Friday, March 27, 2020 4:16 AM
H2O (2020Mar27)
Water is Life. Life is Water.
60% of the human body is water (H.H. Mitchell, Journal of Biological Chemistry 158). Here’s the breakdown:
Brain and heart 73% water
Lungs 83% water
Skin 64% water
Muscles and kidneys 79% water
Bones 31% water
Biologists often liken land animals’ bodies to ‘space-suits’ for their original ‘sea-ancestors’, evolutionarily speaking. I find evolution, and its implications, as breathtaking as photos from the Hubble. That eternal humping towards a Jerusalem of infinite potential in DNA, in Mitochondria, in Microbiology in general—it’s psychedelic, man. Personally, I didn’t really see it, until Joan Slonczewski’s books explicated it for me.
But microbiology as technology is, IMHO, the only way to approach climate change, or the mitigation of human impact on environment. If that can’t cut it, no amount of space travel is going to mean jack. But I’m addressing Water, or I should be.
Water is known in chemical settings as the Universal Solvent. It is an ingredient in most poisoning-remedies. It dissolves salts, sugars—even rocks, which gives us both our sandy beaches and our Grand Canyon. Water is the culprit who carries mineral deposits to your kidney and gall bladder.
Chemically, Water is also notable for being easily state-changed, from solid to liquid to gas, and back again (dew, for instance). Not surprisingly, the key Molecule in Life, has unique characteristics.
Chlorine, BTW, the most toxic chemical in our lives, has equally, but darker, unique qualities—which make it the most deadly molecule. Neal Stephenson wrote a wonderful eco-thriller novel about industrial misuse of Chlorine, “Zodiac”, which I recommend. But, again, I digress.
So, Water, as a beverage, is always encouraged. To excess, of course (are we not humans?) You can drink too much water, just as you can drink too little. Why is moderation the last thought that ever occurs to us humans? I can’t seem to stay on subject this evening>
I’ll try this again, later….