[q-bio.MN] Understanding how self-sustaining chemical reaction networks can emerge from simple molecules is an important question in chemical approaches to the origin of life. Reflexively autocatalytic and food-generated (RAF) sets […]
complexity
![Scan of the density µ (order parameter), with constant resource abundance r as control parameter. Standard deviation around the mean (coloured area) over independent simulations for a given volume |Ω|. Edges of growth and droplet stability (dotted and dashed lines). Scale ratio λ = 3, initial state with 2 seeds, cutoff time tmax = 5000. -- [physics.bio-ph]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Continuous-Game.png?resize=1200%2C719&ssl=1)
Posted inOrigin & Evolution of Life
Continuous Game of Life: Cell Emergence And Self-organization At The Edge Of Growth
[physics.bio-ph] Conway’s Game of Life shows that simple rules can generate a rich diversity of emerging structures. This cellular automaton has been translated to continuous space by Rafler (2011) in […]
![Hypergraph percolation accelerates the emergence of large-scale biological organization. The growth of integrated organizational complexity is compared in systems governed by pairwise interactions and higher-order hypergraph interactions. Complexity is quantified as the percentage of elementary units incorporated into the largest connected organizational assembly as interaction density increases. The pairwise model exhibits a gradual increase in connectivity, whereas the hypergraph model displays a sharp transition associated with the formation of extensive higherorder connectivity. Inset A enlarges the transition region and shows the growth of the largest connected component as a function of interaction density. Therefore, higher-order interactions can generate abrupt increases in large-scale organization through hypergraph percolation dynamics. -- [q-bio.OT]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/From-simple-interactions.png?resize=1200%2C720&ssl=1)
Posted inOrigin & Evolution of Life
From Simple Interactions To Complex Biology: A Hypergraph Percolation Perspective
[q-bio.OT] The emergence of biological complexity can be viewed as a transition from fragmented local interactions to extensive integrated organization, raising the question of how large-scale connectivity emerges from simple […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Status Report
Open-Ended Versus Bounded Evolution: Mineral Evolution As A Case Study
To what extent are natural evolving systems limited in their potential diversity (i.e., “bounded”) versus unrestricted (“open-ended”)? Minerals provide a quantitative model evolving system, with well documented increases in mineral […]
Posted inBiogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release
New “Assembly Theory” Unifies Physics And Biology To Explain Evolution And Complexity
An international team of researchers has developed a new theoretical framework that bridges physics and biology to provide a unified approach for understanding how complexity and evolution emerge in nature. […]