ScienceNot yet confirmed elsewhere1 publisher2 min readPublished
Queen Mary physicist links the viscosity life needs to the values of physical constants
Kostya Trachenko of Queen Mary University of London argues in Science Advances that physical constants limit liquid viscosity to a range life can use. The university calls it a theoretical analysis, and its account says only that relatively small changes to some constants could alter how liquids flow.
The Scientist · Science desk
What happened
- In 2020 Trachenko and colleagues showed that fundamental physical constants set a lower limit on the viscosity of liquids.
- The account says every living cell depends on molecules moving through fluid, and names diffusion, the spreading of particles through a fluid, as one of the processes involved.
- According to the summary on the page, the life-friendly conditions existed billions of years before living cells appeared.
Why it matters
- capability The test is meant to be general. Trachenko said: "This applies beyond water, so all life forms using the liquid state to function would be affected."
- constraint Because the constants are generally taken to be unchanging, a viscosity condition tied to them would hold at any time liquids existed, so it cannot say when or how cells began.
- contradiction The page's headline and summary call this a discovery, but the body describes a theoretical analysis. The claim has not yet been tested.
The release illustrates the thick end of the range far more fully than the thin end. The account illustrates the thick end with everyday fluids: water pours easily, while honey and tar are much more viscous [11]. For liquids that are too thin it offers one hedged sentence, saying low viscosity could also interfere with the controlled flow that biological functions need [2]. In our view, the earlier limit says how thin a liquid can get under the constants we have, and says little about the thin end if the constants moved [6].
Trachenko said, "Life processes in and between living cells require motion and it is viscosity that sets the properties of this motion." [9] His example is a thought experiment: "if water was as viscous as tar life would not exist in its current form or not exist at all." [10]
The account gives no figure for how far a constant would have to move to produce tar-like water.
The analysis adds a constraint on the values: they must permit liquids to move in ways that support life within and between cells [5]. That narrows the values that would work for life as we know it, but it leaves open why ours do: the account says scientists still do not know why the constants have the values we observe [8].
The only source here is a ScienceDaily page that lists Queen Mary University of London as its source [13]. The page is dated October 11, 2026, and it describes the study that took the viscosity link into biology as a 2023 study [12]. If that is the Science Advances paper, the work is about three years old [15].
What to watch
- Comment from physicists outside Queen Mary on whether the viscosity bound holds for liquids other than water.
- A published tolerance: how far a constant can shift before viscosity leaves the range that supports life in cells.
Clarity's read
What the record supports and how the coverage leans. The claims behind it follow.
Reality
- Evidence35
- Adoption
- Insufficient
- Hype gap+50
- Incentives50
- Confidence45
Claim ledger
Ranked by verification strength, evidence, and original report placement.
- [1]
Even relatively small changes to some of the universe's most basic physical constants could dramatically alter how liquids flow, potentially preventing essential biological processes.
- [2]
Excessively low viscosity could also interfere with the controlled flow necessary for biological functions.
ReportedSupportedSource: ScienceDaily page2 sources— create a free account to open themView cited source - [3]
Every living cell depends on the movement of molecules, and diffusion, the natural spreading of particles through a fluid, helps molecules move around cells.
- [4]
The work, by physicist Kostya Trachenko at Queen Mary University of London, is a theoretical analysis detailed in a study published in Science Advances.
ReportedSupportedSource: ScienceDaily page, source credited as Queen Mary University of LondonView cited source - [5]
The analysis identified an additional constraint on the values of fundamental physical constants: they must permit liquids to move in ways that support life within and between cells.
- [6]
In 2020, Trachenko and colleagues demonstrated that fundamental physical constants place a lower limit on the viscosity of liquids.
- [7]
Fundamental physical constants are generally considered universal and unchanging over time.
- [8]
Scientists still do not know why the fundamental constants have the particular values we observe.
- [9]
Trachenko said: "Life processes in and between living cells require motion and it is viscosity that sets the properties of this motion."
- [10]
Trachenko said: "if water was as viscous as tar life would not exist in its current form or not exist at all."
- [11]
Water has relatively low viscosity and pours easily, while honey and tar are much more viscous and move slowly.
- [12]
The page is dated October 11, 2026, and says the 2023 study took the connection between constants and viscosity much further by examining its implications for biology.
- [13]
The ScienceDaily page lists Queen Mary University of London as its source.
- [14]
Trachenko said: "This applies beyond water, so all life forms using the liquid state to function would be affected."
- [15]
The 2023 study the page refers to is about three years older than the page date of 2026.
- [16]
The page's headline reads "Scientists make stunning discovery that could help explain why life exists" and its summary says "Scientists have discovered" that the constants may be finely balanced for life.
- [17]
The life-friendly conditions existed billions of years before living cells appeared.
Sources
1 independent publisher whose own reporting we read for this story.
- sciencedaily.comScientists make stunning discovery that could help explain why life exists
1 article · October 11, 2026
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