Life Evolves. Can Attempts to Create 'Artificial Life' Evolve, Too?

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April 06, 2023

This week, we’re pondering the mysteries of life. But not the timeless enigmas of why grass is always greener on the other side of fences, why a dropped slice of toast seems to always land butter-side down, or why dentists like to ask you questions while they have their hands in your mouth. No, we’re pondering a deeper mystery: What is life, and how can we know it when we see it? Our lead story discusses the past, present, and future of the nascent field of “artificial life,” a disparate collection of approaches centered around studying life by seeking to create it. Can scientists actually make life from scratch—or is this just wishful thinking? Elsewhere this week, we have stories about NASA’s next moon astronauts, the Perseverance Mars rover’s progress in gathering samples for eventual return to Earth, a bizarre breakthrough in quantum tunneling, the legacy of the pioneering astronomer Vera Rubin, and much more. Enjoy!

Lee Billings, Senior Editor, Space & Physics

Extraterrestrial Life Life Evolves. Can Attempts to Create 'Artificial Life' Evolve, Too? Do efforts to create life—by cooking up imitations in computers, robots and molecules—point toward a universal definition of biology? By Shi En Kim

Planetary Science NASA's Perseverance Rover May Already Have Evidence of Ancient Martian Life A half-kilogram’s worth of samples gathered by NASA’s Perseverance rover for eventual return to Earth holds weighty implications for life on Mars By Jonathan O'Callaghan

Space Exploration NASA Announces the Astronaut Crew for Artemis II Lunar Flyby Four astronauts will fly around the moon in preparation for the first human landings there since 1972 By Robert Z. Pearlman,SPACE.com

Weather Northern Lights Dance across U.S. because of 'Stealthy' Sun Eruptions A severe geomagnetic storm created auroras that were visible as far south as Arizona in the U.S. By Allison Parshall

Astronomy JWST's Smashing Success Shifts Focus to Astronomy's Blind Spots Looming gaps in astronomers’ views of the heavens could undercut the revolutionary potential of NASA’s latest, greatest space telescope By Fabio Pacucci

Particle Physics Bizarre Quantum Tunneling Observation Throws Out All the Rules The strange phenomenon of quantum tunneling has been observed in a chemical reaction that defies classical physics By Elise Cutts

Astronomy Don't Panic: The Valentine's Day 2046 Asteroid Will Not Hit Earth. Here's Why How I learned to stop worrying and love the next Earth-threatening asteroid By Phil Plait

Dark Matter Vera Rubin Lives On in Lives of the Women She Helped in Astronomy The “mother of dark matter” was a force of nature—and a forceful advocate for other women who wanted to dedicate their career to the cosmos. By Tulika Bose

Astronomy Cosmos, Quickly: Remembering the Genius of Vera Rubin Vera Rubin went from a teenager with a cardboard telescope to the “mother of dark matter.” Some of her colleagues and mentees weigh in on her fascinating life and how she was a champion for women in astronomy. By Tulika Bose,Clara Moskowitz,Jeffery DelViscio | 10:42

Dark Matter Dark Matter Hunters Need Fresh Answers The hunt for dark matter is in crisis, and it’s time for radical new ideas to explain our universe By Joseph Howlett

Planetary Science NASA's Uranus Mission Is Running Out of Time Multiple obstacles might make it hard for NASA to turn its dream of ice giant exploration into a reality any time soon By Shannon Hall

Astronomy Science Has New Ideas about 'Oumuamua's Weirdness Our first known interstellar visitor is now long gone, but new research has some ideas about why it moved the way it did while it was in our cosmic neighborhood. By Lee Billings,Meghan Bartels,Jeffery DelViscio | 04:55

Mathematics How Mathematics Can Predict--and Help Prevent--the Next Pandemic Mathematician Abba Gumel uses calculations and models to prepare for future disease outbreaks By Rachel Crowell

Quantum Physics The Little-Known Origin Story behind the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physics In 1949 physicist Chien-Shiung Wu devised an experiment that documented evidence of entanglement. Her findings have been hidden in plain sight for more than 70 years By Michelle Frank

FROM THE STORE Scientific American Volume 328, Issue 4

QUOTE OF THE DAY "The existence of a living system is not about the utility of anything. Some people ask me, 'So what's the merit of artificial life?' Do you ever think, 'What is the merit of your grandmother? What is the merit of your dog?'" Takashi Ikegami, a complexity scientist at the University of Tokyo, on the value of seeking to create artificial life

FROM THE ARCHIVE Astronomer Vera Rubin Taught Me about Dark Matter--and about How to Live Life The groundbreaking scientist ushered in a revolution in how we think about the universe. She also lived by a set of principles that made her an exceptional human being By Ashley Jean Yeager | August 2021

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