Earth

  

U  N  I  V  E  R  S  E

The beginning of everything was about 14 billion years

ago.  Creation.  The Big Bang.  From inside an infinitely

small speck of existence came forth all that we know

of the universe today.  Conventional wisdom among

scientists fifty years ago was that the universe is infinite

and time has neither a beginning or an end.

That idea was thrown out once we discovered that

the galaxies and stars are not static.  Our Milky Way,

along with the trillion other galaxies of the known 

universe, is rapidly moving away from the theoretical

creation point of existence.  Hmm.  What was the

nature of existence prior to the Big Bang?  Anything?

A previous universe, perhaps, that collapsed from 

its own weight into nothing.  Or was there a timeless

existence of null until there suddenly wasn't.

Mathematics won't solve this equation because

we don't know the variables.  What is it we are

dealing with?  Science or philosophy?

S  O  L  A  R      S  Y  S  T  E  M      C  R  E  A  T  I  O  N

The universe had existed nearly ten billion years

before a galactic cloud of dust began to coalesce

into our sun and its entourage of planets, comets

and asteroids.  The four planets closest to the 

sun's gravitational pull - Mercury, Venus, Earth

and Mars - consist primarily of metals and the 

heavier elements.  The gas giant planets -

Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune and Uranus - consist

mainly of the lighter elements.

The dust cloud itself contains the particles of stars

that exploded once their nuclear reaction had run

its course.  This is a process of renewal practiced

at the galactic scale.  Stars are born from an accretion

of matter in a vacuum.  A nuclear reaction occurs

giving the star a lifespan of energy.  Depleted stars

may explode.  The matter they release is now 

available for new creations... stars, nebula,

galaxies, black holes, dark matter, and more waiting

to be discovered.

M  O  O  N      C  R  E  A  T  E  D      F  R  O  M      E  A  R  T  H

Early in the formation of our solar system, Theia,

a planet nearly the size of Mars, collided with the

still molten Earth.  The enormous quantity of magma

thrown into space resulted in the formation of 

Earth's moon - itself a planetary object almost

the size of Mercury.  It also rotated twice as close

to the Earth as it now does.  We would be startled

by the size of the moon in the sky when it passes

so near to where we stand.  Luner Phobia would

skyrocket.

 H  A  D  E  A  N      E  R  A    -   H  E  L  L      O  N      E  A  R  T  H

The first half billion years on Earth consisted of 

oceans of molten rock bombarded with asteroids.

Eventually the planet cooled enough to have the

beginnings of a crust form on the surface.

Volcanos were then believed to be prevalent.

This was a time of extreme heat, toxic gases

and planetary turbulence.  Nothing from this 

time has survived this period of constant upheaval.

S  T  R  O  M  A  T  O  C  I  T  E   -   F  I  R  S  T      F  O  S  S  I  L  S

It took a billion years from Earth's creation before

the first evidence of life appeared.  A lot had to happen

before there could be life.  The crust the planet needed

to support life required the surface to cool.  Eventually

the thick vapor atmosphere would condense into rain.

After a few million years of rainfall the Earth's surface

will be covered in oceans.  

Here was nature's nursery for invention.

There is no way of knowing how many failed

molecular attempts at producing life occurred

before something clicked and the enterprise

of life was off and running.  Sort of.

It took another half billion years before life

discovered the performance advantage

displayed by cells with a nucleus.  

Random trial and error over a million generations

is the method of genetics, DNA, the molecular

code providing life.

 C  A  M  B  R  I  A  N      E  X  P  L  O  S  I  O  N      O  F      L  I  F  E

For the next two billion years the Earth's oceans

remained a soup of mostly single cell organisms.

Then multicell life appeared about 560 million 

years ago.  Individual cells organize to create

something greater.  The various cells of the organism

had different specialized tasks.  They become

dependent on the whole.  It was the more efficient 

path for survival.

This development brings about an explosion 

of life forms that radiate out through the

Cambrian Era.  The types of organisms

became increasingly specialized, and became

a part of increasingly sophisticated habitats. 

Most every animal type alive today can trace

their creation back to this Cambrian period.

*   *   *   *   *

©  Tom Taylor

 

OVER   EASY

 

 

coldValentine

Happy Anniversary Marcela/Jeremy

  

T  H  E        F  O  U  R  T  H

H a p p y     A n n i v e r s a r y !

M a r c e l a    a n d    J e r e m y

🎈  💕

l o v e

   K a r e n   a n d   T o m

coldValentine

good morning jackson

  

C   R   I   T   I   C

love

   dad

coldValentine

Yellowstone

  

 G R A N D      P R I S M A T I C      S P R I N G

 Yellowstone sits atop an enormous dome of magma

that comes to within three miles of breaking through

to the Earth's surface, which would create lava flows

or even a volcano of historic size.  The heat generated

from this vault of intensely hot rock, fuels all of the

iconic geysers and hot springs you see at Yellowstone.

The temperature of the pond water above, reaches to

over 180 degrees at its center, where it is blue like the

sky.  It is also empty of life.  The pond's color bands

indicate the type of bacteria that thrives best in a specific

temperature range.  The colors are pigments that act

as sunscreen to protect the particular species of bacteria.

As you see above, the waters cool as they radiate away

from the pond's central heating.

 B I S O N      E L K      F A C E O F F

 A newborn calf is standing and able to run within

minutes of being born.  Welcome to the life of a bison,

a herd always on the move in search of prairie grass,

a diet both tough to digest and with little nutritional value.

Yet it is the staple of North America's largest mammal

because it's a hardy plant.  It survives severe drought

and long snow covered winters.  Most important,

prairie grass can handle the trampling it gets from

herds of buffalo by the tens of thousands 

passing through.

W   O   L   F

 A wolf pack is a highly structured family made up of

breeding parents and their multigenerational offspring.

Wolf stamina enables the pack to pursue its prey

for days, all the while harassing their target with

lunging bites.  

It's a dangerous business for a 

hundred pound dog to take on a large animal

such as an elk, moose or buffalo, even if the dog

has partners.  You occasionally lose a dog going

after big meals, but when you work as a pack

you need more than rabbits to fill up the group.

 O   S   P   R   E   Y

 They mate for life.  For the next twenty years they will

come back to the same nest to raise another family.

If food is tight one year they will favor the larger,

more dominant nestling, to increase the chance 

that one chick survives.  This tough choice has already

been made by instinct.  The animal responds to instinct 

because it feels right.  It's intuitive.

Starve the smaller.

 

 P R A I R I E      R A T T L E S N A K E

 Your eyes aren't too big for your stomach

if you have the remarkable unhinged jaw.

Now you can safely swallow the neighbor's dog

in a single bite.  Of course, you will have to reengineer

your neck and digestive tract to accommodate 

a large dog decomposing.

With luck, you will pass him in a few short weeks.

 G R I Z Z L Y      B E A R

 Grizzly's rely on their salmon summer diet in order to

build the fat reserves they will need to survive winter

and its six months without eating.

A pregnant grizzly will abort its embryo in the autumn

if its body determines there is insufficient fat available

to sustain both mom and cub through hibernation.

The overriding priority of DNA is survival.

Life continues only through reproduction.

Saving the female provides another 

opportunity for future birth of new life

and the continuance of DNA.

 

 

*   *   *   *   *

©  Tom Taylor

OVER   EASY

coldValentine

good morning jessicca

  

C   H   I   C

 

 

love

   dad

coldValentine

Shore

  

 B L A C K      O Y S T E R C A T C H E R

 These shorebirds spend their entire life within

the narrow corridor between low and high tide.

They spend all their days in the same spot with

the same mate, year round.  Their eggs can 

survive brief periods being submerged because

exceptionally high tides sometimes sweep over

their nest.

The real parenting begins once the young nestlings

become juveniles, capable of flying about on their own.

Months of training are required before an oystercatcher

has the precision to unlock the mussel's shell with a

single blow... despite churning surf that shakes 

their target and blurs their vision.  Another skill

the young oystercatcher needs to master

is to strike just as the mussel cracks open its

shell to quickly sweep the water for plankton

with its food filter.

Of course, you could use your bill as a hammer and

eventually bash in the shell like a woodpecker.

But that is last resort, real migraine material.

 

P U R P L E - S T R I P E D      S E A       N E T T L E

 These are colorful jellyfish that rely on the lively 

ocean currents that sweep the California coast

from southern San Diego to Bodega Bay,

a bit north of San Francisco.  They feed on

larva, fish eggs and small animals that are

stunned by the stinging jellyfish tentacles

that stream from its brightly colored bell.

Four large arms hang like an umbilical cord

from the bell's center.  They are used to

gather up the paralyzed prey and deliver

them to an orifice for digestion.

Juvenile cancer crabs make their home in this

very bell, where they are protected from ocean

predators.  In turn, the crabs eat an assortment

of parasites that infest the jellyfish tissue.

Their alliance is mutually beneficial.

Sea turtles feast on jellyfish.

It's a beloved staple in their diet.

There is no jellyfish sting that penetrates

the turtle's shell and leathery skin.

That leaves the sea turtle free to savor their

favored jellyfish cut of dangling arms brisket.

 

P U R P L E      S E A      U R C H I N

 It looks like a broach displayed in a Tiffany's window.

The purple spikes are all tube feet, providing not just

locomotion but also responsible for the animal's

ability to breath.  The nerves at the end of each spike

provide basic evidence as to the nature of the

animal's immediate surroundings.  They aren't picky.

A hard surface to cling to and plenty of kelp to eat

is all they require.

Urchins are a hearty breed of invertebrate.

They can live to over one hundred years.

If starved for food they enter a zombie-like state,

enabling them to survive years without eating.

You find them in tidal pools all along the western

coast of North America, from near the Arctic Circle

in Alaska, then continuing south, all the way to 

the subtropics of Baja California.

 G I A N T      S E A      S T A R

 These starfish grow to two feet in diameter

in deep waters.  In a normal tidepool their size

would make them a quick meal when seen by

the first passing gull.

The Purple Sea Urchin described above is the 

principle food for the Sea Star.  Without starfish,

 sea urchins would quickly explode in population

and devastate the rich kelp beds they feed upon.

The unusually warm marine waters of recent years 

has stimulated the spread of a bacteria lethal

to starfish.  The resulting drastic drop in starfish

numbers at various locations has led to the 

predicted devastation of kelp beds.

 

H  E  R  M  I  T       C  R  A  B

 It's a crab without a shell.  That makes it a lobster,

Still, finding a shell is a life or death necessity.

The hermit crab is actually very social.  

Even cooperative.  They do something

scientists call a synchronous vacancy chain.

It starts when an empty snail-like shell rolls 

in on the surf, then left lying on the beach.  

It is soon discovered by the hermit crab

community and a number of curious crabs

gather round.

The crabs assess the shell's size and then

they do something remarkable.  They organize

themselves by size, largest to smallest.

The largest crab that can fit into the empty

shell has found a new home, passing its 

discarded shell to the crab a step smaller

in size.  The process continues to the end

of the line, with each member left guaranteed

a new home. 

In this instance cooperation among individuals proves

to be the behavior that best serves the community.

 C A L I F O R N I A      S E A     L I O N

Seals and sea lions all agree that a public beach

includes them, as well as their pups.  Some folks,

like those in La Jolla, California, make it happen.

Now you can see a thousand pound sea lion

up close and personal.  

There are limits to the benefits of cohabiting

a beach with marine mammals.

You don't play volleyball among sunbathing seals.

Then there is the issue of privacy.

When is it appropriate to take a selfie with

celebrity wildlife?

They can be terribly rude

if you try.

 

 

*   *   *   *   *

©  Tom Taylor

 

OVER   EASY

 

 

coldValentine

good morning jeremy

  

T I K I     L U A U

love 

   dad

 

 

coldValentine