"Although the diameter of a normal atom is about 108 centimeter, some excited atoms have a diameter of 105 centimeter and are as large as certain bacteria. The energy state of an atom is denoted by its principal quantum number, designated n, which defines the probability of finding an electron at a particular distance from the nucleus. In the state of lowest energy, n is 1, and the electrons are effectively confined to a quite small volume."
"We are so far from a perfect understanding of life that even active workers in biological research cannot agree as to the real nature of lifewhether it is purely a matter of chemistry and physics and evolution and chance, or whether there will indeed prove to be an element of the nature of the spark of life' of the ancients, transcending mortal understanding. It is now generally known that the unit of living matter is the cell."
Atoms in very high energy states have greatly increased radii because the principal quantum number n governs the probability distribution of electrons at larger distances from the nucleus. Normal atoms are far smaller, but excited atoms with n values raised dramatically can reach dimensions comparable to certain bacteria. New laboratory methods enable creation, manipulation, and detection of such inflated atoms; researchers have prepared atoms with n as high as 105, leaving them nearly ionized and prone to disintegrate with small additional energy. Separately, the cell is identified as the fundamental unit of living matter, and life may be viewed as the resultant action of cells; scientific opinion remains divided about whether life is solely chemistry and physics or involves an additional transcendent element.
Read at www.scientificamerican.com
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