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The study of light and the interaction of light and matter is termed optics. The observation and study of optical phenomena such as rainbows and the aurora borealis offer many clues as to the nature of light. A transparent object allows light to transmit or pass through.
Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from matter that does not. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis , organisation , metabolism , growth , adaptation , response to stimuli , and reproduction .
Forms of matter that are not composed of molecules and are organized by different forces can also be considered different states of matter. Superfluids (like Fermionic condensate) and the quark–gluon plasma are examples. In a chemical equation, the state of matter of the chemicals may be shown as (s) for solid, (l) for liquid, and (g) for gas.
Although the evidence from chemical and physical experiments for the existence of photons was overwhelming by the 1970s, this evidence could not be considered as absolutely definitive; since it relied on the interaction of light with matter, and a sufficiently complete theory of matter could in principle account for the evidence.
In geometrical optics, light is considered to travel in straight lines, while in physical optics, light is considered as an electromagnetic wave. Geometrical optics can be viewed as an approximation of physical optics that applies when the wavelength of the light used is much smaller than the size of the optical elements in the system being ...
Strange matter: A type of quark matter that may exist inside some neutron stars close to the Tolman–Oppenheimer–Volkoff limit (approximately 2–3 solar masses). May be stable at lower energy states once formed. Quark matter: Hypothetical phases of matter whose degrees of freedom include quarks and gluons Color-glass condensate
Hylozoism is the philosophical doctrine according to which all matter is alive or animated, [clarification needed] [1] either in itself or as participating in the action of a superior principle, usually the world-soul (anima mundi). [2] The theory holds that matter is unified with life or spiritual activity. [3]
In ancient philosophy, any attenuated "thin" matter such as air, aether, fire or light was considered incorporeal. [4] The ancient Greeks believed air, as opposed to solid earth, to be incorporeal, insofar as it is less resistant to movement; and the ancient Persians believed fire to be incorporeal in that every soul was said to be produced ...