The Definitive Top Ten List of Marvels of Nature and the Universe.

Through all my previous posts, I’ve discussed our world mostly around the human aspects of the bubbling chaos that covers it. I tried to explain this or that as it is needed to know where you stand before going on to form an opinion about a new matter. There was a flaw in my procedure. I just noticed that I forgot to set up the decor!
Everything discussed in this blog happens to us, you the readers and I and the rest of the gang, in and because of where we live, not New York or New Delhi, nor even Earth but the Universe in general.

Only an infinitesimal portion of it is accessible to us so far and yet, that space and what it contains was enough to produce the computers through which we exchange information, the electrical power plants and network to feed them and so on. So much stuff that we now take for granted came  from us being here and what we managed herein. Let us suppose a world where matter never achieves the forms of it known as metals for an instant and wonder if we would have electricity. A world essentially gaseous with little hard matter : would we then have a more complex language and developed a huge memory to replace paper or a global cloud of consciousness?

We are in a universe, our existential context. When you strip the pretense and look at our surroundings as if you were brand new in them, there are things that you cannot miss. Things that shaped our species and even our planet. Picture yourself as not surrounded by the technology and the hoopla, say seated on the hard Kalahari desert ground and reflecting on all of nature and let me offer you a list of things that are essentials and also share being the most mesmerizing shows that Nature offers:

10-The Moon.
No animal with sight can miss it. The diurnal ones see it less often and yet, Selene hangs in the sky during daylight and still shows clearly. At night, it easily overcomes one by its size and brilliance but it is the patterns of its shape-shifting showing and its disappearances that are really unmistakable. From crescent to full, sometimes absent, the most conspicuous of all Natural phenomena after daylight itself which ties it as a mirror to the light of our Sun ( which it is ). And light is the source of life down here pretty much. It was for sure our ancestors’ guide to telling time in long spans, 28 days cycles, the seasons and the very first object studied by astronomy as a place in the sky. A place because its solid nature shows clearly on full well lit Moon nights; most knew Armstrong would step on rocks before he really got there.

9-Sound.
No animal can miss that one either or almost. Insects can use antennae to feel the vibrating air for it. For sound carries through air which makes it a logical follower to the Moon on which there is neither. It can though be felt by some fish too as the displacement of differential pressure waves in liquid can be detected by specialized organs and some as the marine mammals did find it proper to develop communication by sound underwater with very charming results. It is however on the surface of our globe that sound is unmistakably a marvel. Anywhere in wilderness, if you bring a human being accustomed to the noisy civilization soundtrack but not to that of nature, they will be bewildered and most likely a little scared. If birds can “sing” beautifully, they can also fill the jungle with their collective rumble or the kookaburra can startle you and some clack, hoot and crow menacingly in the dark. A simple fox that all civilized kids read about in children’s books and is so dashing as it jumps hedges in its rusty coat emits sounds that would have many huddling together in surprise if not fright around the campfire. Sound carries language so that without it, neither sharing vital informations like warnings nor the concerted action needed in group work at more than arms length nor exchanges of concepts and emotions needed for knowledge and well-being would be possible. And no music?

8-Wind & Fire.
The very air that carries sound, being gaseous moves around a lot. It can influence how sound is carried by how still it is or how hard and from where it is blowing. After having disturbed our communications, wind can also endanger our very lives and environment. It moves about without regard to us animals. And when I say endanger, I mean not only the hurricanes, the tsunamis they create but also two dangerous features of it. First wind does not carry only air. Or, said another way, air is not only made of life-sustaining oxygen. So that winds may push deadly fumes at you. Sulfur and many other gazes can be found under special concentrations that kill life. When volcanos erupt, the winds carry their by-products to our lungs as they do the air we are normally so found to breathe. And in that way tie in with fire. Because that central Earth fire ball that produces magma and eruptions is the original : the fire! Had we not been there that Nature would have produced fire that way nonetheless. As a matter of fact it did and we only picked it up from there. We “domesticated” fire. Locally. Every time it gets loose from us or any time the Earth spews some forth itself, we are reminded of how powerful that natural phenomenon is. Second, once out of the ground, fire needs air and the winds bring it all it needs but can occasionally snuff it out too. Or spread it!

7-Effort.
In all its meanings, effort is impressive. I pondered using vitality instead but it is too large and includes involuntary movement. Effort as a physical or mental exertion that comes ( or not ) to an achievement of course is impressive but effort as a determined  attempt even more so. So yes in the first place to the gracious feline jump showing power and fine control, to the gliding of birds in flight expanding minimum energy to soar as we all dreamed of doing in the wind. Yes to the ant carrying many times its weight and yes to the long strides of galloping horses. That expression of effort that seems so natural as to look effortless which shows its very efficiency. Nature moves quite well. But over that, yes in the second place to effort the willed attempt, the enduring effort of the life struggle when all your motivation yearns for catching that prey to eat and live, for evading the predator and living another day, for reaching the water’s edge before drowning. That effort in humans as when, having crossed the Andes by foot in simple flight jacket gear after his plane had crashed, having walked 5 days and 4 nights, gone back here for a dropped glove, many times thinking of quitting and then of his wife and comrades, lasting in the end on the sole idea that making his body’s recovery more likely meant the insurance could be paid to his spouse, Henri Guillaumet reached a village after a week and the inhabitants told him his story was fake because : “Es imposible!”. As The Little Prince author Saint-Exupéry came to get him, he confided : “What I have done, I swear to you, no beast would have done it.” That effort!

6-Water.
Forget petroleum, oil, the Star of liquids is : Liquid water. Other bodies in our Solar System have ice, some may have liquids but surface liquid water on a planetary body is a pre-requisite for life. It is in water that life could first survive. It is out of it that the plant precursors that are algae managed to reach land and it is those in turn that filled our atmosphere with oxygen. The most complex living creatures on earth such as ourselves are essentially water-containing bags as the balloon inspired water bombs of the kids in summer. And an egg is but a construction designed to contain a growing animal in the protection of liquid that it needs as before we took to hard dry ground. Water without which one dies in a matter of days. Water that fills the oceans, fills the air and tirelessly cycles between the two thanks to the Sun’s heat, water to power stuff and travel over and draw food from and… and to drown in despite the best effort.

5-The Sun.
As we reach our top five, the following marvels will all call back on the previous ones and in that respect, the Sun is perfectly positioned at mid-point. The Sun as opposite of the Moon. The Sun as a heat source as we just saw that fuels photosynthesis by which the plants brought about the air we breathe. The Sun in which nuclear fusion bubbles in indescribably powerful fashion and yet will not blow up or at least not for a few billion years to come. The Sun which has awed countless humans and other animals as it lights up a new day at dawn, lights up a new hope for life or predicts the ultimate demise for us all by sinking beyond the horizon in a fiery symphony of hues every evening. The Sun which, we tend to forget it, is a star. One of those innumerable little balls of fire that gather up matter and burn fiercely in the immensity of space which would be pretty dark and boring without them, like void pretty much save that we would then not be there to feel bored, would we? The Sun which is just powerful enough, just massive enough, just far and/or near enough to make the third of its planets life-bearing.

4-Planet Earth.
As far as we know, this is still the only place where life truly exists.  As we just saw, it is precisely positioned in respect to the Sun for many things to happen in order that it be so. The Earth is telluric; it is made of rocks. It is hard enough to contain its inner fire and massive enough to retain its atmosphere. So unique! So fragile! And that moving center which produces the magnetic field without which the Sun would fry us with death rays. The mineral world with elements that make iron here, diamonds there and cray, sand or gold elsewhere. The shifting crust on which we live that shapes the oceans and continents and raises the mountains. The infinite variety it has lovingly preserved, the colors and the views, the smells of which are fascinating. All over it, vegetation adapts for more green here and less there or greener green here than there and if you went around it once completely, you could do it again and it would have changed in the meanwhile. I remember thinking upon hearing the story of the Flood and Noah’s Ark that I already knew about it since our Earth is but that : a vessel on the seas of space, our spaceship. And it looks even better from there.

3-Life.
For all that we just saw was but context for life! The reassuring giant satellite to ponder, the sound used to coordinate, the air we breathe and fire that helps warm and feed us, the water, the heat and light and that amazing bowl into which we are the space-faring goldfish, all of that had to come together to harbor life and its expression as effort. Life. Unicellular, almost only an enclosed chemical reaction. Life, the variety as we look at archaebacteria then their variants, blue or green, mushrooms or algae to plants, from giant pines to roses and blades of grass. Life, animal life from bees and birds bears to elephants and octopuses, sharks and rabbits and jelly-fish and butterflies and okapis, kangaroos and us. Life is the ultimate happenstance even if you may be unhappy it also produced your mother-in-law, boss or that annoying pop-star. Again, Life, since for all we know, it is here that it calls home.

2-The human mind.
The tool that is the Human mind is so amazingly powerful that like the moon and the air and the Sun and our planet, we tend to forget what it represents. I do understand that if you toil at a meaningless job everyday, it may not be striking. I also understand that considering the amount of utterly moronic and baseless mumble-jumble one is submitted to on a constant basis in general it might not be so striking. And yet, all the items listed above, the descriptions I gave of them and the knowledge those contain plus the impressions and thoughts that were yours since you began reading this piece are its by-products. Language used in this piece, strictly human. Mathematics to describe the universe, strictly human. Thinking about how to think or why we do so? Human! Imagination for the arts and crafts like music mentioned earlier, human. All of what we are sharing, human. All that was ever written or built, human. Life on average knows itself not. We do. We know that we are alive and human. We know where we are and if I want to consider the ultimate Marvel of Nature in my list, I need the power of the Human mind.

1-The night sky.
As dusk settles, animals run about in a frenzy. The last creatures of the day run to their abode, find shelter and sleep but the nocturnal ones finally find things proper to go about their business. An hour ago, the Sun still shared the sky with the moon only at its side. Half an hour ago, pricks of light became visible, distant candles in the approaching celestial darkness. One by one or in groups, they revealed themselves and began advertising the Universe’s depth. And now, as our main luminary is present no more, they take over the job of representing the mechanics of the Cosmos. No other animal can look at those fields of brilliant flowers strewn about the overhead dais and understand that, for all that I specified how unique air, water, heat and the balance of them on our rock in space were, those fields represent billions of potential other such havens. Earths may be in consequent amount. Each far away star is a votive candle to the hope that elsewhere it may have worked out too. Which is as unsettling a thought as it can be a calming one. For if true it means that we are not alone and if not, it has us face the isolation of our position. And in that last case, it is as sharp a reminder of how small we are as it is of the rightful pride that we can even study it and wonder. The night sky is humanity’s collective window to the Universe.

Maybe somewhere else in it, a sentient animal is looking at it from its own planet, its own universal backyard window, thinking of a post it should write on the wonders of nature?

Who knows?

Peace out, Tay.