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A Sourcebook for the Worldwide Discovery of a Creative Organic Universe
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Recent Additions: New and Updated Entries in the Past 60 Days
Displaying entries 16 through 30 of 82 found.


Ecosmos: A Revolutionary Fertile, Habitable, Solar-Bioplanet, Incubator Lifescape

Animate Cosmos > Organic > Gaia

Mussini, Giovanni and Frances Dunn.. Decline and fall of the Ediacarans: late-Neoproterozoic extinctions and the rise of the modern biosphere.. Biological Reviews. 99/1, 2024. Cambridge and Oxford University natural historians provide a latest retrospective on life’s epochal transformation from rudimentary stages through to distinct organisms on their evolutionary way. But as increasingly evident, this emergent event involved safe passage through a narrow, hazardous zone of viability. As one reads the text below, an impression may be gained that some manner of developmental scale was trying to proceed by its own persistent self.

The end-Neoproterozoic transition marked a gradual shift between distinct configurations of Earth's biosphere. This interval saw the demise of the enigmatic Ediacaran Biota and ushered in trophic webs and animal body plans of Phanerozoic ecosystems. However, little consensus exists on its reality, drivers, and macroevolutionary implications. Here we consider recent findings on Ediacaran geochronology, the persistence of macrobionts into the Cambrian, and the crown-group eumetazoans. We argue that the protracted effects of novel bilaterians may best account for the structure and selectivity of late-Neoproterozoic extinctions.. Given resource distribution in Ediacaran ecologies, and continuities among Ediacaran and Cambrian faunas, we suggest that the rise of Phanerozoic-type biotas may have been unstoppable.

The “destructive creation” accompanying the diversification of crown-group eumetazoans and decline of the Ediacaran Biota finds no true parallels in the subsequent 539 million years. The Ediacaran hourglass neck was a macroevolutionary revolution which terra-formed marine ecosystems past irreversible tipping points. (5)

The implications of end-Neoproterozoic extinction dynamics are far-reaching. Instead of representing historical accidents, the fall of the Ediacarans and the emergence of Phanerozoic ecologies hint at a key role for endogenous, self-sustaining eco-evolutionary cascades in shaping the history of the biosphere. (16)

The Ediacaran period is a geological period of the Neoproterozoic era that spans 96 million years from the end of the Cryogenian period at 635 Mya, to the beginning of the Cambrian period at 538.8 Mya. The subsequent Cambrian period marks the start of the Phanerozoic eon where recognizable fossil evidence of life becomes common.

Animate Cosmos > cosmos

Hamilton, Chris and Jean-Baptiste Fouvry.. Kinetic Theory of Stellar Systems. arXiv:2402.13322. IAS, Princeton and Sorbonne University astrophysicists contribute a 66 page, 182 reference Tutorial as a latest statement of the dynamic sunny stars. Nine segments such as Orbits in mean field potentials well covers the technical content.

Stellar systems - star clusters, galaxies, dark matter haloes, and so on - are ubiquitous characters in the evolutionary tale of our Universe. This tutorial article is an introduction to the collective dynamical evolution of the very large numbers of stars and/or other self-gravitating objects that comprise such systems, i.e. their kinetic theory.

Animate Cosmos > cosmos

mustafa, G., et al. Mustafa, G., et al. Construction of thin-shell around new wormhole solutions via solitonic quantum wave dark matter.. Annals of Physics. 460/169551, January, 2024. (A hypothesized tunnel connecting two areas of the universe or two other worlds is known as a traversable wormhole.) We note this work by Zhejiang Normal University, China, University of Nizwa, Sultanate of Oman and Saibal Ray Centre for Cosmology, Astrophysics and Space Science, India astrophysicists out of many entries as an example of the seemingly unlimited compass of Earthuman capabilities to reach and study any dimension of the celestial expanse whence we have come to find ourselves. The innate facility by which human beings in global concert can proceed with this project leads one to think that peoples are made and meant for this purpose.

In the present work, we study wormhole geometry in the framework of general relativity and explore the effects of quantum wave dark matter. We develop the basic formalism and the respective field equations to reach wormhole solutions within physical interpretations of energy conditions.. The positive behavior of quantum wave dark matter density confirms the compatibility for four different parametric values of the model. Our investigation seems to provide several attractive attributes as well as future possibilities to traditional wormhole studies.

Animate Cosmos > cosmos

Van Huffel, Michael, et al.. Hierarchical Clustering in ΛCDM Cosmologies via Persistence Energy.. arXiv:2401.01988. We cite this work by ETH Zurich and TU Eindhoven astrophysicists as one example out of a hundred each day of the nearly infinite 2024 breadth and depth that our Earthuman pancontinental scientific collaborations seem ready and able to achieve. By a philoSophia vista, one could imagine that we especial Earthlings with these innate facilities, aided by instruments and computations, have a participatory work mission of vita ecosmic self-description, recognize and affirmation.

In this research, we investigate the structural evolution of the cosmic web, employing advanced methodologies from Topological Data Analysis. Our approach involves leveraging Persistence Signals, an innovative method from recent literature that facilitates the embedding of these diagrams into vector spaces by re-conceptualizing them as signals in R2+. Utilizing this approach, we study quintessential cosmic structures: clusters, filaments, and voids. A central discovery is the correlation between Persistence Energy and redshift values, linking this homology with cosmic evolution. (Abstract)

Topological Data Analysis (TDA) has emerged as a transformative approach to extract meaningful information from complex datasets. TDA employs tools from computational geometry and algebraic topology to study their inherent features. In the context of cosmology, where the distribution of matter exhibits complex, interconnected patterns, TDA becomes a valuable tool for uncovering the cosmic formations. (1)

Animate Cosmos > cosmos > Quantum Cosmology

Adlam, Emily and Carlo Rovelli. Information is Physical: Cross-Perspective Links in Relational Quantum Mechanics. Philosophy of Physics. 1/1, 2024. In this new journal, Chapman University, CA, and Aix-Marseille University polyscholars weave various threads, as the quotes note, whose 2024 tapestry appears as a clearer perception of this natural integrity. Herein novel properties between content and cosmos are added in support. See also The Combination Problem for Relational Quantum Mechanics by EA at arXiv:2401.15790 and The Generative Programs Framework by Mordecau Waegell. et al at arXiv:2307.11282.

Relational quantum mechanics (RQM) is an interpretation of based on the idea that quantum states do not describe a system property but rather a relationship between systems. There have been some criticisms of RQM around intersubjectivity. In this article, we show how RQM can address this by a postulate that the information possessed by an observer is stored in physical variables and thus is accessible to other observers. We suggest an ontology which upholds the principle that quantum states are always relational. (Excerpt)

In this article, we have set out an updated approach to RQM, including a postulate that explicitly guarantees intersubjective agreement between observers when they perform measurements on one another. The main motivation for our approach is to take seriously the idea that “information is physical,” and we have argued that this principle implies that the knowledge gained by an observer when a variable becomes definite relative to them must be accessible to other observers under appropriate circumstances. We have shown that adding this postulate to RQM solves a potentially serious epistemic problem and that it also helps answer the preferred basis objection. (17)

Animate Cosmos > cosmos > Chemistry

Estrada, Ernesto. What is a mathematician doing…in a chemistry class?.. Foundations of Chemistry. February, 2024. The Institute of Cross-Disciplinary Physics and Complex Systems IFISC (UIB-CSIC) Palma de Mallorca polyscholar is also editor of the Journal of Complex Networks. In this interdisciplinary contribution, describes his experience he scopes out a deep affinity between these dimensions. The guiding theme once again is a sense of common analogies that necessarily infuse each approach.


The way of thinking of mathematicians and chemists in their disciplines seems to have very different levels of abstractions. While the firsts are involved in the most abstract sciences, the seconds are engaged in a mainly experimental field. Yet many luminaries of the mathematics universe have studied chemistry as their subject. Here I make note of mathematicians who were involved in chemistry from a biographical perspective. I found analogies between code-breaking and molecular structure elucidation, inspiration for statistics in quantitative analytical chemistry, and topology in the study of some organic molecules. (Excerpt)

Another coincident way of thinking between an organic chemist and a mathematician is about the importance that patterns play in their research. Chemists search for patterns in the physical properties of the molecule under study, in its chemical reactivity, in groups and motifs. Mathematicians search for numerical patterns of shape, motion, behavior, and so on. Once a pattern is identified either in chemistry or in mathematics, the researcher can proceed to the clarification of the systematic rule which is behind that pattern. (22)

Animate Cosmos > cosmos > exouniverse

Lee, Gain. et al. Understanding the Formation and Evolution of Dark Galaxies in a Simulated Universe. arXiv:2401.07007. We record this paper by Korean astrophysicists as a 2024 example on this site of the current reach and depth of our Earthuman collaborative intelligence. By a philoSophia view, it seems that we Earthlings have innate abilities to carry out a vital task to numerically and textually quantify, describe, record and affirm an ecosmic existence and futurity. As newly enhanced by AI deep neural learning methods, this worldwide project is in early planning stages. In this subject regard, it seems that our individual and collective faculties, truly a global work space, can imagine, study and conjure whole universes. Whomever are we all to be able to do this?

We study the formation and evolution of dark galaxies using the IllustrisTNG cosmological hydrodynamical simulation. We find that at the present epoch (z=0), dark galaxies are located in void regions without star-forming gas. Our results suggest that dark galaxies tend to be formed in less dense regions, and could not form stars because of heating from cosmic reionization. This study based on numerical simulations can provide important hints for validating dark galaxy candidates in observations and for constraining galaxy formation models. (Excerpts)

Animate Cosmos > Information

Adami, Christoph. The Evolution of Biological Information: How Evolution Creates Complexity, from Viruses to Brains. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2024. A senior authority in computational biology for over 20 years based at Michigan State University contributes his unique, 600 page opus. Its comprehensive chapters flow from the subject theory to biotic precursors, its genetic prescription, digital lab experiments, physiologic robustness, RNA origins, all the way to ascendant intelligence and social cooperation. As these aspects unfold in thorough turn they are braced by many equations.

An overall course becomes evident from the earliest replicants to metabolic biomolecules, cellular animals and relative linguistic knowledge. Although not a theme, it does trace a central trend that winds up with our sentient, observant selves. While Caleb Scharf and Yavul Harari write of algorithms that pass on from the human phase, for Adami the plot thickens and quickens as life’s genomic heredity proceeds from simple cells to neural cognizance. By 2024, a temporal progression may come into view of a procreative ecosmos were trying to decipher and read its own hereditary endowment.

In this final chapter I discussed three prime scales of life: how information is the key element that distinguishes life from nonlife, how the communication of information is the main factor that makes cooperation possible from cells to societies and how information is used to predict the future state of the world. Just as I wrote in the chapter introduction, once we look at biology in the light of information, it is hard not to see the fundamental importance of this concept. (519)

In this book, Christoph Adami adds a 21st century perspective to Darwinian evolution through the lens of an informational quality. This novel theoretical stance sheds light on how cells evolve to communicate, intelligence arises and viruses evolve drug resistance, By this account, information emerges as the central unifying principle which allows us to think about the origin of life on Earth and elsewhere. A leader in the field of computational biology, Adami especially considers the information theory of biomolecules and its content in genetic sequences and proteins. After viewing bacteria and digital organisms, he goes onto explain cooperation among cells, animals, and people. (MIT)

Christoph Adami is professor of microbiology and molecular genetics at Michigan State University. A pioneer in the application of methods from information theory to the study of evolution, he designed the Avida system that launched the use of digital life as a tool for investigating basic questions in evolutionary biology.

Animate Cosmos > Fractal

Chanu, Athokpam, et al. Analysis of the structural complexity of Crab Nebula observed at radio frequency using a multifractal approach. Journal of Physics: Complexity. volume 5, 2024. As Earthuman celestial studies proceed apace, five researchers posted at Asia Pacific Center for Theoretical Physics, Korea, Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bangalore, Pondicherry University, Jawaharlal Nehru University, and National Centre for Radio Astrophysics, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, India report another instance of astronomic self-similarities as they apparently suffuse a genesis universe.

The Crab Nebula is an astrophysical system that exhibits morphological patterns at different observing frequencies. We investigate the structural complexity of the nebula using imaging data at radio frequency. We use the well-known multifractal detrended fluctuation analysis in two dimensions and find that radio data exhibit long-range correlations from the underlying physics of the supernova explosion and evolution. The correlations follow a power-law scaling with length scales. The structural complexity is found to be multifractal in nature, as evidenced by the the generalized Hurst exponent. Our analysis thus provides a fresh perspective on the morphology of the Crab Nebula from a complexity science viewpoint. (Excerpt)

Animate Cosmos > Astrobiology

Ziurys, Lucy. Prebiotic Astrochemistry from Astronomical Observations and Laboratory Spectroscopy. Annual Review of Physical Chemistry. Volume 75, 2024. As the quote notes, a senior University of Arizona bioastronomer contends that the profuse ISM population of appropriate biomolecule precursors found so far must have made a vital contribution to the origin and occurrence of nascent Earth life and evolution. See also RNA-catalyzed evolution of catalytic RNA by Nikolaos Papastavrou, et al in PNAS (121/11, 2024) and Complex organic molecules uncover deeply embedded precursors of hot cores by Laure Bouscasse, et al at arXiv:2403.05237 for more evidence of a natural life-bearing spontaneity. Altogether these findings suggest that our worldwise scientific quest may have at last reached an actual realization of a phenomenal ecosmic fertility which proceeds with its own procreative development.

The discovery of more than 200 gas-phase chemical compounds in interstellar space has led to the speculation that this nonterrestrial synthesis may play a role in the origin of life. Interstellar chemistry produces a wide range of organic molecules in dense clouds such as NH2COCH3, CH3OCH3, CH3COOCH3, and CH2(OH)CHO. Elusive phosphorus has now been found in molecular milieu and the sites of star formation. The presence of fertile interstellar starting material, as well as the link to planetary bodies such as meteorites and comets, suggests that astrochemical processes set a prebiotic foundation. (Abstract)

Animate Cosmos > exoearths

cockell, Charles, et al. Sustained and comparative habitability beyond Earth. Nature Astronomy. 8/1, 2024. In a special on Astrobiology, eleven exolife scientists including Lisa Kaltenegger address these open near and farther frontiers to search for analog neighbors from microbial to technological across geological timescales. A prime concern is how to seek, detect, and evaluate by what kind of relative atmospheric signatures. See also Is the apparent absence of extraterrestrial technological civilizations down to the zoo hypothesis or nothing? by Ian Crawford and Inferring chemical disequilibrium biosignatures for Proterozoic Earth-like exoplanets by Amber Young.

Habitability is usually defined for a specific time during a planet’s evolution. But how is that habitability sustained over billions of years? Comparing habitable conditions across different Solar System bodies is key to our understanding of the underlying processes driving long-term habitability. (Editor)

Although we understand of the physical and chemical conditions required to support the evolution, growth and reproduction of organisms, we have a rudimentary grasp of the planetary conditions required to sustain those conditions over long geological timescales. We propose a stronger interface between geophysics and biology is required to quantify extended, comparative habitability. This program will be enabled by missions in our Solar System to icy bodies such as Europa, Enceladus and Titan, along with telescopes. An ultimate objective to determine whether Earth is a rare outpost by way of a multi-billion-year biosphere, or whether such conditions for sustained habitability here exist elsewhere in the Universe. (Abstract)

Animate Cosmos > Self-Selection

Boyle, Rebecca. The Best Neighborhoods for Starting a Life in the Galaxy. Quanta. January 24, 2024. A science writer about astronomic advances (search) installs her latest notice that whole spiral galaxies are now being studied with regard to their relative habitability. It appears so far that certain regions or arm locales are more favorable than others. A main source is Jeremy Niesen’s group in Denmark, see Planet formation throughout the Milky Way in the context of Galactic chemical evolution at arXiv:2398.15504. See also In the Milky Way’s Stars, a History of Violence by RB (Sept. 28, 2023) for an earlier perception. So still another variable influence on Earth’s long fortuitous trajectory to reach a collective retrospective from whence we came can be added.

To harbor life a planet must orbit a star that is relatively calm and stable. The planet’s orbit should be nearly circular for similar warmth throughout its year. And it must be not too hot, lest any surface water boil off; not too cold, lest that water remain locked in ice; but just right. Among the roughly 5,000 known exoplanets, no star systems look quite like our own, and most of them don’t even look like each other. But scientists are now increasingly subjecting the entire galaxy to similar scrutiny. In the same way that continents host distinct flora and fauna, certain regions of the galaxy could be home for different populations of stars and planets.

Christiansen’s surveys and Nielsen’s simulations are among the first to study planet occurrence as a function of galactic neighborhood. Nielsen hopes that surveys such as NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will help us understand planet formation in the same way demographers understand populations. We know we live in a habitable zone orbiting a quiet star. Perhaps scientists should also be thinking about the origin story of our star, and even the stellar ancestors that shaped our corner of the Milky Way.

Animate Cosmos > Self-Selection

Kaib, Nathan and Sean Raymond. Passing Stars as an Important Driver of Paleoclimate and the Solar System's Orbital Evolution. Astrophysical Journal Letters. 962/2, 2024. Planetary Science Institute, Tucson and University of Bourdeaux astrophysicists (search SR) are now able to add another ISM factor which could have had an effect on Earth life evolution. As the title and quotes say, interstellar traffic could brush by and influence atmospheric conditions long ago.

Reconstructions of the paleoclimate indicate that ancient climatic fluctuations on Earth are often correlated with variations in its orbital elements. However, the chaos inherent in the solar system's evolution prevents numerical simulations from predicting Earth's past orbits beyond 50–100 Myr. Here we present simulations that include the Sun's nearby stellar population, and find that close-passing stars alter our entire planetary system's orbital history via gravitational perturbations of the giant planets. (Excerpt)
We show that stellar encounters play an important role in our solar system’s long-term dynamical evolution. First, stellar encounters significantly accelerate the chaotic diffusion of Earth’s orbit, from their perturbations to the giant planets’ orbit.. Although it takes tens of Myrs for the effects of stellar passages to significantly manifest themselves, the long-term orbital evolution of the Earth and the rest of the planets is linked to these stars. (9)

Animate Cosmos > Self-Selection

Pearce, Ben, et al. Organic hazes as a source of life's building blocks to warm little ponds on the Hadean Earth. arXiv:2401.06212. Johns Hopkins University, University of Northern Iowa, and University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei cite a newly realized paleo-environment a half-billion years ago as another variable factor as life sought to complexify itself. See also Deep Beneath Earth’s Surface, Clues to Life’s Origins by Maya Wei-Haas in Quanta (Jan. 5, 2024).

Over 4 billion years ago, Earth is thought to have been a hazy world akin to Saturn's moon Titan. The organic hazes in the atmosphere could contain a vast prebiotic inventory, and may have seeded warm little ponds. In this work, we produce organic hazes in the lab atmospheres with high (5%) and low (0.5%) CH4 abundances. The ideal conditions for the delivery of life's building blocks from organic hazes would be when the Hadean atmosphere is rich in methane, but not so rich as to create an uninhabitable surface. (Excerpt)

Our results suggest that the ideal conditions for the origin of life would be when the Hadean atmosphere is rich in methane and producing lots of organic haze, but not so concentrated in CH4 that the surface becomes uninhabitable. Finding the exact value for this atmospheric methane concentration will require sophisticated climate modeling; however, our results suggest that 0.5% mabe a reasonable value to consider. (11)

Ecosmomics: Independent, UniVersal, Complex Network Systems and a Genetic Code-Script Source

Cosmic Code

Ahwad, Mohammad, et al.. Defining Complex Adaptive Systems: An Algorithmic Approach. \. Systems. 12/2, 2024. We cite this entry by University of Huddersfield, UK computer scientists for their novel consideration of better ways to understand nature’s nonlinear, dynamic complexity phenomena.

Despite a profuse literature on complex adaptive systems (CAS), it still remains to definitely answer whether a given system is of this kind. In this work, we propose a novel description for CASs in the form of a concise, scientific algorithmic framework. Our model first asks whether it meets complexity-related attributes and then considers attributes related to adaptivity, including autonomy, memory, self-organisation, and emergence. We demonstrate by case studies in medical and supply chain domains. Our novel approach is meant as an efficient auditing tool by which to provide insights for the relevant users to optimise their processes and organisational structures. (Excerpt)

The proposed algorithmic framework represents a synthesis of CAS theories described in the literature. The main intention is to facilitate the process of determining whether a system is a CS, a CAS, or neither. Based on our definition, a system is a CS if and only if it involves many agents who exhibit nonlinear behaviour. The complexity of a system, with autonomous, pro-active, and reactive agents, along with their learning and adaptation leading to an evolutionary phenomenon, form the preconditions to achieve self-organisation and emergence and fulfil all the requirements for a CAS. (16)

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