@tilscience: Today I Learned about Assembly Theory & it’s blowing my mind. Assembly Theory, at its core, is a mathematical way to determine whether something is alive or not. Every molecule has an "assembly index”, basically how many steps it takes to build that compound from scratch. For example, for simple molecules like water? Maybe 2 steps. DNA? Probably hundreds. The creators of this theory, Lee Cronin and Sara Walker, have identified the “magical number” called the complexity threshold above which only living things exist. They found that random chemistry in the universe maxes out at 15 steps. Above 15? You need evolution, selection, memory, in other words, you need life. The Murchison meteorite, 4.6 billion years old and insanely complex, still scored below 15. Biological samples? Above 15. Now Walker wants to use this theory to detect alien life with mass spectrometry. Using Assembly Index, theoretically they would just need to find ANY molecules scoring above 15 in multiple copies to be considered as living. But the deeper implication is that complex molecules are literally compressed time. Your DNA isn't just a molecule, it's a 3.8-billion-year archive of evolutionary problem-solving crystallized into matter with a detailed blueprint of how to create itself. We're not just made of star stuff, we're made of history itself. While this is incredibly interesting, I would be remiss to not note that a fair few scientists find this theory lacking or even controversial, stating the maths are too simplistic to identify life across the board like that. Some say the math is there and on the right track, but not yet complete. What do you think? #Science #physics #biology #chemistry #alien

Dr. Harini Bhat, PharmD

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Thursday 13 November 2025 16:20:26 GMT