Wonders of Life

What is Life?

8.32pm – 9.33pm
ABC1

A beautiful & definitive series by Professor Brian Cox exploring natural history from a physics perspective, revealing how a few fundamental laws gave birth to life – the most complex, diverse & unique force in the universe.

Just got my ticket to see his lecture at PCEC in August.

life is something defined by the brain

wookiemeister said:

life is something defined by the brain

Yes, but whose brain?

captain_spalding said:

wookiemeister said:

life is something defined by the brain

Yes, but whose brain?

ah ha

wookiemeister said:

captain_spalding said:

wookiemeister said:

life is something defined by the brain

Yes, but whose brain?

ah ha

When i find out who it is, we’ll have a good old chat, believe me.

captain_spalding said:

wookiemeister said:

captain_spalding said:

Yes, but whose brain?

ah ha

When i find out who it is, we’ll have a good old chat, believe me.

party pants has been growing a cactus for the occasion I believe

this is quite heavy going, from first principles of physics and chemistry.

I’ve just watched a game of footy and started watching this – bit of a change of pace.

Come and see him, live on August 10, P_P.

are you enjoying it though pp?

Boris said:

are you enjoying it though pp?

Yes, though I shall have to watch it a second time this weekend.

I love iView.

Although Brian Cox is no doubt brilliant, when I look at him I see a sixteen-year-old kid, making it difficult to appreciate his profound comments. I wish he would grow a beard or acquire a few duelling scars.

PermeateFree said:

Although Brian Cox is no doubt brilliant, when I look at him I see a sixteen-year-old kid, making it difficult to appreciate his profound comments. I wish he would grow a beard or acquire a few duelling scars.

He reminds me of Keanu Reeves.

Stealth said:

PermeateFree said:

Although Brian Cox is no doubt brilliant, when I look at him I see a sixteen-year-old kid, making it difficult to appreciate his profound comments. I wish he would grow a beard or acquire a few duelling scars.

He reminds me of Keanu Reeves.

No doubt they have both done matrices.

For some reason I find Brian Cox an annoying presenter. I don’t really know why. He is knowledgeable enough.

buffy said:

For some reason I find Brian Cox an annoying presenter. I don’t really know why. He is knowledgeable enough.

it is the silly smile and the voice..

Second episode tonight. I still haven’t watched the first so I’ll do that this afternoon.

I took issue that Macropus rufus was given as the upper limit of size for bipedal saltation, given that the leaping Procoptodon goliah exceeded the weight and height of the former extant roo by a factor of two.

neomyrtus_ said:

I took issue that Macropus rufus was given as the upper limit of size for bipedal saltation, given that the leaping Procoptodon goliah exceeded the weight and height of the former extant roo by a factor of two.

Shit, damn and stuff… I forgot that that was on tonight.

BUT, work has bought me an iPad mini, and I am sure I could download iView

I taped it and will be watching tomorrow.

Bubblecar said:

I taped it and will be watching tomorrow.

Yah, I will bring a bottle of cheap, but suprisingly tasty red…

However, I regained my faith in the show when Cox lounged luxuriously among and waxed lyrical about the Lake Clifton thrombolites.

The way it was filmed gave one little idea that Mandraaaaaah was nearby.

roughbarked said:

buffy said:

For some reason I find Brian Cox an annoying presenter. I don’t really know why. He is knowledgeable enough.

it is the silly smile and the voice..

Agreed.

But apart from that I enjoyed the show. The physics angle on the evolution of living things made an interesting change and I thought he did a good job of presenting the science in a comprehensible way, without excessive dumbing down (or whoever wrote the script did).

The Rev Dodgson said:

roughbarked said:

buffy said:

For some reason I find Brian Cox an annoying presenter. I don’t really know why. He is knowledgeable enough.

it is the silly smile and the voice..

Agreed.

But apart from that I enjoyed the show. The physics angle on the evolution of living things made an interesting change and I thought he did a good job of presenting the science in a comprehensible way, without excessive dumbing down (or whoever wrote the script did).

Yes. agree. apart from the silly smile etc. I enjoy watching and listening. The man has a wealth of information rolling off his tongue..

I, for one, have no problem with his presentation style or facial mannerisms…

furious said:

I, for one, have no problem with his presentation style or facial mannerisms…

it isn’t a biggie.
My presnation style and facial mannerisms are way worse.

I enjoyed the bit about the effects of scale, particularly how cohesive forces come into play as size is reduced. By chance, I was explaining exactly that to some visitors yesterday, in relation to particulate matter. The effects in the biological realm will enhance the story the next time I am explaining it.

morrie said:

I enjoyed the bit about the effects of scale, particularly how cohesive forces come into play as size is reduced. By chance, I was explaining exactly that to some visitors yesterday, in relation to particulate matter. The effects in the biological realm will enhance the story the next time I am explaining it.

the longer the chain the stickier it becomes?

>>For some reason I find Brian Cox an annoying presenter. I don’t really know why. He is knowledgeable enough.

Well, he’s no Attenborough but I don’t mind him.
.

>>The physics angle on the evolution of living things made an interesting change

The ,“there’s physics and then there’s stamp collecting” attitude annoys me.

Having said that, I thought he made a good fist of coming at the definition of life from that angle in the first episode and then gradually lost it.

wookiemeister said:

morrie said:

I enjoyed the bit about the effects of scale, particularly how cohesive forces come into play as size is reduced. By chance, I was explaining exactly that to some visitors yesterday, in relation to particulate matter. The effects in the biological realm will enhance the story the next time I am explaining it.

the longer the chain the stickier it becomes?

In my case, you can build a sandcastle out of 1mm sand grains, by adding the appropriate amount of water, about 5%. But it doesn’t matter how much water you add to 10mm sand grains, you can’t build a sandcastle. Liquid bridge cohesive forces. A similar argument applies with respect to Van der Waal adhesive forces as you move down a further order of scale.

Overcoming adhesive forces is one of the challenges with the concept of nanobots.

Maybe it’s his teeth. There seems to be an awful lot of them and they distract me. I found watching the interview with Adam Hills I was distracted by his teeth.

It’s a bit odd and facile really.

buffy said:

Maybe it’s his teeth. There seems to be an awful lot of them and they distract me. I found watching the interview with Adam Hills I was distracted by his teeth.

It’s a bit odd and facile really.

You aren’t the Lone Stranger there.

After lunch I’ll be catching up with taped Cox. Unlike buffy I find him agreeable enough although he does indeed look a little carnivorous.

forgivable alarm

Bubblecar said:

After lunch I’ll be catching up with taped Cox. Unlike buffy I find him agreeable enough although he does indeed look a little carnivorous.

That got a chuckle .. :)