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I understand that atoms are made up mostly of empty space, but I don’t understand how solids can feel solid when they are made up of atoms that are mostly just empty space?
I understand that we are all made of stardust, but I don’t understand how every atom that I’m made of has come from different parts of the universe?
I understand that our cells don’t live longer than 10 years, and that every cell that I was born with has been replaced at least 5 times, but I don’t understand how that’s possible and I’m still me?
I understand that the more I learn, the more there is to marvel at, and the more that I don’t really understand.
Your chance to share:
Your stomach cells are replaced every 3 days or so. Your skin cells every 30 days. Your brain cells every 30 years. Some cells take a beating and need frequent replacement, but some need to persist like your brain cells. That is amazing. One of my favorite aha moments is how the wooden chair I sit upon was made by a tree that took what it needed to make wood out of the air. Not sucking up minerals from the ground – from the CO2 in the air. Being a teacher means I get to keep a sense of marvel alive, even as people grow from child to adult.
It was just this past June that I wrote about mass of trees. I remember that ‘aha’ moment when I realized this. I said the longest one of our cells lives is 10 years, you mentioned that brain cells live 30… even at 30, that still means none of my cells in my body are ones I was born with. I have a completely different body than the one one I was born with. That’s amazing.