Goldilocks

Then the little old Woman sate down in the chair of the Great, Huge Bear, and that was too hard for her. And then she sate down in the chair of the Middle Bear, and that was too soft for her. And then she sate down in the chair of the Little, Small, Wee Bear, and that was neither too hard, nor too soft, but just right. (Story of the Three Bears, Robert Southey 1837 Goldilocks was introduced c.1904)... 

For 6 and 7, the half-lives for beta-blocking activity in an in-vivo dog model were found to be 30 min and 60 min, respectively. Assuming that this difference reflected simple steric effects, it was speculated that hydrolysis might be even quicker for esters placed further from the bulky phenyl ring. To address this hypothesis, compound series 8 was prepared. These compounds and their corresponding half-life data are shown in Fig. 9.2 [12]. The Goldilocks nature [20] of 8 where n= 2, likely reflects the removal of the steric impediment caused by the... 

The importance of pursuing methyl, ethyl, propyl, etc., as one fme-tunes a lead is worth mentioning again in this category -that is, the Goldilocks nature of esmolol with its distinct 10-min half-life was found to reside only at n = 2 within series 8 (what more can be said about the merits of carefully conducting such molecular scrutiny in a patient and deliberately methodical manner ). 

Stahl SM. Dopamine system stabilizers, aripiprazole, and the next generation of antipsychotics, part 1 Goldilocks actions at dopamine receptors. J Clin Psychiatry 2001 62 841-2. 

Brett, J. (1987). Goldilocks and the Three Bears. The Pumam and Grosser Group, New York. 

What is just right in one moment becomes wrong in the next. The porridge that Goldilocks tasted would have been perfect in the first mouthful, but a little later, especially if she ate slowly as her mother would have taught her, it would have cooled. 

On a Goldilocks planet the surface temperature is just right. Where volcanism occurs, water is ejected from the interior, but is held under the cold trap until it can be returned to new crust via hydrothermal systems. Old plate is dense and falls in the water returns to the interior. Much of this water fluxes melt and is returned at andesitic volcanoes. A small amount is retained by plate entering the deep mantle. This intake is controlled by the ambient temperature and in effect the system becomes self-fluxing. If it is locally too hot, abundant melt production removes water and heat. As the planet cools, andesitic melt production falls and the cooler deep mantle accepts more water, to allow melt production to continue at mid-ocean ridges. All this depends on a surface temperature that allows rehydration and cooling of the new plate. 

Corey, M. A. (2001). The God Hypothesis Discovering Design in Our Just Right Goldilocks Universe. Lanham, MD University Press of America. 

Davies, P. (2006). The Goldilocks Enigma Why the Universe Is Just Right for Life. 

For example, see D. E. Erwin. The Goldilocks Hypothesis [review of S. Conway Morris s Life s Solution Inevitable Humans in a Lonely Universe], Science, 302 (2003), 1682-3. 

Goldilocks is a talented unknown singer, the three bears a group of up-and-coming pop musicians. 

In terms of the relaxation time, Tt, there is a minimum in Tl which corresponds to the maximum in W. We see that, like Goldilocks and the Three Bears, efficient relaxation requires a correlation time which is neither too fast nor too slow. 

Kagan, D.M. (1990). Ways of evaluating teacher cognition inferences concerning the Goldilocks principle. Review of Educational Research, 60,419-469. 

Using lots of slurry, particularly if the slurry is not recycled, but discarded, is not only expensive, but the lower temperature reduces the rate at which silicon is removed from the wafer. However, using a very low slurry flow to increase the temperature and therefore the chemical attack rate runs the risk of developing so much heat that the slurry dries, and the silica particles aggregate into scratch-producing sediments. Therefore, as with Goldilocks and the Three Bears one flow is too hot, one is too cold and one is just right . 

But like Goldilocks with her three porridge bowls, we can reduce this list from three options to one. First we have to account for the fact that we need something that sticks to three phosphates in ATP, not just one. Magnesium fits perfectly between the oxygens on two adjacent phosphates in ATP, but calcium is too big. This makes magnesium the optimal elemental partner for phosphate. 

In water, this double helix results from a delicately poised balance of forces. Single-stranded DNA seems to be shorter in water than in non-aqueous solvents, because of water bridges between bases [96]. These hydrogen bonds are relatively weak, and if they were much stronger they might in fact inhibit the formation of the double heUx altogether. If that is so, water seems here to function in a Goldilocks mode some hydration is essential for a stable double helix, but not too much. 

Too little COj (as is the case on Mars), and Earth would be too cold—water would only be present as ice, which would make it difficult for Earth s surface to support life as we generally know it. Too much CO (as is the case on Venus), and Earth would be too hot—water would only be present in the gaseous state, which would also make it difficult for Earth to support life as we know it. It s the Goldilocks effect Venus is too hot. Mars is too cold. Earth is just right. To a large extent, it is CO that is helping to maintain the right balance. 

Suppose the fairy-tale character Goldilocks were to visit Venus, Mars, and Earth. In the fairy tale, she said that Papa Bear s soup was too hot. Mama Bear s soup was too cold, but Baby Bear s soup was just right (and she ate aU of it, much to the dismay of Baby Bear). Goldilocks would draw the same conclusions about these three planets—Venus is too hot. Mars is too cold, but Earth is just right. The whole idea behind the efforts to reverse any accelerated global warming trends is to keep Earth the way it is— just right for the life that currently inhabits it. 

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