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SUMMARY:Biophysics and Life in the Universe - MARGARIDA HERMIDA\, King's C
 ollege London\, Jacobsen Fellow (Department of Philosophy)
DTSTART:20260225T160000Z
DTEND:20260225T170000Z
UID:TALK243526@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Selen Etingü
DESCRIPTION:Biology is not in principle restricted to life on Earth or to 
 life as we know it\, but should be thought of as a universal discipline j
 ust as physics and chemistry are\, despite the restricted epistemic cond
 ition of our N=1 sample. Universal biology seeks generalisations about lif
 e considered as a general phenomenon\, and is informed by physics and chem
 istry as well as by biological facts. In this talk I discuss several gener
 alisations that are true of all Earth life and that are plausibly universa
 lly true due to universal physical constraints on how life can be and how 
 it can originate. These include\, in particular: thermodynamic features of
  life\; cells as the minimum unit of life\; the chemical nature of metabol
 ic processes\; constraints on the kinds of molecules required for the func
 tioning of living systems\; physical limitations on the size and structure
  of organisms\; replication\, reproduction\, and evolution by natural sele
 ction\; and universal kinds of ecological relations. The universality of p
 hysics and chemistry\, and the emergence of order in complex non-living sy
 stems\, allow us to generate promising hypotheses about life in the univer
 se.
LOCATION:Martin Ryle Seminar Room\, Kavli Institute
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