Awarded to Drs. Frasier Stoddart, Ben Feringa, and Jean-Pierre Sauvage. From Akshat Rathi at Quartz:
Stoddart’s inspiration came from nature. All life is powered by tiny biological machines that nature has had billions of years to perfect. The most fundamental processes of life, such as translating genetic code to make proteins or ensuring that cellular waste is recycled, require the use of molecular machines, which are 10,000 times smaller than a human hair, and function only on chemical energy.
“Stoddart wanted to use chemistry to make similar-sized machines that would do our bidding. Like traditional machines, these would need parts, motors and a source of energy, but doing so on a molecular level is far more complicated.” More.
Notice how the copy so naturally writes itself: “Nature” has had “billions of years tp perfect” these machines. But there is no evidence that “nature” is an agent or that, by themselves, billions of years do anything. If there were, the galaxy would be teeming with life.
What “nature” has created is far more complex than machines we know to depend on intelligence and design. And no matter how absurd the conundrum, the science writer has a duty to go on believing, believing.
See also: Trailer for new film on biochemist Michael Behe: Revolutionary
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