Imagine a universe where stars still shine, planets still form, and water exists, but liquids are so thick that living cells can barely function. Even with the chemical ingredients for life, the conditions might make living organisms impossible. Scientists have uncovered a remarkable connection between the fundamental laws of physics and the ability of life to exist.
Their findings suggest that even relatively small changes to some of the universe's most basic physical constants could dramatically alter how liquids flow, potentially preventing essential biological processes from taking place. The discovery, detailed in a study published in Science Advances, came from physicist Kostya Trachenko at Queen Mary University of London. His theoretical analysis identified an additional constraint on the values of fundamental physical constants: They must permit liquids to move in ways that support life within and between cells.
The work raises a profound question about the universe. Why do the fundamental laws of nature have values that appear so well suited to the existence of life? The Fundamental Constants That Shape Our Universe Fundamental physical constants are numbers that govern how the universe operates.
Examples include the mass and electric charge of an electron and the Planck constant, which plays a central role in quantum mechanics, the branch of physics that describes matter and energy at extremely small scales. These quantities are generally considered universal and unchanging over time. Their values influence everything from the behavior of atoms and chemical bonds to the nuclear reactions that power stars and produce elements essential for life.
Despite their importance, scientists still do not know why these constants have the particular values we observe. An important clue emerged in 2020, when Trachenko and his colleagues demonstrated that fundamental physical constants place a lower limit on the viscosity of liquids. Viscosity describes how strongly a fluid resists flowing.
Water has relatively low viscosity and pours easily, while honey and tar are much more viscous and move slowly. The researchers showed that there is a fundamental limit to how freely a fluid can flow, with that limit ultimately connected to the basic constants of nature. The 2023 study took this connection much further by examining its implications for biology.
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