The Delicate Flow of Life: How Tiny Changes in Physics Would Break Biology
New research suggests that the fundamental constants of physics are fine-tuned to a remarkably narrow range, specifically to allow liquids like water and blood to flow in ways essential for life.
Key Findings
Researchers at Queen Mary University of London have proposed that the fundamental constants of physics are constrained within a narrow range that allows liquids to flow in ways essential for life. The study, published in Science Advances in 2023, builds on earlier work showing that liquid viscosity is directly tied to fundamental physical constants.
Implications for Biology
If constants such as the Planck constant or electron charge changed by a few percent, the viscosity of liquids like water and blood would become too high or too low for biological processes. Nutrients must travel through cells, proteins fold correctly, and molecules diffuse through watery environments—all dependent on viscosity.
Statements
Professor Kostya Trachenko stated:
"Understanding how water flows in a cup turns out to be closely related to the grand challenge to figure out fundamental constants. Life processes in and between living cells require motion and it is viscosity that sets the properties of this motion. If fundamental constants change, viscosity would change too impacting life as we know it."
He added:
"Any change in fundamental constants including an increase or decrease would be equally bad news for flow and for liquid-based life. We expect the window to be quite narrow: for example, viscosity of our blood would become too thick or too thin for body functioning with only a few per cent change of some fundamental constants."
Context and Subsequent Research
This work adds a new dimension to the fine-tuning debate, previously focused on nuclear reactions in stars. Follow-up studies have explored how viscosity inside cells places additional limits on physical constants. A 2023 analysis highlighted evidence that liquid viscosity may be linked to universal physical limits rather than being merely a measured property.
Methodology
The study combines theoretical physics with biology, linking the lower limit of liquid viscosity to fundamental constants and assessing the requirements for cellular function.