Published 2025-03-04
How to Cite
Copyright (c) 2025 Pierandrea Lo Nostro
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Abstract
While seeking for newer and wider horizons in science and technology, some scientists appear to be challenging common life in a way that - in time - may eventually destroy life on Earth and therefore mankind. For the moment this risk is still far away, but it may become one of the worse scenarios on the planet. To introduce this discussion, we need a mirror. “Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all?” was the resounding question that the Evil Queen uttered when consulting her magic mirror to be reassured that she was still the most beautiful lady in the land. (At least until Snow White entered the scene). But “our” mirror will be used in another way. We know that a chiral molecule can exist in two different forms, which are perfectly specular (here is the mirror) but they cannot be superposed. Hands and feet are the most common example we teach chirality to our students. In fact in Greek χειρ means hand.
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