Slower Than Light – PVC Lifeforms

R. LeBeaux · Tue Oct 11, 2011 1:33 pm

This is some incredible stuff, though I don’t know if I agree with the inventor that they are actually lifeforms.

johnson1010 · Tue Oct 11, 2011 3:22 pm

Those are really cool mechanical robots, but yeah, they don't qualify for life.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life

To be alive there are very specific benchmarks a thing has to hit. It's what keeps something like a virus out of the loop, even though they reproduce and can be "killed".

Avid Reader · Tue Oct 11, 2011 7:44 pm


	johnson1010 wrote: To be alive there are very specific benchmarks a thing has to hit. It's what keeps something like a virus out of the loop, even though they reproduce and can be "killed".

I agree, generally. But we still don't really understand the thin line that divides life from death or non-life. Even the biologists have a hard time explaining it, which is why a lot of pretty well educated people still believe in the soul (that entity that leaves the body at the point of death). I don't, myself, or at least I'm agnostic about it, but it is an interesting question. Maybe one of you more established and scientifically educated members would like to start a topic about this? I think it would be interesting to explore various explanations. I know that most folks here would simply say something like, "When the machine wears out or is injured or stops working for any number of other reasons, that is death." But I really don't think that's an adequate explanation, nor do many scientists who still grapple with this question. I guess it might sound naive (which I admit I am), but I think the jury just might still be out on this one.

Forum rules

Slower Than Light – PVC Lifeforms Tweet This Topic

Who is online

Chat Room Always Open!