The Nerve of Stardust!

These are nerve cells just like the cells in our brains that allow us to read and interpret the image and words that we see here. Our brains are an elegant lacework of trillions of connections among nerve cells that constantly monitor our bodies' status and send signals for managing adjustments. They tell us when we are thirsty or hungry, upright or upside down. Delicate nuances in these connections shape conversational styles, generate senses of humor, create mathematical genius, forge artistic talent, and fashion dreams, all cosmic events when you consider their promordial origins—stardust. Stardust that can dream!

A creature from outer space?











(c)2009 R. E. Morel all rights reserved

Stardust Memories

This is a photo of C. elegans, an organism that dissipates tightly packaged bits of matter and energy in its surroundings. It eats bacteria. In other words, it expresses the same cosmic theme that we see in all of Nature. It is an organized complexity that represents one best avenue for dissipating matter and energy.

An adult worm is a little shorter than a comma in this post and is composed of about 1,000 specialized cells generated from genetic memory stored in a single fertilized egg cell.That memory directs the developmental orchestration that produces a whole worm with a complete digestive system that processes bacteria, a nervous system that allows it to sense its surroundings, and a reproductive system that produces more C. elegans. All of these coordinated in the context of a specialized dissipative dynamic.

Most genetic memory–composed of stardust formed into the exquisitely ordered codes of DNA–goes back billions of years and we share it. Nature has expanded on those stardust memories and produced the enormous diversity of life on our planet.

Next time we'll discover what these are and how they fit into stardust memories.















(c)copyright R. E, Morel 2009 All rights reserved