On the run

  Race on Tuesday, February 25 Friday Race, February 28   A few days ago a dear friend told me that after reading the entry “ What is life? ”, from this blog, he wondered if, based on the characteristics of the living beings discussed in that entry, viruses would be alive. I haven't stopped thinking about it for days. So in today's run I started thinking about how viruses fit into each of the characteristics that I used to define living beings, let's see. 1. It is self-contained. It has a structure that separates it from its surroundings and environment. Well… YES , viruses have a structure that separates them from their environment, but unlike the cell membrane of living beings, which is mainly composed of phospholipids, of viruses is primarily made of proteins. Furthermore, inside these, there are only ribonucleic acids, unlike living beings that have several organelles. 2. It has an exchange of materials and energy between its internal structure and what is outside (...

Wednesday Race Friday Race It is not unusual that in the mornings my runs coincide with the start of classes at a school close to home, so I have to be more careful, traffic increases a lot, there are a lot of cars. It's amazing how we do so a lot of stuf. When did that start? About 400 years ago empires were doing very well, the establishment of colonies promoted the development of new routes to trade new products. The development of more efficient agricultural systems caused these new products to increase greatly in volume. This caused great trade and an increase in population, with it the accumulation and concentration of wealth. Part of which was used for the development of science and, with it, technology. As the population and wealth grew, it caused an increase in trade, that is, a virtuous circle.  Therefore, more goods had to be produced, products for trade. Energy for this production was a bottleneck, human or animal strength was no longer enough. Thus new forms of energy ...

Tuesday Race Friday Race   Today the weather was ideal for running, I got up early and took advantage of it with a long run. Last week, while I was wandering about the moon, the question of what life is, came up, as I often do, I dodged it. But it didn't dodge me and stayed in my mind. So today that was the topic of my wanderings. I have always liked biology. Since I was little, I have been interested in living beings, “bichos,” as I call them. I read biology books when my friends read stories, literary or science fiction novels. Despite that, I have never found a definition of life that convinces me. I am sure that almost anyone who asks, "What is life?" will answer that a living being is born, grows, reproduces, and dies. I don't think that's a bad definition, IT'S TERRIBLE. Furthermore, I didn't even like it when I was in elementary school. I mean, when an amoeba reproduces by mitosis, was anyone born? If the two new amoebas continue to reproduce by mit...

  Imagine the crash. Tuesday race Friday race This week Rebeca went for a walk in the morning, when she arrived at Miramar beach she sent me a photo, it was noticeable how transparent the water was, which is uncommon in Winter. When I returned home I told her about it, but what caught her attention was the low tide. So today, while I was running, when I reached the Miramar breakwater I looked at what level the sea was, the truth is I didn't see that it was either very low or very high, but I started thinking, not about the tides but their main cause, the Moon. For me it is something that I have always tried to imagine, about 4.6 billion years ago, the solar system was in formation, everything was relaxed, and the planets were just beginning to form. These protoplanets were in unstable orbits and many collided with each other. The solar system was in this relaxation when a protoplanet of about 11,100 km in diameter collided with another of about 6,800 km. IMAGINE THE CRASH! The resu...