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Monday, November 29, 1999
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Physicist Freeman Dyson presented the fall Charter Lecture Nov. 9, called “Gravity Is Cool: Or, Why Our Universe Is Hospitable to Life.” Some excerpts:
“When I look at things from the point of view of an astronomer, the 400 million years that elapsed since life escaped from the ocean until now is a short time. That was perhaps only the first jump in another revolution that needs two jumps to be complete. The first jump was from the ocean onto the land. The second jump will be from the land into space. The revolution will only be complete when life has escaped from this planet and made the universe its home. We are beginning the second jump now with our exploring of the planets and our quick trips to the moon.”
“We shall breed plants and animals that do not need to be confined [to earth] but are adapted to living wild in space. . . . Plants and animals will need some genetic engineering to be at home in a vacuum: plants will need new organs of photosynthesis that produce liquid or solid peroxides instead of oxygen gas; animals will need new organs of respiration to take in oxygen in the form of peroxides instead of from air. Both plants and animals will need stronger skin to hold internal pressure and prevent their blood from boiling. . . . This will be a challenge for plant and animal breeders, but with a mastery of the techniques of genetic engineering they should be able to do it.” |
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--Larry B. Dendy
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