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The only thing that actually showed something asymmetric was, afaik, the image showing cosmic rays coming towards you with a certain magnetic polarization of m
by Aardwolf 4y ago
The only thing that actually showed something asymmetric was, afaik, the image showing cosmic rays coming towards you with a certain magnetic polarization of muons. So if cosmic rays themselves would have had the other polarity (coming with N towards you and S away from you), then instead left handed would have been more advantageous? But, then, what's the reason why we don't have any cosmic rays with inverted polarization?
Also, I think that even if the cosmic rays were not an issue and there was no advantage between left and right, only one of them would eventually survive: if there were both lifeforms with the left and the right orientation, they'd be competing for the same resources (while only being able to mutate/copy/evolve within their own type). Eventually one branch is bound to die out while the other remains, even if due to sheer luck rather than large advantage, and from then on the opposite orientation can't really appear/evolve anymore since it can't compete against the existing much more complex life for those resources.
- SideburnsOfDoom 4y agoThe mention the asymetry is here: "When the high energy protons in cosmic rays slam into the atmosphere, they produce particles called pions, and the rapid decay of pions is governed by the weak force — the only fundamental force with a known mirror asymmetry." Pion decay is apparently not symmetric. I don't know much about the topic, maybe start here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weak_interaction#Violation_of_symmetry https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weak_interaction#Violation_of_... It doesn't seem to be the case that "we don't have any cosmic rays with inverted polarization" - just that there is more in one direction than in the other. Even a slight bias would add up over time.