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| Inteligência pura no DNA |
It
has been repeatedly proposed to expand the scope for SETI, and one of the
suggested alternatives to radio is the biological media. Genomic DNA is already
used on Earth to store non-biological information. Though smaller in capacity,
but stronger in noise immunity is the genetic code. The code is a flexible
mapping between codons and amino acids, and this flexibility allows modifying the
code artificially. But once fixed, the code might stay unchanged over
cosmological timescales; in fact, it is the most durable construct known.
Therefore it represents an exceptionally reliable storage for an intelligent
signature, if that conforms to biological and thermodynamic requirements. As
the actual scenario for the origin of terrestrial life is far from being
settled, the proposal that it might have been seeded intentionally cannot be
ruled out. A statistically strong intelligent-like “signal” in the genetic code
is then a testable consequence of such scenario. Here we show that the
terrestrial code displays a thorough precision-type orderliness matching the
criteria to be considered an informational signal. Simple arrangements of the
code reveal an ensemble of arithmetical and ideographical patterns of the same
symbolic language. Accurate and systematic, these underlying patterns appear as
a product of precision logic and nontrivial computing rather than of stochastic
processes (the null hypothesis that they are due to chance coupled with
presumable evolutionary pathways is rejected with P-value < 10–13).
The patterns are profound to the extent that the code mapping itself is
uniquely deduced from their algebraic representation. The signal displays
readily recognizable hallmarks of artificiality, among which are the symbol of
zero, the privileged decimal syntax and semantical symmetries. Besides,
extraction of the signal involves logically straightforward but abstract
operations, making the patterns essentially irreducible to any natural origin.
Plausible ways of embedding the signal into the code and possible
interpretation of its content are discussed. Overall, while the code is nearly
optimized biologically, its limited capacity is used extremely efficiently to
pass non-biological information.
Nota:
Como estou sem tempo para traduzir, resolvi postar o texto acima em inglês
mesmo, dada sua relevância. Aliás, se alguém se dispuser a voluntariamente
traduzir eventuais textos para este blog, essa ajuda será muito bem-vinda. [MB]
