Addy Pross

Yeah, well, that's where the difficulties start. There are literally hundreds of definitions of life. And the fact that there are so many definitions means that probably none of them are very good. Otherwise, you wouldn't need hundreds of definitions. And the biological ones tend to be focused on biological aspects, nucleic acids, proteins, replication, evolution.

Yeah, well, that's where the difficulties start. There are literally hundreds of definitions of life. And the fact that there are so many definitions means that probably none of them are very good. Otherwise, you wouldn't need hundreds of definitions. And the biological ones tend to be focused on biological aspects, nucleic acids, proteins, replication, evolution.

And the more physical ones tend to look at more physical aspects, self-organization, information, stability, instability, etc. But that hasn't somehow, that hasn't been enough. And I think there have been developments in the last several years in systems chemistry, which I think can make a definition that enables you to have a recipe how to make life in principle.

And the more physical ones tend to look at more physical aspects, self-organization, information, stability, instability, etc. But that hasn't somehow, that hasn't been enough. And I think there have been developments in the last several years in systems chemistry, which I think can make a definition that enables you to have a recipe how to make life in principle.

An outline would be useful, and that's which I will mention in a moment. It's based on the idea that we've just learned, as I say, that there's a new – There's a new state of matter that's been uncovered in chemistry in the last 10, 15 years, a remarkable thought. Chemistry is a very established science now, and yet we've discovered that beyond the familiar thermodynamic states of matter,

An outline would be useful, and that's which I will mention in a moment. It's based on the idea that we've just learned, as I say, that there's a new – There's a new state of matter that's been uncovered in chemistry in the last 10, 15 years, a remarkable thought. Chemistry is a very established science now, and yet we've discovered that beyond the familiar thermodynamic states of matter,

There are kinetic states of matter, and we'll need to talk a little bit about that and what that means. And life, if I have to define life now, I would say it's a replicating chemical system in this dynamic kinetic state, this new state of matter that's been recently discovered.

There are kinetic states of matter, and we'll need to talk a little bit about that and what that means. And life, if I have to define life now, I would say it's a replicating chemical system in this dynamic kinetic state, this new state of matter that's been recently discovered.

Well, that's exactly the nature of this new state of matter that I'm going to describe a little bit. We're very familiar with the thermodynamic states that basically say that matter wants to be in a low-energy state. Right. But the strange thing is that stability has, which we use frequently in science, but not just in science, has two meanings which are actually quite different.

Well, that's exactly the nature of this new state of matter that I'm going to describe a little bit. We're very familiar with the thermodynamic states that basically say that matter wants to be in a low-energy state. Right. But the strange thing is that stability has, which we use frequently in science, but not just in science, has two meanings which are actually quite different.

One is in science we tend to think of stability as low energy, but stability in an everyday sense means energy. persistent, unchanging over time. And these two terms don't have to be overlapping, and they're not always overlapping. So when we talk about thermodynamic stability, they're overlapping. Why? Because when something is low in energy at its lowest energy state, it is also persistent.

One is in science we tend to think of stability as low energy, but stability in an everyday sense means energy. persistent, unchanging over time. And these two terms don't have to be overlapping, and they're not always overlapping. So when we talk about thermodynamic stability, they're overlapping. Why? Because when something is low in energy at its lowest energy state, it is also persistent.

It sticks around effectively forever. But it turns out you can have stuff that is unstable in energy terms but stable in time terms. And time stability is, in a sense, more fundamental than energy stability because it encompasses both kinetically – stable systems and energetically stable systems.

It sticks around effectively forever. But it turns out you can have stuff that is unstable in energy terms but stable in time terms. And time stability is, in a sense, more fundamental than energy stability because it encompasses both kinetically – stable systems and energetically stable systems.

So this is the essence of what I'm going to talk about, that you can have something that is unstable energetically, but it's stable in the time sense. It persists. And just to make that clear, life has been around for close to four billion years, bacteria for most of that time. That is pretty persistent, pretty stable in the time sense.

So this is the essence of what I'm going to talk about, that you can have something that is unstable energetically, but it's stable in the time sense. It persists. And just to make that clear, life has been around for close to four billion years, bacteria for most of that time. That is pretty persistent, pretty stable in the time sense.

Well, that's the bottom line. The answer is yes. And some forms of that are actually very familiar. And the metaphor I like to use, a physical metaphor for this kinetic stability, is the simple phenomenon of a water fountain. There's this wonderful fountain in Geneva. It goes up, you know, whatever, 150 meters or so. And it is stable in a time sense.

Well, that's the bottom line. The answer is yes. And some forms of that are actually very familiar. And the metaphor I like to use, a physical metaphor for this kinetic stability, is the simple phenomenon of a water fountain. There's this wonderful fountain in Geneva. It goes up, you know, whatever, 150 meters or so. And it is stable in a time sense.

Whenever you go to Geneva, there it is doing what fountains do. But it's clearly unstable in an energetic sense. The water in that fountain is suspended in midair. So what's going on here? You can have something stable in a time sense because it is being created in a dynamic way so that the fountain as an entity is stable.

Whenever you go to Geneva, there it is doing what fountains do. But it's clearly unstable in an energetic sense. The water in that fountain is suspended in midair. So what's going on here? You can have something stable in a time sense because it is being created in a dynamic way so that the fountain as an entity is stable.