Plasma Comes Alive 267
j_hirny writes "So, it seems that the widely acclaimed theory of how life begun, during hundreds of millions of years is, at least, not the only one which is being researched. As New Scientist report, a physicist managed to create life-alike beings made of plasma. They can replicate, grow and duplicate. They don't have amino-acids or DNA strains, of course, yet they may reveal something new about life's beginnings."
Re:overused (Score:1, Informative)
Re:overused (Score:1, Informative)
Spider Robinson == J. H. (Particular) Christ! (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Mr. Spock's commentary on plasma balls. (Score:3, Informative)
Besides, in the song "Star Trekkin'" by The Firm, you hear Spock's voice saying "It's life Jim, but not as we know it, not as we know it, not as we know it, it's life Jim, but not as we know it, not as we know it, Captain."
I call shenanigans! (Score:1, Informative)
If your at work, look up.
Those florescent lights are plasma lights with a phosphorus coating that absorbs the UV light emitted by the plasma and emits visible light. The plasma is created by applying high voltage to the electrodes.
Did you know that there is no such thing as a white fluorescent light?
The lights are shifted ever so slightly towards either the red green or blue spectrum. Thats why if you go into a older office building and look up you will likely notice that some of the lamps just don't look the same - look at it closely relative to the other lights and you can tell what color shift it has.
Neon lamps (I believe any noble gas will do), cold cathode lamps (the ones people install in their windowed computer cases), those cheesy globes that when you touch them lightning shaped light appears to be reaching for your finger - all plasma.
Read about plasma here:
[prl.dcu.ie]
http://www.prl.dcu.ie/expl.html
Here are the different ways to create plasma:
[phys.tue.nl]
http://www.phys.tue.nl/EPG/epghome/polylab/sour
Or if you can find them - some of you probably remember these:
[bulbmuseum.net]
http://bulbmuseum.net/bulbs/figuralargon.htm
Noble gases:
[theodoregray.com]
http://www.theodoregray.com/PeriodicTable/Eleme
Anyway the real story here is the tools that they used to capture the data in the instant that is takes to turn on the lamps. I see nothing of intrest here esp. regarding 'life'.
The crap about life is garbage. Plasma is the fourth state of matter (solid, liquid, gas, plasma). They are not "reproducing" thereby mimicking life. Rather, they are merely converting an element from one physical state to another.
Quick theory:
Gas can not pass an electrical current because if the electrons (- charge) in the atom move then the rest of the atom goes along with including the + charged protons.
The electrical potential (voltage) has to be high enough such that the electrons begin to be ripped away from the atom itself. This exchange of energy causes the gas matter to change from a gas state to a plasma state and is called ionization. The emission of light (photons) is caused by the change in energy states. As you can see here..
[uoregon.edu]
http://zebu.uoregon.edu/~js/ast123/images/bohr_
When an electron jumps from one orbit to another energy must be released by the atom this energy is released in a form of a proton at a fixed wavelength relative to the distance of the state change (atom specific). If the wavelength falls into the visible range of the EM spectrum you'll be able to see it.