enthony
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enthony
@enthonycichock
Cognição, corpo e tempo. Não otimizo. Sincronizo. TAB II. Polímata. Naturalista.










Scientists may have just solved one of biology’s biggest mysteries: why life overwhelmingly uses only one “handed” (chiral) version of molecules, and what that means for alien life. A new study shows that electron spin — a fundamental quantum property — interacts differently with mirror image molecules (enantiomers). When electrons move through chiral structures, their spin creates measurable asymmetries in dynamic processes like electron transport and chemical reactions. Over time, even tiny biases can amplify into the strong preference we see in biology (left-handed amino acids, right-handed sugars). This quantum effect, known as chirality-induced spin selectivity (CISS), provides a physical mechanism, not just a chemical accident, for homochirality, the universal “one-handedness” of life on Earth. Implications for alien life: If this spin driven bias is proved, then it's highly likely extraterrestrial life would also converge on the same handedness. When we do find alien life, it's biochemistry might not be so different from ours after all. 📸 Wikimedia commons Source: phys.org/news/2026-04-l…

New preprint: How is multicellular handedness determined? The same cell chirality can produce opposite multicellular handedness. Just as a car move forward or backward from the same engine rotation. By @TomokiIshibashi, et al. doi.org/10.64898/2026.…








