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Around the point in the interactive where it shows how the virus swings sugar molecules around to distract the immune system I paused and marveled at the tiny u

by gdubs 6y ago

Around the point in the interactive where it shows how the virus swings sugar molecules around to distract the immune system I paused and marveled at the tiny universe inside our bodies. The first time I recall feeling similarly was when I first watched Cosmos as a kid, and Carl Sagan juxtaposes time lapse photography of cities against the bustling activity of cells inside the human body. We walk around every day thinking of ourselves as solid objects in a Newtonian world, like balls on a billiards table. But when we actually take a minute to reflect on all of it, it’s clearly so much more complex than that.

acqq 6y ago
Then you have to watch these videos too: https://xvivo.com/inner-life-of-the-cell/ https://xvivo.com/inner-life-of-the-cell/ For example, this looks like a cartoon but it really behaves so (except that the molecules are too small to have the colors, as in other visualizations): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-uuk4Pr2i8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-uuk4Pr2i8
bergstromm466 6y ago
> marveled at the tiny universe inside our bodies. Could the current change in the sciences be described best as a change from the 'Scientific worldview' to a 'Living systems worldview'? From 'Object-centric reality' to 'Flow-centric reality' (Arthur Brock)[1]? [1] https://youtu.be/2kAgty1aCoA?t=1250 https://youtu.be/2kAgty1aCoA?t=1250 (at around 21:30)
lbotos 6y ago
You might like "journey into the microcosmos": https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBbnbBWJtwsf0jLGUwX5Q3g https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBbnbBWJtwsf0jLGUwX5Q3g It really reveals a lot of the "small stuff".
dekhn 6y ago
I felt this wonder as a kid in a science museum looking through a microscope at tiny bacteria swimming around. I was already a computer hacker at the time, but seeing little state machines that worked in the real world was a revelation. I spent the next 20 years doing a deep dive into molecular machines and indeed, it's marvelous. Viruses, motor proteins, enzymes, all these things do amazing things that humans working in computer science and physics have replicated (often inspired by biology; see What is Life by Schrodinger), demonstrating the universality of information processing. It was a fun excursion, but actually doing engineering on these systems is a nightmare.

by gdubs 6y ago

acqq 6y ago

Then you have to watch these videos too: https://xvivo.com/inner-life-of-the-cell/ https://xvivo.com/inner-life-of-the-cell/ For example, this looks like a cartoon but it really behaves so (except that the molecules are too small to have the colors, as in other visualizations): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-uuk4Pr2i8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-uuk4Pr2i8

bergstromm466 6y ago

> marveled at the tiny universe inside our bodies. Could the current change in the sciences be described best as a change from the 'Scientific worldview' to a 'Living systems worldview'? From 'Object-centric reality' to 'Flow-centric reality' (Arthur Brock)[1]? [1] https://youtu.be/2kAgty1aCoA?t=1250 https://youtu.be/2kAgty1aCoA?t=1250 (at around 21:30)

lbotos 6y ago

You might like "journey into the microcosmos": https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBbnbBWJtwsf0jLGUwX5Q3g https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBbnbBWJtwsf0jLGUwX5Q3g It really reveals a lot of the "small stuff".

dekhn 6y ago

I felt this wonder as a kid in a science museum looking through a microscope at tiny bacteria swimming around. I was already a computer hacker at the time, but seeing little state machines that worked in the real world was a revelation. I spent the next 20 years doing a deep dive into molecular machines and indeed, it's marvelous. Viruses, motor proteins, enzymes, all these things do amazing things that humans working in computer science and physics have replicated (often inspired by biology; see What is Life by Schrodinger), demonstrating the universality of information processing. It was a fun excursion, but actually doing engineering on these systems is a nightmare.