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in many american comics such as dc and marvel they have living planets and even stars. If we could live in a world where cells have sizes that range from planet wide and still function under its own immense self gravitation force how could it stay alive and behave?

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  • $\begingroup$ Hello, and welcome to the site! Unfortunately, your question does not match the format for WB SE. If you, for example, came up with certain ideas, and asked for feedback, or validation, we could help you out - especially if it were a universe of your own making. However, we will not hypothesize as to the behavior of creatures in comic book universes on your behalf. $\endgroup$
    – AndreiROM
    Commented Feb 24, 2018 at 22:06
  • $\begingroup$ @shawnny321 - why do you assume to that comic book living planets and living stars are monocellular? Unless the comic books actually describe the living planets as monocellular, i would assume that they are multicellular. And a living star would be made of plasma so it would probably not be multicellular or monocellular in the sense of having cells that function like the cells of Earth organisms. $\endgroup$ Commented Feb 25, 2018 at 19:32

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I don't think it could stay alive, not with our physics and chemistry. What limits the size of a cell is diffusion speed: how fast molecules can get from one side of the cell to the other in liquid without being mechanically propelled. (There are various mechanism in the cell that assist the movement of at least some molecules, but it's still mostly diffusion.)

Try this: place a spoonful of salt at the bottom of a cup, then very gently, trying not to disturb the salt, fill the cup with water. How long until the water at the top tastes salty?

So, suppose the salt is nutrient, and it needs to reach the other side of the cell, where it can be metabolised. In such a long time, the cell would starve and die. Or suppose the salt is a stimuli, that needs response (such as "move away from this toxic environment"). How long until the response happens? And that's a cup-sized "cell". Now, imagine a planet-sized one.

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  • $\begingroup$ There are already single celled animals, on Earth, many, many times larger than simple diffusion can manage (Caulerpa taxifolia is the largest I am aware of, but there are many). Being single celled does not prevent organisms having methods to control the movement of molecules within them. $\endgroup$ Commented Feb 24, 2018 at 22:40

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