There are few bacteria enthusiasts among our class of complex life forms. Generally, bacteria and similarly smelly slimy things are the most disgusting matter that exists, and our bodies must continually fight off the more invasive kind.
Yet we must live in a world created by bacteria. The oxygen would not exist, clean water could not exist, and no plants or animals could survive without the necessary preparations made by bacteria before more complex life forms ever evolved. We are a kind of parasite on bacteria, from their point of view, and of little consequence should we cease to exist.
There are some bacteria and fungi that we actually like. The stuff that turns milk to cheese and makes bread rise and ferments wines is only slightly different from the stuff that decays our discarded bodies after or even before we die. To a high complexity life form like a fish or tree or human, all that bacteria out there must more or less be taken for granted. No one is going to survive without it.
Recent newspaper articles describing flesh mutilating algae in the oceans are kind of scary. This is one study, and this one from NASA reflect many recent examples of toxic goop that benefits from human activity or rare natural circumstances. Perhaps things are somewhat out of balance. But don't worry for the bacteria. They make out like bandits no matter what happens to us. And if life gets tough for one stinky kind of bacteria when there is too much oxygen, it is only a boon for the ones that don't like so much hydrogen.
Whether humans are part of the equation makes little difference to the total population of bacteria. We could only slightly benefit certain kinds of bacteria over others, but hardly make a dent in the vast numbers of single celled life forms.
I have the feeling that in the entire Universe that bacteria-like life forms are the prime supremacy. Bacteria can evolve over vast dynamic ranges that more complex forms are too fragile to handle. Although it is improbable that lifeforms survive the conditions on the surfaces of stars, there are endless possibilities for those seemingly insignificant bits of self-replicating molecules -- life. The range of conditions on this planet are quite high and bacteria have found ways to exist in nearly every condition short of molten lava.
It is even possible that our own living molecules are from beyond our own star and that we share some ancient birth with billions of other separately evolved beings. Some arguments say that the number of combinations is too high for "random chance" to create life. But if there are some survivors from billions of separate beginnings and perhaps even spanning several "lifetimes" of Universes that have alternated big crunches with big bangs. Perhaps some molecules accidentally survive the cataclysms of ultimate black-hole destruction, like survivors of a tornado, and carry the patterns learned over trillions of evolution trials to the next generations of Universes.
That would be very difficult to prove, other than going about gathering up samples and running intricate tests, the ultimate star trek episode spanning trillions of light years. But it is also difficult to prove any other explanation beyond question. The certainty is that we somehow exist. How long? Ask the bacteria.
Yet we must live in a world created by bacteria. The oxygen would not exist, clean water could not exist, and no plants or animals could survive without the necessary preparations made by bacteria before more complex life forms ever evolved. We are a kind of parasite on bacteria, from their point of view, and of little consequence should we cease to exist.
There are some bacteria and fungi that we actually like. The stuff that turns milk to cheese and makes bread rise and ferments wines is only slightly different from the stuff that decays our discarded bodies after or even before we die. To a high complexity life form like a fish or tree or human, all that bacteria out there must more or less be taken for granted. No one is going to survive without it.
Recent newspaper articles describing flesh mutilating algae in the oceans are kind of scary. This is one study, and this one from NASA reflect many recent examples of toxic goop that benefits from human activity or rare natural circumstances. Perhaps things are somewhat out of balance. But don't worry for the bacteria. They make out like bandits no matter what happens to us. And if life gets tough for one stinky kind of bacteria when there is too much oxygen, it is only a boon for the ones that don't like so much hydrogen.
Whether humans are part of the equation makes little difference to the total population of bacteria. We could only slightly benefit certain kinds of bacteria over others, but hardly make a dent in the vast numbers of single celled life forms.
I have the feeling that in the entire Universe that bacteria-like life forms are the prime supremacy. Bacteria can evolve over vast dynamic ranges that more complex forms are too fragile to handle. Although it is improbable that lifeforms survive the conditions on the surfaces of stars, there are endless possibilities for those seemingly insignificant bits of self-replicating molecules -- life. The range of conditions on this planet are quite high and bacteria have found ways to exist in nearly every condition short of molten lava.
It is even possible that our own living molecules are from beyond our own star and that we share some ancient birth with billions of other separately evolved beings. Some arguments say that the number of combinations is too high for "random chance" to create life. But if there are some survivors from billions of separate beginnings and perhaps even spanning several "lifetimes" of Universes that have alternated big crunches with big bangs. Perhaps some molecules accidentally survive the cataclysms of ultimate black-hole destruction, like survivors of a tornado, and carry the patterns learned over trillions of evolution trials to the next generations of Universes.
That would be very difficult to prove, other than going about gathering up samples and running intricate tests, the ultimate star trek episode spanning trillions of light years. But it is also difficult to prove any other explanation beyond question. The certainty is that we somehow exist. How long? Ask the bacteria.
No comments:
Post a Comment