Keith Farnsworth
Dr. Keith D Farnsworth is a theoretical biologist at Queen’s University Belfast. His research group mainly works on the applied problem of developing an ecological approach to commercial fisheries management, but in his spare time (!) he takes an interest in more fundamental questions of life: what exactly is it; how does it work and why is it diverse? He is interested in answering these questions using information theory and cybernetics and likes to contribute to an understanding of life as an information processing phenomenon. This started with an inquiry into what exactly biodiversity is and why it is important. In support of these inquiries, he set up the website www.whatlifeis.info. You can visit his University webpage here: http://www.qub.ac.uk/schools/SchoolofBiologicalSciences/Connect/AcademicStaff/DrKeithFarnsworth/
Are Viruses Alive?
Now that we are all tuned into virus talk, it may be a good idea to shed new light on an old debate. Arguments...
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Most people, when challenged to define ‘life’, start listing what living things do: reproduce, metabolise, evolve etc. The most extraordinary and unique feature is easily overlooked, though obvious.