I’ll admit this may seem more abstract than my other articles, but I simply couldn’t resist weaving in a little space and a little time into my view of life.. :) Space and time are often treated as immutable absolutes in classical physics. In many traditional models, living processes unfold within a passive stage that remains unaffected by biology. However, space and time emerge from, or are at least modified by, the presence and activities of living systems. Ideas such as biological relativity and biological production of spacetime argue that organisms are not merely embedded in a static fabric. Instead, their metabolic and organizational patterns help define the geometry and evolution of that fabric.

From a physics perspective, these hypotheses draw on established concepts like energy–momentum relationships and relativistic constraints. In doing so, they place living systems within equations that once seemed to apply only to inanimate matter.. On the biophysics and bioenergetic side, each organism’s energy flow and internal structural layout may drive local transformations in the spacetime coordinates it occupies. Molecules, cells, and tissues do not exist in isolation. They shape and reshape the dimensions where they reside, and this reshaping may become more pronounced for complex organisms with intricate energy demands.

I want to take the time here to examine the core aspects of organism spacetime. We’ll go over the foundations of biological relativity and explore how the production of spacetime might be linked to the metabolic and informational activities of organisms. We will then address how these perspectives refine our understanding of life.

Biological Space-Time: A Relativistic Perspective

Biological relativity transforms how we perceive time and space in living systems. Instead of relying on a single, absolute frame of reference, it suggests that each biological process occupies its own manifold. This manifold is a multidimensional space defined by the energy exchanges, molecular interactions, and organizational patterns unique to that process. In this view, biological space-time emerges from the system itself rather than being imposed from outside.

What Is a Manifold in Physics?
In physics, a manifold is a continuous geometric entity that can be approximated by flat (Euclidean) space at very small scales. It serves as the underlying mathematical structure for describing curvature and dimensionality in theories such as general relativity. Manifolds allow us to model how mass, energy, and other properties can bend the geometry of a system, making them essential for analyzing complex processes that involve non-Euclidean behavior.

Biological Manifolds
A biological manifold represents the network of pathways and variables that govern a specific process, such as gene expression, cellular metabolism, or organismal aging. Each process navigates its manifold through internal dynamics like molecular feedback loops or changes in structural organization, and external inputs like environmental shifts or intercellular signaling. This approach respects the complexity of living systems and acknowledges that space and time are shaped by both their internal mechanisms and their interactions with the world around them.

For instance:

Gene Expression
This process can be visualized as a manifold whose dimensions are defined by transcription, translation, and regulatory feedback. Perturbations like nutrient availability or cellular stress shift the system’s coordinates within this space. Such shifts alter protein output and, in turn, the physiological state of the organism.

Metabolism
The metabolic manifold includes pathways such as glycolysis, the citric acid cycle, and oxidative phosphorylation. These pathways adjust to energy demands and resource availability, causing shifts in the organism’s metabolic trajectory. This flexibility arises from the system’s capacity to reallocate resources and maintain energetic balance in fluctuating conditions.

Aging
Aging trajectories form when cumulative changes in molecular pathways, genetic factors, and environmental exposures accumulate over time. Each organism navigates a distinct aging manifold. Differences in lifespan or resilience reflect variations in how quickly cells traverse this manifold and how effectively they repair or adapt along the way.

Biological Time Dilation

In standard physics, time dilation is linked to phenomena such as gravitational fields or relativistic velocities. In living systems, an analogous effect emerges from shifts in metabolic dynamics, resource allocation, and stress responses. These biological variables alter the effective pace of cellular events, creating a type of biological time dilation that helps explain why some organisms or tissues age more slowly or rapidly than others.

From a physics perspective, one can view these biological processes as complex networks of reactions that consume and release energy in discrete steps. Reaction rates, feedback loops, and thermodynamic constraints govern how quickly each step unfolds. When an organism experiences chronic stress or elevated metabolic demands, reaction rates often increase. This faster turnover pushes cells toward senescence at a higher rate, shortening overall lifespan. Conversely, organisms that conserve energy and direct resources toward repair operate within a slower temporal framework.

Accelerated Biological Time
Chronic inflammation, oxidative stress, and intense energy usage often accelerate biological operations. Inflammation triggers cascades of signaling molecules that amplify metabolic expenditure, reduce energy reserves, and generate additional by-products like reactive oxygen species (ROS). High ROS levels damage DNA, proteins, and lipids at a faster pace and diminish the system’s ability to recover. Cells forced to allocate energy toward immediate survival divert resources from maintenance and repair. This diversion amplifies the cumulative impact of aging by increasing the rate of macromolecular damage. Over time, the system experiences accelerated functional decline.

Elevated metabolic rates also correlate with faster aging. Organisms that burn energy quickly are prone to higher oxidative loads, and they undergo more frequent cell divisions. Each division introduces potential errors into DNA replication and protein synthesis. These errors accumulate and further speed biological time. This phenomenon is seen in many species with short lifespans and aggressive metabolic strategies. They grow or reproduce quickly but reach senescence sooner.

Decelerated Biological Time
Slower, carefully managed processes can extend functional lifespan and confer resilience against various stressors. Species like turtles and whales have relatively low metabolic rates, which lowers the production of damaging by-products and reduces replication errors over time. This approach supports more thorough quality control mechanisms, such as advanced DNA repair and protein folding pathways. When errors do occur, these organisms invest in maintenance routines that correct damage before it becomes critical. This systematic repair slows the apparent flow of biological time.

On a cellular level, decelerated time corresponds to enhanced proteostasis, stable mitochondrial function, and efficient antioxidant responses. By maintaining a balance between energy input and repair output, cells reduce entropic decay and preserve vitality for longer periods. This strategy involves strategic allocation of resources toward stability and longevity and leads to a slower progression along the aging curve.

Biological time dilation is a variable clock driven by energy flow and molecular complexity. The organism’s environment and genetic makeup further modulate this clock and change how quickly it ticks. From a biophysics standpoint, these adjustments can be seen as shifts in the free energy landscape. Systems that operate under lower free energy gradients tend to proceed more slowly while those facing steep gradients exhibit a hastened pace. Viewing time as an emergent property shaped by metabolic and stress-related parameters allows insight into why lifespans differ across species and why some tissues withstand aging better than others.

Interconnected Trajectories in Biological Space-Time

Biological space-time is not confined to singular processes. Instead it forms a wide-ranging network of interconnected manifolds that span different scales. Disruptions in one manifold can ripple out and affect others and lead to broad physiological consequences. For example, alterations in the metabolic manifold, such as insulin resistance or chronic inflammation may affect gene expression patterns. This can hasten cellular aging and promote earlier onset of age-related conditions. Conversely, interventions like caloric restriction can slow metabolic pathways. This deceleration helps stabilize gene expression manifolds and can lengthen lifespan.

The variability and interconnectedness of these manifold trajectories shows the adaptability of living systems. Organisms constantly recalibrate their manifold states to maintain homeostasis and respond to changing environments. They achieve this by adjusting resource allocation, modifying feedback loops, or reshaping signaling networks. These recalibrations are not isolated to a single domain. They spread across multiple levels of organization, from molecular interactions to whole-organism function.

From a physics standpoint, this ongoing reshuffling reflects dynamic shifts in energy flow and thermodynamic gradients. Each manifold can be viewed as a region of parameter space shaped by the underlying constraints of energetic transactions and structural organization. When a process goes out of balance, feedback mechanisms kick in to restore equilibrium. In this way the organism acts as an active participant in shaping its own space-time architecture.

Each manifold intertwines with others to form a flexible network that evolves over time. Perturbations in metabolism, for instance, do not remain isolated. They alter cellular signaling cascades, which then feed back into gene regulation or immune surveillance. This cascading effect reveals how biological space-time emerges from continuous interactions across multiple layers of living systems. Mapping these processes onto physical concepts of energy and geometry could allow for insights into how organisms actively shape the dimensions they occupy.

Implications of Biological Space-Time

Biological space-time offers new ways to understand and shape life processes. It situates aging, health, and evolution within frameworks where time and space emerge from the organism’s internal and external dynamics. This viewpoint has practical applications in multiple fields.

Aging Research
Biological time dilation provides a way to identify factors that either speed up or slow down aging. Excessive oxidative stress or elevated metabolic rates can accelerate the pace of cellular senescence. Interventions that reduce oxidative damage or regulate energy pathways may shift aging trajectories. For instance, antioxidant therapies, metabolic modulators, and epigenetic reprogramming all hold potential for altering how quickly cells traverse aging manifolds. By decelerating key processes these interventions could preserve tissue function and extend healthspan.

Personalized Medicine
Mapping an individual’s biological manifolds can reveal distinct paths through space and time. Clinicians could examine metabolic profiles, genomic signals, and epigenetic markers to predict disease risk or identify optimal treatments. Therapies might be fine-tuned to realign dysregulated manifolds and restore balanced time dynamics. Personalized interventions could prevent accelerated aging or mitigate chronic disease by tailoring strategies to each patient’s unique trajectory.

Evolutionary Biology
Differences in biological space-time across species offer clues about adaptation. Organisms with slower manifolds often display enhanced longevity, while those with faster trajectories typically emphasize rapid reproduction. Understanding these variations shows how lifeforms respond to environmental pressures through shifts in metabolic and genetic frameworks. This knowledge clarifies the evolution of complex survival strategies and reveals how organisms manage energy flow over extended lifespans.

From a physics perspective, these implications rest on the fact that time and space dimensions in living systems arise from interactions among molecules, cells, and tissues. On the biophysical side, this means that changes in energetic demands can bend these dimensions toward either accelerated or decelerated trajectories.

The E-Series

The E-series spacetime concept is similar in what we’ve discussed so far in that it emphasizes the interactive and communicative nature of living systems. Organisms do not reside passively within static spatial and temporal coordinates. They actively create and reshape these dimensions through behaviors, interactions, and internal processes. This approach places life in a dynamic spacetime that emerges from collective biological actions rather than from a rigid, external stage.

From a physics perspective this concept aligns with the notion that space-time is not an absolute container but a relational construct that adapts to local influences. In living systems these influences arise from energy exchanges, structural changes, and continuous feedback loops. From a biophysics standpoint, the E-series idea suggests that metabolic activities, signaling pathways, and cellular organization can locally modify the geometry of an organism’s environment. This brings a fresh and very cool understanding of how life and spacetime evolve together.

Biological Space-Time as Interactive and Adaptive

Traditional views often treat space and time as fixed frameworks that living systems must navigate. In the E-series perspective, space-time is flexible and arises through ongoing biological interactions. Organisms adapt these dimensions according to internal demands and environmental shifts.

Adaptive Spatial Boundaries

A cell’s membrane shapes its immediate spatial domain. Yet this boundary is not rigid. Processes like endocytosis and exocytosis shift the membrane’s surface area and volume, allowing selective material exchange. Osmotic pressure also causes the cell to expand or contract, which helps maintain homeostasis. These changes create an adaptive spatial environment that the cell co-defines as it interacts with its surroundings.

Temporal Fluidity

Biological processes do not follow a single universal clock. They synchronize or shift based on internal signals and external cues. Circadian rhythms are one example. Molecular feedback loops tie the organism’s metabolic and behavioral cycles to day–night transitions. This synchronization ensures that energy production and nutrient uptake occur at the most efficient times. In other contexts processes may desynchronize to adapt to new conditions. Time in biology, which i’ve described in article prior to this, is modulated by an organism’s changing needs and by fluctuating environmental factors.

Weaving these spatial and temporal threads into one framework shows that organisms are co-creators of the space and time they inhabit. Their behaviors, signals, and energy flows continuously shape the environments they occupy. Life as a dynamic force that actively structures the dimensions in which it evolves.

Semiotic and Functional Dimensions of Shared Spacetime

The E-series concept adds a semiotic layer to spacetime. Interactions within biological systems do more than exchange energy or material resources. They also convey signals and cues that carry meaning for the organisms or cells involved. This meaning-based dimension emerges whenever living systems interpret and respond to their surroundings and shapes how space and time unfold.

Neural Networks
In the brain, neural activity orchestrates a functional spacetime. Signaling pathways are not merely chemical or electrical flows. They rearrange themselves in response to sensory inputs, learning events, and memory formation. As these signals shift in timing or strength, they modify the spatial and temporal context within the neural circuitry and create a dynamic platform for cognition.

Ecosystem Interactions
In larger ecological communities, predator–prey cycles, pollination routes, and nutrient flows shape a shared spacetime that supports biodiversity. Organisms communicate through chemical signals, physical structures, or behavioral cues. These interactions guide cycles of growth and decay, and they connect species into a complex network of dependencies. Over time that network co-creates the ecological parameters that define how populations expand, compete, or adapt.

This semiotic dimension means that space and time in living systems are not fixed stages. They evolve as organisms and communities interpret and respond to signals. This feedback shapes a unified yet adaptable context for life where spacetime itself emerges from the purposeful activities of biological entities.

Implications of the E-Series Spacetime Framework

The E-series spacetime concept introduces a dynamic lens for exploring biological organization. It shows that interactions between living organisms shape the spatial and temporal frameworks they occupy and offers a neat perspective on collective behavior, ecosystem management, and systems biology.

Understanding Collective Behaviors

In populations ranging from cellular assemblies to animal swarms, collective actions emerge through local interactions. The E-series framework helps explain why these collectives can exhibit complex coordination without a central controller. Cells in a tissue may exchange signals that synchronize growth or migration. Animals in a flock may align their movements based on localized cues. When viewed through an E-series lens these patterns are seen as co-created elements of shared spacetime. This approach can guide predictions and interventions for phenomena like microbial cooperation or flocking in birds.

Enhancing Ecosystem Management

Ecosystems rely on interactive networks that cycle energy, nutrients, and information. Recognizing that organisms actively shape their spatial and temporal domains allows for conservation strategies that go beyond preserving static habitats. Instead, they can focus on maintaining and restoring the dynamic relationships that support biodiversity and resilience. For instance, a pollinator’s movement patterns influence flowering cycles. Predators and prey co-adjust their ranges in response to resource availability. In this view each interaction reshapes the collective spacetime in which an ecosystem evolves.

Advancing Systems Biology

Systems biology aims to understand how interconnected processes produce emergent properties. The E-series emphasis on semiotic and functional dimensions of spacetime resonates with this systems-level approach. Biological networks of genes, proteins, and metabolites co-adjust their activity based on internal feedback loops and external cues. These shifts alter the spatial distribution of metabolic pathways and the timing of cellular events. Incorporating the E-series viewpoint allows for the study of how organisms transform their physical environment through signaling and exchange and can reveal deeper insights into system-wide regulation.

A Dynamic Understanding of Biological Space

Space in biological systems is not defined by inert boundaries. It is shaped and reshaped by active processes. A cell modifies its membrane to bring in nutrients or remove waste, altering the spatial conditions within and around it. Animals carve out or redefine their territories by moving or building structures. These actions are not passive responses but active practices of space, driven by biological needs and coordinated interactions. Organisms are agents that co-create the spatial realities they inhabit.

Implications for Understanding Life

The active construction of space in living systems has wide-ranging implications for how we perceive biology and its broader contexts. Viewing life through the lens of biological spacetime allows tools to analyze processes like aging with new depth and precision.

1. Aging and Biological Time

Biological spacetime frames aging as a path within an organism’s spacetime manifold. This path is shaped by cellular and molecular activities, as well as environmental influences such as metabolic rate, DNA integrity, and stress levels.

Variable Aging Rates
Different organisms exhibit varied aging speeds because of the distinct ways they regulate and experience spacetime. Turtles often have slower metabolic rates, which helps them reduce oxidative damage. This slower pace supports longevity. In contrast, small mammals with high metabolic demands accumulate cellular stress more rapidly, which accelerates aging.

Interventions
Viewing aging as a spacetime trajectory opens the door to interventions that can redirect or slow this process. Caloric restriction, for example, lowers metabolic load and reduces oxidative stress. Antioxidant therapies aim to lessen free-radical damage, slowing the progression of cellular decline. By adjusting these factors, it may be possible to extend healthspan and delay the onset of age-related dysfunction.

2. Ecological and Evolutionary Dynamics

Biological space is shaped and reshaped by the active participation of organisms at multiple levels. In ecological systems, space emerges through processes that link individuals, populations, and communities in shared networks. These interactions influence ecosystem stability, resource distribution, and biodiversity over time.

Ecosystem Interactions
Organisms and their environments engage in a reciprocal exchange. Pollinators and plants, for example, rely on each other for survival. Flowers offer nectar, and insects transfer pollen across spatial zones defined by environmental cues like temperature and daylight. This co-creation stabilizes ecological webs by distributing genetic material and sustaining food sources.

Evolutionary Adaptations
Over long timescales, organisms adapt structures and behaviors that optimize their spatial practices. Roots in many plant species extend via specialized branching patterns to maximize water and nutrient uptake. Animals develop specialized limbs or sensory systems to explore or defend territories. These adaptations show how life and space evolve together as the environment’s physical contours and biological communities shift through natural selection.

3. Philosophical Insights

Suggesting that space and time emerge from living processes aligns with philosophical traditions that see reality as co-produced by organisms and their surroundings.

Space-Time as Emergent
This view treats space and time not as immutable absolutes but as outcomes of biological dynamics. Metabolic rates, communication networks, and structural organization converge to shape local spacetime manifolds. This approach moves away from static laws and emphasizes the fluid / ever-changing quality of living systems.

Observer–Environment Interdependence
Organisms do more than passively observe their habitats. They influence and modify them. This interdependence blurs the line between subject and object since the observer co-creates the reality it perceives. Philosophers who emphasize relational or phenomenological aspects of existence find common ground here, as living beings and their environments form a mutual feedback loop.

Convergence of Biological Relativity and Spacetime Production

Frameworks like biological relativity and the biological production of spacetime reshape our view of life as a continuous process emerging from interactions, feedback loops, and environment-driven adaptations. These theories draw on physics to describe how energy transactions and structural organization can modify the dimensions organisms occupy. They also incorporate biophysics and bioenergetics to explore how metabolic pathways and cellular structures can warp or reshape local spacetime.

The concept of organism spacetime provides a comprehensive way to investigate aging, evolution, and ecological networks. It presents life as fundamentally relational, creating and recreating the boundaries it inhabits. Before we close out this somewhat longwinded article (I love this stuff..) on biological spacetime i’ll mention some of Mae-Wan Ho’s thoughts as well.

Mae-Wan Ho argued that biological spacetime is not fixed or imposed externally. Instead, organisms shape and reshape their own spatial and temporal domains through quantum-like coherence across multiple scales. She proposed that macroscopic life may exhibit coherence often associated with quantum mechanics.

She focused on coupled cycles that store and distribute energy across cells and tissues. These cycles involve molecules like ATP or glycogen and run through nested structures, from subcellular compartments to whole organisms. Thermodynamically, these continuous cycles keep living systems far from equilibrium. They also allow for rapid adaptation, since energy can be mobilized or stored within precise boundaries of space and time.

Ho viewed dissipative structures as key to this process. These structures emerge in non-equilibrium conditions and let organisms maintain dynamic order. They are linked by coherent processes that permit transparent energy flow. From a biophysics viewpoint, information moves easily across scales in a coordinated manner.

Biological spacetime thus becomes an active construction, not a passive background. Organisms alter space and time through processes like cellular signaling, resource exchange, and ecological interactions. This view reframes classical assumptions by suggesting that space and time emerge from the coherent activities of living systems.

These ideas may feel abstract because we often treat space and time as unchanging backdrops. Seeing organisms as co-creators of these dimensions requires shifting our perspective. Yet this perspective is relevant to biology, physics, and even our daily lives. It reframes aging, health, and ecological relationships by showing that energy transactions, feedback loops, and structural organization can bend and reshape the very coordinates organisms inhabit. This points toward new ways of understanding how life endures or declines and how populations adapt or fail to thrive.

Embracing organism spacetime pushes us to see biology as an active process that continuously molds its own context. Cells, tissues, and entire ecosystems do not exist in a passive universe. They thread their activities through networks of energetic and informational exchange. In doing so they weave local space and time into forms that sustain growth, adaptation, and longevity. Viewing space and time as products of living processes rather than inert stages opens new paths for studying and guiding life from the molecular level to large-scale ecologies.

Further Reading:

Noble, D. (2012). Aging in a Relativistic Biological Space-Time
Pattee, H. H., & Kauffman, S. A. (2023). The Biological Production of Spacetime: A Sketch
Ho, M.-W. (2010). What is (Schrödinger's) Negentropy? Institute of Science in Society

Organism Spacetime