Mirror, Mirror on the Wall...

While seeking for newer and wider horizons in science and technology, some scientists appear to be challenging common life in a way that - in time - may eventually destroy life on Earth and therefore mankind. For the moment this risk is still far away, but it may become one of the worse scenarios on the planet. To introduce this discussion, we need a mirror. “Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all?” was the resounding question that the Evil Queen uttered when consulting her magic mirror to be reassured that she was still the most beautiful lady in the land. (At least until Snow White entered the scene). But “our” mirror will be used in another way. We know that a chiral molecule can exist in two different forms, which are perfectly specular (here is the mirror) but they cannot be superposed. Hands and feet are the most common example we teach chirality to our students. In fact in Greek χειρ means hand.

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Publication Details

Journal
Substantia
Published
2025-03-04
DOI
https://doi.org/10.36253/substantia-3319
Primary Topic
Origins and Evolution of Life
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00
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article

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall...

Pierandrea Lo Nostro
Substantia
Origins and Evolution of Life
article

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall...

Pierandrea Lo Nostro
article en

Abstract

While seeking for newer and wider horizons in science and technology, some scientists appear to be challenging common life in a way that - in time - may eventually destroy life on Earth and therefore mankind. For the moment this risk is still far away, but it may become one of the worse scenarios on the planet. To introduce this discussion, we need a mirror. “Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all?” was the resounding question that the Evil Queen uttered when consulting her magic mirror to be reassured that she was still the most beautiful lady in the land. (At least until Snow White entered the scene). But “our” mirror will be used in another way. We know that a chiral molecule can exist in two different forms, which are perfectly specular (here is the mirror) but they cannot be superposed. Hands and feet are the most common example we teach chirality to our students. In fact in Greek χειρ means hand.

SubstantiaVol. 9(1)
University of Florence (IT)
Openalex Percentile: Top 95%
Origins and Evolution of Life
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