of Viscosity and Constants in Life
“Understanding how water flows in a cup turns out to be closely related to the grand challenge to figure out fundamental constants. Life processes in and between living cells require motion and it is viscosity that sets the properties of this motion. If fundamental constants change, viscosity would change too impacting life as we know it. For example, if water was as viscous as tar life would not exist in its current form or not exist at all. This applies beyond water, so all life forms using the liquid state to function would be affected.”
“Any change in fundamental constants including an increase or decrease would be equally bad news for flow and for liquid-based life. We expect the window to be quite narrow: for example, viscosity of our blood would become too thick or too thin for body functioning with only a few percent change of some fundamental constants such as the Planck constant or electron charge.” Professor of Physics Kostya Trachenko said.
Historical Perspective and Evolutionary Conjecture
Surprisingly, the fundamental constants were thought to be tuned billions of years ago to produce heavy nuclei in stars, and back then life as we know it today didn’t exist. There was no need for these constants to be fine-tuned at that point to also enable cellular life billions of years later, and yet these constants turn out to be bio-friendly to flow in and between living cells.
An accompanying conjecture is that multiple tunings may have been involved and this then suggests a similarity to biological evolution where traits were acquired independently. Through evolutionary mechanisms, fundamental constants may be the result of nature arriving at sustainable physical structures. It remains to be seen how the principles of evolution can be helpful to understand the origin of fundamental constants.
Reference: “Constraints on fundamental physical constants from bio-friendly viscosity and diffusion” by Kostya Trachenko, 23 August 2023, Science Advances.
DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adh9024
Never miss a breakthrough: Join the SciTechDaily newsletter.
30 Comments
I would like a printed how they come 2X older conclusions.
Really missing the author statement on interests held to the universe. Missed opportunity. Just a simple declaration of owning whether it’s a universe with water and hydrolysis or ketones with carboxylisis…
Through evolutionary mechanisms, fundamental constants may be the result of nature arriving at sustainable physical structures. It is indeed so. According to topological vortex gravitational field theory, it is viscosity that sets the properties of fluid motion, the fundamental constant is the interaction of variables in a sustainable physical structure, no physical structure can exist independently of the world.
Good luck to you all.
Looks like the old teleological argument rearing it’s face. It is indeed fascinating to see the direct link between the fundamental constants and life processes… but to assert that these constants were fine tuned *for the purpose* of making life possible is unscientific at best.
Not unscientific. And it make sense!
In the string theory landscape, all combinations of fundamental constants (and more) exist, and we live in one of the very rare universe where those fundamental constants are fine tuned in a way that allows us to be.
this is nonsense. nothing of substance was said. “fundamental constants are fine tuned for life as we know it to have good viscosity of liquid in the cell, therefore evolution happened on the physical constants to arrive at their current values” is absolutely bananas
Is the discovery that clickbate titles attract more traffic?
Evolution is survival of the fittest? How does physics evolve… that’s defined as Creation 🤔
#YahdiDon☮️
James Tour will have a field day with this.
“Through evolutionary mechanisms, fundamental constants may be the result of nature arriving at sustainable physical structures. It remains to be seen how the principles of evolution can be helpful to understand the origin of fundamental constants.”
Good bless you, your faith is much greater than mine.
God created us why can’t you guys accept that?
God may have created YOU!!
But you might be a butthole baby too for all we know!!?
Once again, as it is when we start looking into the universe and the physical world, it looks as though someone has tweaked the numbers. Hmmm
In the string theory landscape, all combinations of fundamental constants (and more) exist, and we live in one of the very rare universe where those fundamental constants are fine tuned in a way that allows us to be.
And here I thought something important was discovered…Hah.
Just a lot of jumbo-jumbo here, when the consistencies and order they acknowledge must exist can only come from an “organizer”, a “creator”. People looking everywhere and anywhere as long as it’s not looking at their Creator, Jesus Christ. Science has lost it’s way.
Heraclitus famous quote:
“Everything flows”
You think it was that time of the month for his wife when he coined that phrase?
The mass of an electron is not really a good example for a physical constant since mass is always dependent on velocity.. The speed of light or the proportion of the diameter and the circumference of a circle would be (pi) ..
Usually we consider the rest mass, which does not depend on velocity.
What else could dark matter be ,if not for the particles that blow ahead of photons during inflation and after, until universe became isotrophic and homogeneous and cooled to its current temperature and density.
The way the human eye works is such a wonder. There is definitely a creator. No big bang.
All of these theories are to be considering e ploitation. As a matter of fact, we have known about Civilizations in which no longer left traceable way of known the cause of their non-existance. Is it enough to be food for thoughts?
Let be quite frank and respectful to the Planet of Earth. A Planet that sustain life and be more respectful to climate change.
The strong service..natural selection is the way it is and always has been the week parish so many things went extinct to get to where we are today
Maybe there is a point to all this, I wish I could see a creator in this, but our beliefs are the most powerful thing we have , they govern all our thoughts and actions or the lack thereof, fact is were stardust and as magical as it may seem this is all we got so if it makes someone feel like they had a epic moment of clarity by stating the obvious,let them have their moment
We have to be considerate of our neighbourhood only. In the galactic Callander of Universe, we are almost non existent.
A close connection between fundamental physical constants and life as we observe it is no accident. I would like to suggest that this has much to do with the amazing ability of life to adapt to a very wide range of physical conditions. Mediating this adaptability must be a wide range biological factors, of which viscosity is only one (albeit a core factor for cellular development).
Title is misleading, this is not a discovery, this is just a suggestion and there is no experimental verification to it. And by the way, the article has just one author where did the term ” scientists ” come from
The article in Science Advances only establishes bounds on the values of fundamental constants, based on the (weak) anthropic principle, something that has been done before for many of the fundamental constants, such as the fine-structure constant. Nothing in the study reported on suggests these values are anything other than unchanging.
Why “Expand To Show Full Article”? It’s annoying!
That’s basically the landscape of string theory.
Nothing new.