Hi folks,
The beautiful River Rhine, which is great for bike riding and dining along the way. From: http://goo.gl/r3NrM
Just wanted to share a few thoughts about water, because it is so magical. Water is highly structured, being made of lots of tiny magnets (dipoles) that interact to give water its viscous, somewhat sticky properties and the ability to coat surfaces. These properties are essential for the existence of life on earth. About 70% of our bodies are made of water, but most of it is tied up in our tissues in a highly structured manner, coating enzymes and other large molecules, with only defined channels being available for the diffusion of dissolved materials. Water is constantly recycled in our environment. I heard, whilst visiting Germany, that the Rhine River passes through seven human bladders before reaching the sea. How’s that for recycling? Another remarkable statistic, which indicates the minute nature of water molecules: if you take a liter of water and drop it in the ocean, wait for the water to mix thoroughly (a long time), and then take a liter of this sea water, it will contain about 100 of the original water molecules that you poured in the ocean in the first place. Think about this, as it is somewhat educational with respect to the dimensions of the molecular world around and within us.
The critical nature of the availability of water was nicely highlighted in the Dune series. No water, no life! More precious than gold. And how about the beauty of water, in waterfalls for instance. Here is a lovely movie about water:
Never take it for granted.
In an old episode of Startrek the crew were on a planet where the life there was silicon base and it sought to communicate ate they were damaging the silicon environment.
The message was translated as: “Bags filled with mainly water why are you harming us”
Bags filled with mainly water sort of describes us quite well.
Water and sand, and a little cement, what a civilization they could have made. Some good stuff in Star Trek.
-k @FitOldDog