Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Characteristics of Life01:23

Characteristics of Life

Biology is a natural science that studies life and living organisms, including their structure, function, development, interactions, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. The field's scope is extensive and divided into several specialized disciplines, such as anatomy, physiology, ethology, genetics, and many more. All living things share a few key traits, including cellular organization, heritable genetic material and the ability to adapt/evolve, metabolism to regulate energy needs, the...
Requirements for Human Life01:26

Requirements for Human Life

The Earth and its atmosphere have provided humans with air, water, and food, but these are not the only requirements for survival. Humans also require a specific range of temperature and pressure that the Earth and its atmosphere provides.
Oxygen
Atmospheric air is only about 20 percent oxygen, but that oxygen is a key component of the chemical reactions that keep the body alive, including the reactions that produce ATP. Brain cells are susceptible to a lack of oxygen because they require a...
Functions of Life01:23

Functions of Life

Human life is characterized by a variety of functions that are essential for survival and well-being. These functions include metabolism, movement, development, growth and reproduction.
Metabolism
The basic function of an organism is to consume energy and molecules in foods, convert some of it into fuel for movement, sustain body functions, and build and maintain body structures. There are two types of reactions that accomplish this: anabolism and catabolism.
Anabolism is the process whereby...
Life Histories01:29

Life Histories

Overview
Conditions on Early Earth02:06

Conditions on Early Earth

Around 4 billion years ago, oceans began to condense on earth while volcanic eruptions released nitrogen, carbon dioxide, methane, ammonia, and hydrogen into the primordial atmosphere. However, organisms with the characteristics of life were not initially present on earth. Scientists have used experimentation to determine how organisms evolved that could grow, reproduce, and maintain an internal environment.
Conditions on Early Earth02:06

Conditions on Early Earth

Around 4 billion years ago, oceans began to condense on earth while volcanic eruptions released nitrogen, carbon dioxide, methane, ammonia, and hydrogen into the primordial atmosphere. However, organisms with the characteristics of life were not initially present on earth. Scientists have used experimentation to determine how organisms evolved that could grow, reproduce, and maintain an internal environment.

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Scale-invariant evolution: Comment on "homo informatio" by Michael Walker.

Physics of life reviews·2026
Same author

The body does not keep the score: trauma, predictive coding, and the restoration of metastability.

Frontiers in systems neuroscience·2026
Same author

The dysconnection hypothesis of schizophrenia: a 30-year update.

World psychiatry : official journal of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA)·2026
Same author

The methodological foundations of lesion network mapping remain sound.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2026
Same author

Insula Structure Is Linked to Autonomic Cardiac Dysregulation in Depression.

Biological psychiatry·2026
Same author

Correction: Dynamic causal models in infectious disease epidemiology-an assessment of their predictive validity based on the COVID-19 epidemic in the UK 2020 to 2024.

Frontiers in public health·2026

Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 10, 2026

Experimental Research Examining How People Can Cope with Uncertainty Through Soft Haptic Sensations
09:07

Experimental Research Examining How People Can Cope with Uncertainty Through Soft Haptic Sensations

Published on: September 16, 2015

Life as we know it.

Karl Friston1

  • 1The Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK. k.friston@ucl.ac.uk

Journal of the Royal Society, Interface
|July 5, 2013
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Life, or biological self-organization, may be an inevitable emergent property of random dynamical systems with a Markov blanket. These systems appear to perform Bayesian inference to maintain integrity, leading to homeostasis and autopoiesis.

Keywords:
active inferenceautopoiesisergodicityfree energyrandom attractorself-organization

More Related Videos

Microbial Communities in Nature and Laboratory - Interview
29:13

Microbial Communities in Nature and Laboratory - Interview

Published on: May 28, 2007

Laser-Induced Fluorescence Emission (L.I.F.E.) as Novel Non-Invasive Tool for In-Situ Measurements of Biomarkers in Cryospheric Habitats
13:38

Laser-Induced Fluorescence Emission (L.I.F.E.) as Novel Non-Invasive Tool for In-Situ Measurements of Biomarkers in Cryospheric Habitats

Published on: October 26, 2019

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: May 10, 2026

Experimental Research Examining How People Can Cope with Uncertainty Through Soft Haptic Sensations
09:07

Experimental Research Examining How People Can Cope with Uncertainty Through Soft Haptic Sensations

Published on: September 16, 2015

Microbial Communities in Nature and Laboratory - Interview
29:13

Microbial Communities in Nature and Laboratory - Interview

Published on: May 28, 2007

Laser-Induced Fluorescence Emission (L.I.F.E.) as Novel Non-Invasive Tool for In-Situ Measurements of Biomarkers in Cryospheric Habitats
13:38

Laser-Induced Fluorescence Emission (L.I.F.E.) as Novel Non-Invasive Tool for In-Situ Measurements of Biomarkers in Cryospheric Habitats

Published on: October 26, 2019

Area of Science:

  • Theoretical biology
  • Statistical physics
  • Information theory

Background:

  • Biological self-organization and life are complex phenomena.
  • Understanding the fundamental principles driving life's emergence is a key scientific challenge.
  • Dynamical systems theory provides a framework for analyzing complex systems.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To propose a theoretical framework for the emergence of life.
  • To investigate the role of Markov blankets in biological self-organization.
  • To connect principles of statistical physics and Bayesian inference to the origins of life.

Main Methods:

  • Heuristic proof based on statistical mechanics.
  • Simulations of a 'primordial soup' model.
  • Analysis of random dynamical systems with Markov blankets.

Main Results:

  • Life/self-organization is suggested as an inevitable emergent property of ergodic random dynamical systems possessing a Markov blanket.
  • The Markov blanket statistically separates internal and external states.
  • Internal states appear to minimize a free energy functional, mimicking Bayesian inference.

Conclusions:

  • Systems with Markov blankets exhibit properties akin to active Bayesian inference.
  • This process enables systems to model and act on their environment.
  • This leads to homeostasis and a basic form of autopoiesis, suggesting a universal mechanism for life's emergence.