Local nutrition and its molecular nature, part II

Today I'm going to explain why our molecular presence is so important to the planet.

When we study a cell inside a body – let's take a muscle cell, for example – that one cell is composed of somewhere around 100 trillion molecules.

That's right – 100 trillion molecules.

All of these molecules are composed of many more trillions of atoms; but let's forget about those for a moment, which ought to be easy, because who can think of hundreds of trillions of atoms? Not me.

The cell has a flexible, irregular surface. A lot of it is folded in complex and constantly changing ways; some of it has pockets, some of it sticks out. Some of it sticks out a really long way, as with the fibers that branch from nerve cells. And the cell surface has many billions of different and very specific molecules—each one folded in its own special ways, which it can manage and change—spread across its surface, almost all of which both serve structural purposes and contribute to the intake and outflow of sensory experience in terms of contact with other molecules.

That is to say, cells exude molecules, and send them into their environment to interact with other molecules in other cells; and they also take in molecules for food, analysis, and reactions of various kinds. For example, immune system cells take in molecules from pathogens (eg., bacteria or viruses), evaluate them, and make decisions on how to react. Sometimes they don't react appropriately if they get tricked; and then we get sick, because our immune system doesn't do what it is supposed to.

In any event, think of the cell as a kind of hedgehog which can change its shape (walk around or roll up like a ball) and which is constantly sending bazillions of different molecules to various parts of its surface for countless individual purposes.

Now let's talk about the planet Earth.