Random thoughts

Google Web Toolkit

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 00:04:00 +0000

As in a few weeks my colleagues and I will start working on new piece of software using GWT, a technology none of us has worked with, I've decided to document my steps towards becoming ~~an absolute guru~~ familiar with the platform.

Not so long ago I had a choice to implement my third year project using GWT, but in the end I went for JSF with Primefaces sprinkled with some JavaScript magic. While I haven't had a particularly enjoyable experience with JSF 2.1, as at times it felt quite difficult to mix with other technologies (e.g. jQuery), I still rate it quite highly overall. On the other hand, I have mixed feelings about GWT, and am most concerned about the cumbersome deployment process. Also, using JNSI to wrap JavaScript is something new to me.

Ok, so step 1 is watching Ray Ryan's presentation on a set of best practices used to construct high performance web apps in GWT.

The decision

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 23:56:00 +0000

Reflecting on my decision to revive this blog, I thought I might as well jot down the reasons behind it.

Mainly it's the domain name. After all this time I still find it inspired, unique really, so I was quite keen on keeping it.

Secondly, I still have quite an emotional link to it, even though most of the content is rubbish. Therefore, I will begin filtering posts, getting rid of Youtube music videos, copyrighted material and so on, and keep only the entries I consider worthy of a place on the new blog.

Last, but not least, I simply found it easier to change my Blogger account and re-use this old blog, rather than go through the whole process of setting a new one up. This said, Google has made a right mess of Blogger, the new dynamic templates are absolutely awful, making my browser crash in a matter of seconds. I am now using a standard `Simple Template`, as I considered a switch from the cool classical Blogger black background white text template absolutely needed to give the blog a more professional colour scheme. But I am really unhappy with the current design and will fiddle with the templates over the coming days.

Time, such a wonderful concept

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 23:07:00 +0000

I suppose that writing the first few words after 3 long years on a zombie blog is always going to be difficult. In a few years time, I imagine myself going back to this very post and cringe at every little spelling mistake or simply be amused by its structure and predictability. Or maybe be annoyed by the childish ideas, just to get comfort in the false belief that I've matured over time. Will I reach a point when I won't be bothered by this ? I guess only time will tell.

For the time being, I will do just that. Since this is by no means a brand new blog, but rather a forgotten collection of slightly inebriated ideas of a younger me, I will not relinquish the joy of self-criticism. Quite possibly, by the time you are reading this, those posts would be long gone, finally joining the half-baked ideas which triggered them.

It's now time to look forward and think about the purpose and audience of this blog. As, for the time being, it is only me who accesses this blog, it will function as an open journal. Whether it will turn into a technical blog, a place for venting my day to day frustrations, or a home for my opinions on a larger array of subjects, I only hope I will share ideas which will somehow have a positive impact.

Stephen Hawking's Universe

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 12:16:00 +0000

EP6: An Answer To Everything

Is there a theory that will encompass everything in the known universe? Inflation theory, quantum mechanics, string theory.

Here's the link to the playlist.

Stephen Hawking's Universe

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 00:03:00 +0000

EP5: Black Holes & Beyond

Are black holes real? Ultraluminous quasars and supermassive black holes, wormholes, and singularities.

Direct link to the playlist.

Stephen Hawking's Universe

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 03:00:00 +0000

EP4: On The Dark Side

What is the destiny of the universe? Dark matter, WIMPS, MACHOS, neutrinos.

Link: Click Here

Stephen Hawking's Universe

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 01:37:00 +0000

EP3: Cosmic Alchemy

What is the universe and everything in it made of? The creation of matter, the building up of elements in stars.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nucleosynthesis

Link: CLICK HERE

The Macaque Genome

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 01:29:00 +0000

In the 13 April 2007 issue, Science unveils the genome sequence of one of biology's most important model organisms -- the rhesus macaque monkey (Macaca mulatta). In Science, a Research Article and four Reports, as well as two News stories, detail the biomedical and evolutionary insights gained from the macaque genome, only the third primate genome to be completed after human and chimpanzee.

http://www.sciencemag.org/sciext/macaque/

Link to videos: CLICK HERE

Stephen Hawking's Universe

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 23:32:00 +0000

EP2: The Big Bang

Did the universe have a beginning? The Steady-State theory vs. The Big Bang, Albert Einstein, Georges Lemaître, Fred Hoyle, Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson, cosmic background radiation.

Link: Click Here

Stephen Hawking's Universe

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 21:46:00 +0000

EP1:Seeing Is Believing

Where did we come from? The history of cosmology from flat earth to Big Bang: Eratosthenes and Ptolemy, Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, Newton, Edwin Hubble.

Link: Click Here

Back to science

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 21:17:00 +0000

Love it or hate it, i'll start posting documentaries i watch regarding our understanding of the universe, origins of life, evolution etc.

The Genius of Charles Darwin
- The Fifth Ape -

The Genius of Charles Darwin is a three part television documentary, written and presented by evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins, celebrating the life and ideas of Charles Darwin for the 150th anniversary of his "The Origin of Species" and his 200th birthday.

Link to the documentary: Click Here

Amazing Earth 79-75

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 20:24:00 +0000

No 79 - The Sagrada Familia

The Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família (official Catalan name; Spanish: Templo Expiatorio de la Sagrada Familia; "Expiatory Temple of the Holy Family"), often simply called the Sagrada Família, is a massive Roman Catholic church under construction in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Construction began in 1882 and continues to this day.

No 78 - The statue of Liberty and the Manhattan view

Liberty Enlightening the World (French: La liberté éclairant le monde), commonly known as the Statue of Liberty (French: Statue de la Liberté), was presented to the United States by the people of France in 1886. Standing on Liberty Island in New York Harbor, it welcomes visitors, immigrants, and returning Americans.

No 77 - The Karnak temple

The Karnak temple complex, universally known only as Karnak, describes a vast conglomeration of ruined temples, chapels, pylons and other buildings. It is located near Luxor in Egypt.

No 76 - The Wulingyuan rocky peaks

Wulingyuan (Chinese: 武陵源; pinyin: Wǔlíng Yuán) is a scenic and historic interest area in Hunan Province, China, famous for its approximately 3,100 tall quartzite sandstone pillars, some over 800 meters in height, which are a kind of karst formation. It is part of Zhangjiajie city, about 270km from the capital of Hunan Province, Changsha.

No 75 - The Baikal lake

Lake Baikal (Russian: о́зеро Байка́л Ozero Baykal, pronounced [ˈozʲɪrə bʌjˈkɑl], Buryat: Байгал нуур Baygal nuur) is in Southern Siberia in Russia, located between Irkutsk Oblast to the northwest and the Buryat Republic to the southeast, near the city of Irkutsk. It is also known as the "Blue Eye of Siberia". It contains more water than all the North American Great Lakes combined.

Costeala

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 21:01:00 +0000

Costeala is a Romanian tradition that involves violent hitting of the ribs with one's fingers. It is practiced secretly in schools during the hours. It was started by a turkish man who would poke his visitors violently in the ribs. The tradition was passed on to Vogdan Beglera and Olex Anzasha from Romania, who made it popular. Today, it is practiced everywhere, from schools to offices, and Vogdan and Olex are considered the kings of costeala.

Costeala can be very painfull, such as the one implied by "Axarium Pedrianus", the great romanian fatass.

From costeala, many other types of horrid pain inducing were derived:

Cefeala, the violent hitting of the back of the head. Gateala, violent poking of the neck, which unfortunately can lead to death. Suprema, horrible costeala, involving grabbing and shifting of the internal organs. Suprema Dubla, implying two hands at the same time.

Costeala sometimes results in hitting of the fingers.

In recent years, costeala has seen increasing development. The growth is considered to be exponential, that is P = P0 * a^t.

Prof. Saliah from the ITCHSX has theorized that the growth is actually anti-isoexponential.

Accidents

Olex Anzasha, one of the original founders of the Costeala phenomenon, has been costed to death on the 84th of September 1829. He was returned to life by means of going to a medical cabinet.

NOTE: It is believed that Vlad Tepes (mostly known as Tee-lad Vepeshianorum) once used costeala, or at least a type of costeala, since it had not yet been invented.

The Future of Civilization by Michio Kaku

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 20:07:00 +0000

Amazing Earth 84-80

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 21:06:00 +0000

No 84 - Chorus of lights at Las Vegas

Las Vegas is the most populous city in the state of Nevada, the seat of Clark County, and an internationally renowned major resort city for the gaming industry, shopping, and entertainment. Las Vegas, billed as The Entertainment Capital of the World, is famous for the number of large casino resorts and their associated entertainment. The city's tolerance for various forms of adult entertainment earned it the title of Sin City, and this image has made Las Vegas a popular setting for films and television programs. Outdoor lighting displays are everywhere on the Las Vegas Strip and are seen elsewhere in the city as well; as seen from space, Las Vegas is the brightest city on earth.

No 83 - The Tasmania island

Tasmania is an Australian island and state of the same name. It is located 240 kilometres (150 mi) south of the eastern side of the continent, being separated from it by Bass Strait. The state of Tasmania includes the island of Tasmania and other surrounding islands. Tasmania has an estimated population of 494,520 (March 2008) and an area of 68,401 square kilometres (26,410 sq mi).

No 82 - Giant sequoias

Sequoiadendron giganteum (Giant Sequoia, Sierra Redwood, or Wellingtonia) is the sole species in the genus Sequoiadendron, and one of three species of coniferous trees known as redwoods, classified in the family Cupressaceae in the subfamily Sequoioideae, together with Sequoia sempervirens (Coast Redwood) and Metasequoia glyptostroboides (Dawn Redwood). The common names "sequoia" and "redwood" generally refer to Sequoiadendron and the coast redwood, respectively. Pictures from Yosemite National Park.

No 81 - Prague

Prague (IPA: /ˈprɑːg/, Czech: Praha (IPA: [ˈpraɦa]), see also other names), is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Its official name is Hlavní město Praha, meaning Prague - the Capital City.
Situated on the River Vltava in central Bohemia, Prague has been the political, cultural, and economic centre of the Czech state for over 1100 years. The city proper is home to more than 1.2 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 1.9 million.

No 80 - Imam's Mosque at Ispahan

The Shah Mosque (Persian: مسجد شاه , Masjed-e Shah) is a mosque in Isfahan (Eşfahān), Iran standing in south side of Naghsh-i Jahan Square.
Built during the Safavids period, it is an excellent example of Islamic architecture of Iran, and regarded as the masterpiece of Persian Architecture. The Shah Mosque of Esfahan is one of the everlasting masterpieces of architecture in Iran and all over the world. It is registered along with the Naghsh-i Jahan Square as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its construction began in 1611, and its splendor is mainly due to the beauty of its seven-color mosaic tiles and calligraphic inscriptions.

Most beautiful places on Earth

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 00:00:00 +0000

No. 89 - The Badshahi mosque at Lahore

The Badshahi Mosque (Urdu: بادشاھی مسجد), or the 'Emperor's Mosque', was built in 1673 by the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb in Lahore, Pakistan. It is one of the city's best known landmarks, and a major tourist attraction epitomising the beauty and grandeur of the Mughal era.

No. 88 - Nightlife on the Djemaa el Fna square

Djemaa el Fna (Arabic: جامع الفناء jâmiʻ al-fanâʼ) is a square and market place in Marrakesh's medina quarter (old city). The origin of its name remains unknown : it means Assembly of the dead in Arabic, but as the word djemaa also means mosque in Arabic, it could also mean place of the vanished mosque, in reference to a destroyed Almoravid mosque.

No. 87 - The city of Sydney and the opera house

Sydney (pronounced /ˈsɪdniː/) is the most populous city in Australia, with a metropolitan area population of approximately 4.28 million (2006 estimate). It is the state capital of New South Wales, and the site of the first British colony in Australia, established in 1788 at Sydney Cove by Arthur Phillip, leader of the First Fleet from Britain.

No. 86 - The emperor Qin I's mausoleum and his terracotta army

The Terracotta Army (traditional Chinese: 兵馬俑; simplified Chinese: 兵马俑; pinyin: bīngmǎ yǒng; literally "soldier and horse funerary statues") are the Terracotta Warriors and Horses of Shi Huang Di the First Emperor of China. The terracotta figures, dating from 210 BC, were discovered in 1974 by several local farmers near Xi'an, Shaanxi province, China near the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor (Chinese: 秦始皇陵; pinyin: Qín Shǐhuáng Líng).

No. 85 - The pagoda of Shwedagon

The Shwedagon Pagoda (IPA: [ʃwèdəgòun]; Burmese: Image:Bscript shwedagonpaya.png; MLCTS: hrwe ti. gum. bhu. ra:; IPA: [ʃwèdəgòun pʰəjá]), officially titled Shwedagon Zedi Daw (IPA: [ʃwèdəgòun zèdìdɔ̀]), also known as the Golden Pagoda, is a 98-metre (approx. 321.5 feet) gilded stupa located in Yangon, Burma. The pagoda lies to the west of Kandawgyi Lake, on Singuttara Hill, thus dominating the skyline of the city. It is the most sacred Buddhist pagoda for the Burmese with relics of the past four Buddhas enshrined within, namely the staff of Kakusandha, the water filter of Konagamana, a piece of the robe of Kassapa and eight hairs of Gautama, the historical Buddha.

Sources: Wikipedia, Terre.Sans.Frontiere.Free.Fr

Most beautiful places on Earth

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 18:21:00 +0000

No. 94 - The Burj Al Arab hotel

The Burj Al Arab ( Arabic: برج العرب, literally, Tower of the Arabs) is a luxury hotel located in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Burj Al Arab is managed by the Jumeirah Group. It was designed by British architect Tom Wright of WS Atkins PLC with the design and construction managed by Canadian engineer Rick Gregory of WS Atkins. At 321 metres (1,053 ft), it is the tallest building used exclusively as a hotel.

No. 93 - El Tajín

El Tajín is a Pre-Columbian archaeological site located in the present-day municipality of Poza Rica, in the Mexican state of Veracruz. It was the major site of the Classic Veracruz culture and one of the largest cities in western Mesoamerica during the Classic era.

No. 92 - The forbidden city

The Forbidden City was the Chinese imperial palace from the mid-Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty. It is located in the middle of Beijing, China, and now houses the Palace Museum. For almost five centuries, it served as the home of the Emperor and his household, as well as the ceremonial and political centre of Chinese government.

No. 91 - Baalbek

Baalbek (Arabic: بعلبك‎) is a town in the Bekaa Valley of Lebanon, altitude 1,170 m (3,850 ft), situated east of the Litani River. It is famous for its exquisitely detailed but monumentally scaled temple ruins of the Roman period, when Baalbek, known as Heliopolis was one of the largest sanctuaries in the Empire.

No. 90 - The parliament of Budapest

The Hungarian Parliament Building (Hungarian: Országház) is the seat of the National Assembly of Hungary, one of Europe's oldest legislative buildings, a notable landmark of Hungary and a popular tourist destination of Budapest. It lies in Kossuth Lajos Square, on the bank of the Danube, in Budapest. It is currently the largest building in Hungary, and the second largest Parliament in Europe.

Sources: Wikipedia, Terre.Sans.Frontiere.Free.Fr

Most beautiful places on Earth

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 12:39:00 +0000

This is a top of the most beautiful places on Earth. Places that you have to visit.
So, let's start ...

No. 100 - The Petronas Towers

The Petronas Twin Towers (also known as the Petronas Towers or Twin Towers), in Kuala Lumpur , Malaysia were the world's tallest buildings, before being surpassed by the Taipei 101. However, the towers are still the tallest twin buildings in the world. Tower 2 was built by the South Korean multinational Samsung Engineering & Construction and Tower 1 by Hazama Corporation of Japan. They were the world's tallest buildings from 1998 to 2004 if measured from the level of the main entrance to the structural top, the original height reference used by the US-based Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat from 1969 (three additional height categories were introduced as the tower neared completion in 1996).

No. 99 - The Ermitage Winter Palace

Located between the Palace Embankment and the Palace Square, the Winter Palace or Zimniy Dvorets (Russian: Зимний дворец) in Saint Petersburg, Russia was built between 1754 and 1762 as the winter residence of the Russian tsars.
Designed by Bartolomeo Rastrelli, the Rococo-style, green-and-white palace has 1,786 doors and 1,945 windows. Catherine the Great was its first imperial occupant.

No. 98 - The Kennedy space center

The John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC) is the NASA space vehicle launch facility and Launch Control Center (spaceport) on Merritt Island, Brevard County, Florida, United States.

No. 97 - The Golden Gate bridge and the San Francisco bay

The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the opening of the San Francisco Bay onto the Pacific Ocean. As part of both US Highway 101 and California Route 1, it connects the city of San Francisco on the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula to Marin County.

No. 96 - The mosque of Djenné

The Great Mosque of Djenné architectural style, albeit with definite Islamic is the largest mud brick or adobe building in the world and is considered by many architects to be the greatest achievement of the Sudano-Sahelian influences. The mosque is located in the city of Djenné, Mali on the flood plain of the Bani River.

No. 95 - Sigiriya

Sigiriya (Lion's rock) is an ancient rock fortress and ruins of a castle situated in central Matale District of Sri Lanka. It is a popular tourist destination and also popular for the ancient paintings (frescos) very similar to the paintings in Ajanta Caves of India.

Sources: Wikipedia & Terre.Sans.Frontiere.Free.Fr

Atheism

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 23:14:00 +0000

Atheism, as an explicit position, can be either the affirmation of the nonexistence of gods, or the rejection of theism. It is also defined more broadly as synonymous with any form of nontheism, including the simple absence of belief in deities.

Many self-described atheists are skeptical of all supernatural beings and cite a lack of empirical evidence for the existence of deities. Others argue for atheism on philosophical, social or historical grounds. Although many self-described atheists tend toward secular philosophies such as humanism and naturalism, there is no one ideology or set of behaviors to which all atheists adhere; and some religions, such as Jainism and Theravada Buddhism, do not require belief in a personal god.

The term atheism originated as a pejorative epithet applied to any person or belief in conflict with established religion. With the spread of free thought, scientific skepticism, and criticism of religion, the term began to gather a more specific meaning and has been increasingly used as a self-description by atheists.

Logical atheism holds that the various conceptions of gods, such as the personal god of Christianity, are ascribed logically inconsistent qualities. Such atheists present deductive arguments against the existence of God, which assert the incompatibility between certain traits, such as perfection, creator-status, immutability, omniscience, omnipresence, omnipotence, omnibenevolence, transcendence, personhood (a personal being), nonphysicality, justice and mercy.

Theodicean atheists believe that the world as they experience it cannot be reconciled with the qualities commonly ascribed to God and gods by theologians. They argue that an omniscient, omnipotent, and omnibenevolent God is not compatible with a world where there is evil and suffering, and where divine love is hidden from many people. A similar argument is attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, the founder of Buddhism.

Philosophers such as Ludwig Feuerbach and Sigmund Freud argued that God and other religious beliefs are human inventions, created to fulfill various psychological and emotional wants or needs. This is also a view of many Buddhists. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, influenced by the work of Feuerbach, argued that belief in God and religion are social functions, used by those in power to oppress the working class. According to Mikhail Bakunin, "the idea of God implies the abdication of human reason and justice; it is the most decisive negation of human liberty, and necessarily ends in the enslavement of mankind, in theory and practice." He reversed Voltaire's famous aphorism that if God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent Him, writing instead that "if God really existed, it would be necessary to abolish him."

Death

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 21:20:00 +0000

Death is the cessation of the biological functions that define living organisms.

The signs of death are :

Pallor mortis, paleness which happens almost instantaneously (in the 15–120 minutes after the death)
Algor mortis, the reduction in body temperature following death. This is generally a steady decline until matching ambient temperature
Rigor mortis, the limbs of the corpse become stiff (Latin rigor) and difficult to move or manipulate
Livor mortis, a settling of the blood in the lower (dependent) portion of the body
Decomposition, the reduction into simpler forms of matter

So basically all living things die. But there is always an exception:

Hydras are unique among animals in that they do not undergo senescence (aging), and so are biologically immortal. Another feature of the hydra is that it undergoes morphallaxis (tissue regeneration) when injured or severed.

This is death. Really simple. But what happens next ? Or, does a "next" really exist ? Is there a soul ? In a few days I'll state my ideas about the existence of souls. Until then I'll keep on collecting data in order to sustain my affirmations.

Thoughts of a dying atheist by Muse

Protobionts

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 19:14:00 +0000

Protobionts are systems that are considered to have possibly been the precursors to prokaryotic cells.

A protobiont is an aggregate of abiotically produced organic molecules surrounded by a membrane or a membrane-like structure. Protobionts exhibit some of the properties associated with life, including simple reproduction, metabolism and excitability, as well as the maintenance of an internal chemical environment different from that of their surroundings. It has been suggested that they are a key step in the origin of life on earth. Experiments by Sidney W. Fox and Aleksandr Oparin have demonstrated that they may be formed spontaneously, in conditions similar to the environment thought to exist on an early Earth. These experiments formed liposomes and microspheres, which have membrane structure similar to the phospholipid bilayer found in cells.

WHAT DID THE EARLY PROTOBIONTS LOOK LIKE? We shall probably never know for sure; but investigators are able to manufacture complex droplets which have many of the attributes of living cells and may resemble the early protobionts.

The photograph below shows Oparin’s coacervate droplets. Each droplet is a cluster of macromolecules surrounded by a shell of water in which the individual water molecules are rigidly oriented relative to the macromolecules. Such droplets have a tendency to selectively adsorb and incorporate various substances from the surrounding medium.

COACERVATES, polymer-rich colloidal droplets, have been studied in the Moscow laboratory of A. I. Oparin because of their conjectural resemblance to prebiological entities. These coacervates are droplets formed in an aqueous solution of protamine and polyadenylic acid. Oparin has found that droplets survive longer if they can carry out polymerization reactions.

Sidney Fox’s proteinoid microspheres are formed by heating dry mixtures of amino acids to moderate temperatures, then cooling the mixture. The microspheres show many of the characteristics of living cells.

PROTEINOID MICROSPHERES, another kind of microspheroidal aggregate, studied by Sidney W. Fox of the University of Miami, forms from “thermal proteinoid,” a polymer produced by heating dry mixtures of amino acids to moderate temperatures. Under suitable conditions thermal proteinoid will form microspheres several micrometers in diameter, which grow slowly and eventually bud. The microspheres seem to have a two-layer membrane suggestive of that in bacteria.

Oparin has reported another self-growing system in which the coacervate droplets are made from histone and RNA. The enzyme RNA polymerase is introduced into the droplets, and ADP is added to the surrounding medium as “food.” When the ADP enters the droplet, it encounters the RNA polymerase and is polymerized into polyadenylic acid. The energy for polymerization is contained within the ADP itself. The new polyadenylic acid adds to the total RNA in the coacervates. The droplets grow with time and break up into daughter droplets.
Such systems eventually wind down because the supply of enzyme molecules for polymerizing ADP does not increase with the total mass of the coacervate droplets. As we saw earlier, however, nucleic acids can be polymerized nonenzymatically with small, energy-rich coupling-agent molecules such as cyanogen. It should be possible to construct coacervate droplets from protein and RNA, to provide them with ADP and the appropriate coupling reagents, and to see them grow and multiply without limit as long as their “nutrients” continue to be supplied.

POLYMERIZATION INSIDE A COACERVATE DROPLET causes the wall of the droplet to thicken and the droplet to grow. The droplet, consisting of protein and polysaccharide, contains the enzyme phosphorylase. Glucose-1-phosphate diffuses into the droplet and is polymerized to starch by the enzyme. The starch migrates to the wall and increases volume of droplet.

TWO-STEP REACTION takes place inside a protein-carbohydrate droplet provided with two enzymes. One enzyme, phosphorylase, polymerizes glucose-1-phosphate to starch. The second enzyme, amylase, degrades the starch to maltose. Droplets in this instance do not grow because the starch disappears as fast as it is made. The maltose diffuses back into surrounding medium.