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EUKARYOTIC CONFLICT. "Energy-converting endosymbionts that allow eukaryotes to transcend surface-to-volume constraints also can allocate energy into their own selfish replication. This principal conflict in the origin of eukaryotes can be mediated by genetic or energetic mechanisms." A reference to mitochondria and chloroplasts. https://lnkd.in/dNEtvR8 View in LinkedIn

MOST MULTICELLULAR CREATURES are eukaryotes (83% of all species, with nucleated cells with other organelles enclosed within membranes), but not all eukaryotes are multicellular (many are unicellular -- amoeba, paramecium, yeast, etc). Most prokaryotes (without membrane-bound nucleus or organelles) are not generally considered multicellular although bacteria can form operational colonies (i.e.: cyanobacteria, etc) and biofilms (i.e.: many bacteria) with quorum sensing communication. But the colonies lack organs. Also some prokaryotes may have multicellular stages in their life cycle (i.e.: myxobacteria). But overall, 99% of prokaryotes are unicellular. https://lnkd.in/d7tJtht View in LinkedIn

SO ENDS this first part on Kepler's snowflake. In part because the properties of water are unusual, snowflake geometry and features are also unusual. Having words for things permits humans to discern differences: the old platitude about Eskimo words for snow turned out to be less than clear. But today, science has added new concepts to Kepler's snowflake, based on the quirky properties of water, allowing us a new perception of those beguiling geometries that occupied Kepler. https://lnkd.in/dKmcYGd View in LinkedIn

LOW ENERGY SYMMETRY. "When a liquid freezes, the molecules tend to settle in the lowest-energy state, and that almost always involves some form of symmetry. The higher the symmetry, the more stable the crystal is." http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-are-snowflakes-symmet/ View in LinkedIn

CRYSTALLIZATION. "During this process, the molecules (in this case, water molecules) align themselves to maximize attractive forces and minimize repulsive ones. As a result, the water molecules arrange themselves in predetermined spaces and in a specific arrangement. This process is much like tiling a floor in accordance with a specific pattern: once the pattern is chosen and the first tiles are placed, then all the other tiles must go in predetermined spaces in order to maintain the pattern of symmetry." http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-are-snowflakes-symmet/ View in LinkedIn

CONFOUNDING QUESTIONS. "Why are snowflakes symmetrical? How can ice crystallizing on one arm 'know' the shape of the other arms on the flake?" https://lnkd.in/d73nJBi View in LinkedIn

"SNOWFLAKES, like fractals, are generated by recursive subdivision. The structure of iodagyrite flakes observed at the micrometer scale is an eighth-order recursive hexagonal tiling of the atomic structure observed at the scale of the angstrom." Penrose's heaven. https://lnkd.in/difgSBr View in LinkedIn

UNITS OF SELECTION. "The origins of both eukaryotes and multicellularity bolster the conceptualization of the history of life as repeated transitions between levels or units of selection. In the former, bacterial cells formed the collective; in the latter, eukaryotic cells formed the collective." https://lnkd.in/dNEtvR8 View in LinkedIn

TREE FALLING IN THE FOREST. "The radiated acoustic signals generated by the impact of individual snowflakes upon a body of water have a remarkable similarity to each other and differ principally in the frequency of the emitted sound wave. The acoustic signal of a snowflake impact thus generates a characteristic signature for snowfall that is clearly distinct from other forms of precipitation noise." https://lnkd.in/d3aYQU7 View in LinkedIn

SURFACE-VOLUME SOLUTIONS. "Both transitions were initiated by clever engineering solutions to surface-to-volume constraints. In the case of eukaryotes, energy-converting membranes were moved internally. In the case of multicellularity, other surface- and size-dependent processes were facilitated." https://lnkd.in/dNEtvR8 View in LinkedIn