As I look out the window each morning, I am newly amazed at
what I see. Everything looks solid and permanent. Yet, nothing is as it seems.
The basic components of everything is actually ethereal. From the smallest weed
to the tallest tree and from the Pekinese to the whale, every living thing is
built of Oxygen (O), Carbon (C), and Hydrogen (H), with a few other elements
thrown in when needed. Even these elements are not what they seem. All are made
up of precise amounts of negative electrons and positive protons, and so small
they can’t even be seen by powerful electron microscopes. If, for example, the
oxygen proton-nucleus were to be enlarged to the size of a ping-pong ball, the
electrons around it would form a ball the diameter of three football fields!
Now, even this is not the full story. Researchers are beginning to realize that
the electrons and protons are, in turn, similarly constructed of very small
packets of energy --- there is really nothing of consequence there!! Somehow,
when the energy is molded into electrons and protons a charge is created and,
along with the charge, rejection and attraction forced are created.
Essentially, everything is created from nothing! Given
recipes provide the differing elements that chemists like to play with in the
laboratory. Uniting different elements (more recipes) forms molecules. If C is
the dominant molecule element, we call it “organic.” If O is dominant, we call
it “inorganic.” Organic molecules are connected, forming cell walls. The cells
are filled with H2O (water) and a variety of important molecules. Appropriate
quantity and type of cells are then the building blocks for all living
organisms. Each cell contains the recipe for its full organism construction, so
every organism can reproduce itself. Formation is a 'bit' more complex, but
this is the basis upon which all living things are built.
Turning to the inorganic world, it is formed in the same manner except the constituent elements do not form molecules and cells. Rather, they are more closely associated three dimensionally to form crystals and rocks. Otherwise, the mineral elements are also 'built' from nothing but energy, just as are the organic elements. Since everything is built out of nothing but energy, nothing has weight as we think of it! Why, then, do we stay fastened to the surface? As I indicated, when the electrons and protons are formed, attractive and repulsive forces are created along with electrical characteristics. What we call weight is actually a measure of the attractive force. We stay on the surface because repulsive forces increase as two bodies become closer and closer and, at some point, the two forces become equal and can't come any closer - thus, we stay on the Earth surface.
All this is assumed to have happened after a 'Big Bang' as the many different elements were gradually formed. It is believed by some that hydrogen was the first element, then all others were created through interactions. Whatever the method of formation, most mineral elements are then consolidated into solid bodies.
And we are told that this all happened by chance??
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