creation and evolution

@Doomflower You mean I won’t evolve into Charizard?

@Doomflower that mostly sounds like evolution. but creation is how amino acids (just the chemicals) turned into something living, that multiplies so that your evolution can happen

@Millerdog No, that’s abiogenesis... a completely different topic.

Evolution by Natural Selection is what happens [i]after[/i] abiogenesis

@newjaninev2 that is what has happened. but does it explain where everything came from ?

@Millerdog No, it doesn’t even try to. As I said, that’s a different topic.

There are several very promising and viable lines of research around abiogenesis... we’ll probably get there eventually, or possibly we’ll never know... either way, we’ll keep trying 😀

@Millerdog Bacteria does.

@ShadowWolf Bacteria rule the planet... they’re very cool!

@newjaninev2 Definitely! They can survive in harsh conditions, space and I learned the terrifying fact that they are the reason cancer exists!

@ShadowWolf You might enjoy this graphic

https://www.visualcapitalist.com/all-the-biomass-of-earth-in-one-graphic/

@newjaninev2 That is astounding. So bacteria are second only to plants in total biomass. Animals make up such a small portion! Your explanations are typically excellent, so can you explain to me why they include viruses?

@ShadowWolf Oh dear... viruses. They’re like a socially-unacceptable cousin who keeps saying awkward things at family gatherings, aren’t they!

As you’ll know, the problem revolves around whether or not they’re alive (I’m in the ‘not alive’ camp).

@newjaninev2 I like to think of "alive" as being on a spectrum. Like when AI became self aware, does that mean it is alive? What does it mean? What is life? Alas poor Yorik...

@Doomflower My personal definition of life is that it’s a self-sustaining chemical system capable of Darwinian evolution.

I suppose we could squeeze AI into that, perhaps?

@newjaninev2 [quote]My personal definition of life is that it’s a self-sustaining chemical system capable of Darwinian evolution.[/quote] Very clear! I might add the proviso "in the appropriate environment."

I haven't taken a side on the "are viruses alive" question, or maybe "when can a virus be said to be alive," but [i]if[/i] they can be said to be alive, the only environment in which they're alive is inside a living cell.

@newjaninev2
Just IMO (but there are also others) the alive - not alive distinction may be useful but is not (let´s say) enough clear. Still haves some smell of vitalism.
May be the concept of complex adaptative systems can put some wider light on it.
The recent finding of volvanic glass crystals (Earth and Mars) providing near to complete ARN predecesors seems interesting.