Dave Flang 📤 6 years ago 2011-07-14
Sience Fiction:
The evolution of sexual reproduction
A similar hypothesis is named the tangled bank hypothesis after a passage in Charles Darwin's The Origin of Species:
"It is interesting to contemplate an entangled bank, clothed with many plants of many kinds, with birds singing on the bushes, with various insects flitting about, and with worms crawling through the damp earth, and to reflect that these elaborately constructed forms, so different from each other, and dependent on each other in so complex a manner, have all been produced by laws acting around us."
The ancestors of modern bacteria were single-celled microorganisms that were the first forms of life to appear on Earth, about 4 billion years ago. For about 3 billion years, all organisms were microscopic, and bacteria and archaea were the dominant forms of life. Although bacterial fossils exist, such as stromatolites, their lack of distinctive morphology prevents them from being used to examine the history of bacterial evolution, or to date the time of origin of a particular bacterial species. However, gene sequences can be used to reconstruct the bacterial phylogeny, and these studies indicate that bacteria diverged first from the archaeal/eukaryotic lineage.
Evolution and Sneezes:
In Ancient Greece, sneezes were believed to be prophetic signs from the gods. In 401 BC, for instance, the Athenian general Xenophon gave speech exhorting his fellow soldiers to fight against the Persians. A soldier underscored his conclusion with a sneeze. Thinking that this sneeze was a favorable sign from the gods, the soldiers were impressed. Another divine moment of sneezing for the Greeks occurs in the story of Odysseus. His waiting wife Penelope, hearing Odysseus may be alive, says that he and his son would take revenge on the suitors if he were to return. At that moment, their son sneezes loudly and Penelope laughs with joy, reassured that it is a sign from the gods (Odyssey 17: 541-550).
Psalm 111:2 "The works of the LORD [are] great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein."
Which body structure is a powerful generator of emotions, gives you a sense of direction, and serves as a cannon all at the same time? It's your nose, of course! It is common knowledge that without our noses the scent of a rose could not give us joy, nor would our food taste like very much. Less well known is the fact that our noses are directly hooked into the brain's limbic system. Your limbic system plays a central role in generating and controlling emotions. This is why certain scents are able to raise strong emotional memories in us.
The nose is also designed to filter out and catch particles that should not get into the lungs. When a particle is taken in through your nose, it is snagged by the tissue inside your nasal passages. Next, this highly special tissue decides the best method of getting rid of the foreign material. If a bacterium is identified, your nose begins to run, bathing the bacteria in powerful chemicals that dissolve most of them. If the particles are larger, like pollen, a sneeze is triggered that can eject particles at speeds of over 100 miles per hour!
Perhaps the most remarkable ability associated with the nose is its ability to act as a compass. Human beings have a small amount of iron in the bony part of the nose between the eyes. Scientific experiments have shown that we have an ability, while not foolproof, that can sense direction that is influenced by magnetic fields!
The Creator made your multi-purpose nose not only to bring some pleasure to life but also to help protect your health.
Prayer:
Father, I thank You that just as You enrich our earthly lives with beauty and sweet scents, so we are also enriched in this life by the gifts of Your forgiving grace to us through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Notes:
McCutcheon, Marc. 1989. The Compass in Your Nose . . . Los Angeles: Jeremy P. Tarcher, Inc. p. 95.