Addy Pross

persistent, stable in this time sense, but the water drops in the fountain are continually turning over. Now, that's a physical, a very simple physical phenomenon. description of kinetic stability, but some 15 years ago, chemists discovered chemical fountains.

persistent, stable in this time sense, but the water drops in the fountain are continually turning over. Now, that's a physical, a very simple physical phenomenon. description of kinetic stability, but some 15 years ago, chemists discovered chemical fountains.

In other words, materials that are unstable in an energetic sense, but persistent and stable in a time sense because they're turning over consistently, continually through Yeah, the stuff coming in all the time, the energy coming in all the time in particular.

In other words, materials that are unstable in an energetic sense, but persistent and stable in a time sense because they're turning over consistently, continually through Yeah, the stuff coming in all the time, the energy coming in all the time in particular.

Absolutely.

Absolutely.

Yeah. Well, as you say, physicists have been familiar with this idea actually for a while. Prigogine, in fact, got a Nobel Prize for its contributions to non-equilibrium thermodynamics. And the familiar examples then, there are, I mean, I spoke about fountains, but hurricanes, whirlpools are such structures that are stable,

Yeah. Well, as you say, physicists have been familiar with this idea actually for a while. Prigogine, in fact, got a Nobel Prize for its contributions to non-equilibrium thermodynamics. And the familiar examples then, there are, I mean, I spoke about fountains, but hurricanes, whirlpools are such structures that are stable,

persistent in the time sense, as long as you have energy provided to them. But what was not familiar is that you can have chemical systems that behave like that, and life is the ultimate example of dynamic, kinetically stable material, which is continually undergoing change, and just as I said, the water drops in the fountain are turning over all the time.

persistent in the time sense, as long as you have energy provided to them. But what was not familiar is that you can have chemical systems that behave like that, and life is the ultimate example of dynamic, kinetically stable material, which is continually undergoing change, and just as I said, the water drops in the fountain are turning over all the time.

In a few months' time, you will be a totally different person. Most of the stuff that is you won't be you anymore. It's still you, but the stuff has been turned over, and it's new stuff all the time.

In a few months' time, you will be a totally different person. Most of the stuff that is you won't be you anymore. It's still you, but the stuff has been turned over, and it's new stuff all the time.

analog of that is there is there some particular kind of chemistry that we need to make the dynamic kinetic stability work not really just a source of energy generally typically it will be chemical energy uh the classic example um was when this work was uh this area was uh discovered um was with a very simple reaction, one of the most basic reactions in chemistry, esterification.

analog of that is there is there some particular kind of chemistry that we need to make the dynamic kinetic stability work not really just a source of energy generally typically it will be chemical energy uh the classic example um was when this work was uh this area was uh discovered um was with a very simple reaction, one of the most basic reactions in chemistry, esterification.

Now, if you take a carboxylic acid and you methylate it, which you can consider a source of material but also a source of energy, you end up with an ester. Now, that is a downhill reaction, because you started off high in energy, and you go downhill, and you end up with your ester, nice crystals. And that's a very familiar reaction that we've known for, I don't know, well over 100 years.

Now, if you take a carboxylic acid and you methylate it, which you can consider a source of material but also a source of energy, you end up with an ester. Now, that is a downhill reaction, because you started off high in energy, and you go downhill, and you end up with your ester, nice crystals. And that's a very familiar reaction that we've known for, I don't know, well over 100 years.

But what two young Dutch chemists discovered, which was quite remarkable, that if you do this reaction in a dynamic way, namely, turn the acid into the ester, and then continually degrade the ester back to acid and then make more ester all the time in this dynamic way, you end up with a new form of matter. You end up with a hydrogel.

But what two young Dutch chemists discovered, which was quite remarkable, that if you do this reaction in a dynamic way, namely, turn the acid into the ester, and then continually degrade the ester back to acid and then make more ester all the time in this dynamic way, you end up with a new form of matter. You end up with a hydrogel.

Not crystals, a hydrogel, which has unusual properties because it's composed of both the ester and the acid in a dynamic process. Now, the other thing that's very interesting here and very relevant to life is for that one thermodynamic process with one thermodynamic state, you have thousands,

Not crystals, a hydrogel, which has unusual properties because it's composed of both the ester and the acid in a dynamic process. Now, the other thing that's very interesting here and very relevant to life is for that one thermodynamic process with one thermodynamic state, you have thousands,