Just got back from our colloquium at the Davis physics department, and I thought some people might find it a bit interesting
Here is a publication of what should be the same basic talk (I haven't watched or listened to this one, but it uses the same slides):
http://online.itp.ucsb.edu/online/pattern_i03/west/
I just found it to be incredible that he and his collaborators were able to look at the way certain numbers scale with mass of organisms (such as the metabolic rate), and use that to develop a biological theory. From what he has presented, it sounds pretty robust, too.
For example, it has been found that metabolic rate, of all organisms, from the single-celled to the whale, scales as M^(-3/4), and this metabolic rate scaling can in turn be derived from simply looking at the growth of the network that is required to get oxygen to the cells (or to the mitochondria within the cells), which would be the cardiovascular system in mammals.
Here is a publication of what should be the same basic talk (I haven't watched or listened to this one, but it uses the same slides):
http://online.itp.ucsb.edu/online/pattern_i03/west/
I just found it to be incredible that he and his collaborators were able to look at the way certain numbers scale with mass of organisms (such as the metabolic rate), and use that to develop a biological theory. From what he has presented, it sounds pretty robust, too.
For example, it has been found that metabolic rate, of all organisms, from the single-celled to the whale, scales as M^(-3/4), and this metabolic rate scaling can in turn be derived from simply looking at the growth of the network that is required to get oxygen to the cells (or to the mitochondria within the cells), which would be the cardiovascular system in mammals.