Yay for intellectual stimulation!

I've got some recent "input" I'd like to share with you, readers! This will have to come in two installments, though, as these deal with two separate issues. This particular installment will focus on biology and warfare.

So I'm currently at the college, awaiting someone who needs tutoring help! My nametag, under my name, reads "Chemistry, Biology, Math, English, Spanish," telling tutees in which areas I may be of assistance. Well, I'm feeling pretty confident with my abilities in the last three subjects, but I've been trying to brush up a bit on chemistry & biology. As I haven't once had a student needing help in chemistry, I've decided to read up on biology for the time being.

Each time I crack open the bio book, I'm met with fascinating details of how the world around us functions!! Today is no exception.

I've long been fascinated with infectious diseases like Ebola and the hantavirus, and this fire has been well-kindled today by the trusty bio book we keep here. Unwilling to wade through chapters of terminology, I skipped right over to the "Human Infectious Disease" chapter, and OH, was it awesome.

For fun, I'm going to throw in a photo of the Ebola virus (courtesy of the CDC) and a photo of a HILARIOUS idea: a plush version of the virus (courtesy of warehouse23.com)!! :)

The Ebola virus, magnified a gazillion times:



The cute little plush version:



Anyway, back to the case at hand: viruses. Fascinating stuff, man!! They cannot live on their own (as they have no enzymes or cellular structure capable of reproduction), but they DO contain genetic material (RNA or DNA). That's insane. Anyway, they latch on to a "host" cell, which the virus then uses to make copies of itself. When enough (sometimes hundreds) of copies are made, they are released, which usually means the host cell bursts open. (The book notes that the host cell is usually destroyed in the viral replication process.)

Wow. And the parallels between this and warfare are crazy! Granted, I obviously don't have a strong background in pathology nor warfare strategy, but it might be interesting to point out the similiarities. There is one side (the "host" cell or country) who is going about its business, thinking everything's hunky dory. Another side (the invading virus or country) comes in (with or without conscious thought) and decides to take over the host. From there, the host is essentially defenseless. In time, the "weapons" deployed by the invader are much more powerful and plentiful than those of the host, and thus victory is inevitable for our invading friends.

Ok, so maybe it's not perfect, but it is interesting. And humanity's been having wars long since it knew anything about pathogens and diseases. I'm always intrigued when there are these seemingly parallel processes between the human and the natural world.

I also can't help but wonder: at what level does consciousness cease? A few weeks back, I was having a conversation with some fellow tutors. One was so baffled by half-lives; he was convinced that there must be some kind of consciousness within atoms to let them "know" when to die off. (What he meant was, how do half of the atoms in a given molecule "know" when to go, and others stay?) Maybe it's not that way at all, but who knows? So I can't help but think that maybe viruses and cells have a sort of consciousness that makes them "know" when to invade or fight or replicate. Hmm...

I hope this post isn't too incoherent, dear readers. As always, just some random thoughts. It all does factor in, however, to my curiosity about there being any kind of "objective" reality at all. Sigh...

Rest assured, though, that the post I'm about to compose is much easier to deal with. So there.