English made readable
For non-native speakers who read English for work, study, or fun.
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'a good pint of stout' — This phrase refers to a serving (a pint, which is about 568 ml) of stout, a very dark, strong beer, often associated with creamy foam (like Guinness).
'a good pint of stout' 的意思是「一大杯優質的黑啤」。Stout 是一種非常濃郁的黑啤酒，通常帶有綿密的泡沫（例如健力士黑啤）。說「一杯好的黑啤」表達了對這杯啤酒的讚賞和享受。
Example Sentences
'tapping into' — This phrasal verb means to gain access to or make use of a resource, source of energy, or piece of information, often in a way that feels intuitive or readily available. In the context provided, it refers to living systems actively drawing upon external energy and information flows.
'tapping into' — 这个短语动词的意思是获得对某种资源、能源或信息的访问，或加以利用，通常是以一种直观或易于获取的方式。在所给的上下文中，它指的是生命系统主动地汲取外部的能量和信息流。
Example Sentences
What's Special about Life? Bulk Orchestration and the Emergence of Purpose
Throughout history, philosophers and scientists have grappled with a fundamental question: what distinguishes living systems from non-living matter? At first glance, one might point to movement, growth, or reproduction. But these characteristics alone don't capture the essence of what makes life truly remarkable.
Consider a simple mechanical system—perhaps a clock or a basic machine. These devices can exhibit complex behavior, moving parts in coordinated ways to achieve specific outcomes. Yet we intuitively recognize that they lack something fundamental that living organisms possess. Living systems are constantly tapping into flows of energy and information, and the distinction lies not merely in complexity, but in the nature of that complexity and how it arises.
The Challenge of Defining Purpose
When examining biological systems, we observe behaviors that appear purposeful. A cell maintains its internal environment, responds to external stimuli, and works to preserve its existence. This apparent purposefulness emerges from the intricate interplay of countless molecular interactions, none of which individually possesses any sense of purpose or goal.
The phenomenon becomes even more intriguing when we consider that living systems achieve their goals through mechanisms that are fundamentally computational in nature. By tapping into the power of distributed information processing, biological organisms coordinate billions of molecular events simultaneously. Every process—from protein synthesis to neural signaling—represents a form of computation that collectively gives rise to the rich tapestry of life we observe.
Computational Irreducibility and Emergence
One key insight comes from understanding computational irreducibility—the idea that for certain systems, there's no shortcut to predicting their behavior other than running the computation itself. This property has profound implications for understanding life. It suggests that the richness and unpredictability we associate with living systems may be an inevitable consequence of their computational nature.
When a system exhibits computational irreducibility, it means we cannot simply look at its initial conditions and immediately know its future state. We must let the process unfold, step by step. This creates a form of "computational depth" where complex behaviors emerge from simple rules operating over time, manifesting as the incredible diversity of life forms we observe in nature.
