Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 31, 2026
11:03
An Analog Macroscopic Technique for Studying Molecular Hydrodynamic Processes in Dense Gases and Liquids
Published on: December 4, 2017
Discreteness, Computation, and Rules of Life for Self-Organization Dynamics Beyond Equilibrium
Hyun Youk1,2,3
1Department of Systems Biology, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester MA, USA.
Newton ((New York, N.Y.)
|May 29, 2026
Summary
Living systems possess a finite non-equilibrium capacity (NEC) essential for life. This capacity is lost due to "low speed limits" and computational interactions, leading to death.
Area of Science:
- Systems biology
- Theoretical biology
- Biophysics
Background:
- Conventional physics struggles to explain life's self-organization.
- Biological processes like gene regulation involve computational logic.
Purpose of the Study:
- Introduce non-equilibrium capacity (NEC) as a measure of life's dynamics.
- Explore why NEC is inevitably lost, leading to death.
Main Methods:
- Investigate
- low speed limits
- in cellular processes.
- Utilize generalized cellular automata to model emergent order.
Main Results:
- Life collapses below critical
- low speed limits
- .
Conclusions:
- NEC loss explains how living systems sustain and lose life.
- A new biological grammar complements physics, explaining life's dynamics.
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