Could a form of metallic life may have evolved on a remote Milky Way exo-planet similar to the way organic life evolved on Earth? A Scottish research group is out to prove this is possible by creating reproducing and evolving synthetic cells made entirely out of metal.
A team from the University of Glasgow has created some cell-like bubbles call iCHELLs out of metallic elements like tungsten bonded with oxygen and phosphorus. These bubbles can self-assemble, and they exhibit many of the same properties that allow biological cells to do what they do, including an internal structure and a selectively porous outer membrane that can let other molecules pass through. It may even be possible to set the metallic cells up to perform photosynthesis.
No comments:
Post a Comment