Investigating Seafloors and Oceans. From Mud Volcanoes to Giant Squid

605 Pages·2016·95.118 MB·English

by  Antony Joseph

INVESTIGATING SEAFLOORS AND OCEANS
Other Books by Dr. Antony Joseph through 2013
Tsunamis: Detection, Monitoring, and Early-Warning Technologies
Elsevier /Academic Press,NewYork, 448 p.(2011)
Measuring Ocean Currents:Tools,Technologies, and Data
Elsevier,NewYork, 426p. (2013)
INVESTIGATING
SEAFLOORS AND
OCEANS
From Mud Volcanoes to Giant Squid
D . A J
R NTONY OSEPH
Formerly,ChiefScientist,MarineInstrumentationDivision,
CSIRdNationalInstituteofOceanography,DonaPaula,Goa–403004,India
AMSTERDAM (cid:129) BOSTON (cid:129) HEIDELBERG (cid:129) LONDON (cid:129) NEW YORK (cid:129) OXFORD
PARIS (cid:129) SAN DIEGO (cid:129) SAN FRANCISCO (cid:129) SINGAPORE (cid:129) SYDNEY (cid:129) TOKYO
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Dedication
To my parents,
who left this world
years ago
Foreword
Amulti-disciplinarybookofthisnaturewaslongover- Apartfromauthoringthisbook,Dr.Josephhaswritten
dueforteachingandresearchandDr.AntonyJosephhas two other books, “Tsunamis: Detection, Monitoring, and
accomplishedthiscommendablework.Providingample Early-Warning Technologies” and “Measuring Ocean
references to original work, scientists, teachers, and stu- Currents: Tools, Technologies, and Data,” published by
dents from various science disciplines will find this Elsevier, New York. He has written several articles in
book extremely useful and interesting. Opening up a the Encyclopedias and presented 41 research papers at
new window on multi-disciplinary research and teach- various Science & Technology Conferences in India,
ing,Dr.Josephhasexploredawiderangeoftopics,from France,Singapore,Japan,SouthAfrica,Russia,Australia,
the Earth's core and oceans' bottom, to deep inside the and the United States. Dr. Joseph been published in
vastexpanseoftheuniverse.Indoingso,hehascritically IOC-UNESCO manuals and dozens of research papers
analyzedthegeological,geophysical,physical,geochem- in national and international journals of repute. He
ical,astronomical,astrophysical,biological,biochemical, hasdeliveredseveraldozensoftalksinseveralcountries.
and biomedical aspects. In addition, he was a faculty member at the Indian
Hisvastrangeofinterestsandhisexcitementaboutthe Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research while at
topicshavemadethisaninterestingandusefulbookfor CSIR-NIO.
teaching and research. He addresses all the topics with Thisbookhas10chapters.AsIwentthroughtheman-
such equal expertise that it is difficult to determine to uscript, I found it to be a unique endeavor. The topics
which discipline of science he belongs. His knowledge addressed in this book are discussed in a way that even
in every sphere is profound. He has worked painstak- non-specialist readers with an interest in the starry sky,
inglyforthelastfouryearstoaccomplishthisgreatfeat. oceanic life, nutrition, pharmaceuticals, earthquake,
My admiration for this book is great and I congratulate tsunamis, etc., and curious about oceans, the seafloor
him for writing such an urgently needed book. If your andsub-seafloorcanunderstandandenjoy.Alargenum-
interestsextendtoacomplexrangeoftopicsfromdiffer- ber of high-quality illustrations are included. Further-
entdisciplinesofscience,you'llfindthisbookparticularly more, text- and picture-specific websites are provided,
helpful. giving additional resources and extend the chapters of
Dr. Antony Joseph is an eminent scientist who had a the text to the internet's resources. I would like to now
long oceanographic career associated with the CSIR- refer to some topics of the book.
National Institute of Oceanography (CSIR-NIO), Goa, In his chapter, “Oceans' Role in Origin of Life and
India,fromFebruary1978toJuly31,2012.Whilepartic- BiologicalEvolution,”Dr.Josephdescribesthemechanism
ipating in oceanographic cruises onboard research ves- oforiginsoflifeonEarthandsubsequentbiologicalevolu-
sels, he had opportunities to see remarkable marine tionofhumans(Homosapiens)whoarebelievedtobethe
creatures, examine the intricacies of the seafloor, and onlyanimalcapableofcriticallyunderstandingtheworld
observeoceanographicprocesses,includingvaluableliv- aroundthem—avaluablegoalinitself.Theoriginoflifeis
ingandnonlivingresources.Dr.Josephhassubstantially asubjectmatterofintensiveresearchforbiologists,anthro-
contributed to the design and performance evaluation pologists, geologists, and cosmologists. Science now has
(both laboratory-scale and field-based) of ocean current evidence about the origin of the universe and the life
and sea-level measuring devices. He led the establish- supported by Earth and some clue about possible life on
mentofanin-housedesignedsea-levelstationinGhana, otherplanetsandgalaxiesaswell.Abundantlifeappears
West Africa. The data measured from this station upon to have colonized this planet approximately 3800 million
the arrival of the Sumatra tsunami in December 2004 years ago (ie, 3.8 billion years ago (BYA)). Most durable
contributed to understanding the global extent of this bio-signatures have provided evidence and scientists
disastrous tsunami. He also helped establish a network concentrate on photosynthetic life, because its high pri-
of internet-accessible real/near-real time reporting sea- maryproductivityhasleftaverydurableancientrecord.
level, sea-state, and surface meteorological stations on The origin of life is a long-standing and controversial
the Indian coastlines and islands. subject, and different processes have been proposed.
ix
x
FOREWORD
Accordingtoone,lightning intheearlyatmosphereand homochirality onto others. It is believed that once
the consequent production of amino acids, when com- D-sugars appeared in RNA, L-amino acids in protein
binedinlongpolymerchains,providedthebasicconstit- mighthavebeenautomaticallyformed.Emergenceofthis
uents of life. The second concerns chemical processes at homochiralityisaveryimportantquestioninthemecha-
submarinevolcanicventswhicharethoughttohavebeen nism of origin of life. “How did this homochirality of
common in the Archean period (4–2.5BYA), and life at aminoacidsandsugarsarise?”hasbeenapuzzlingques-
thosedepthswouldhavebeenshieldedfromtheultravi- tionforscientistsworkingonthismystery.Alllifeknown
olet radiation that then existed due to the absence of an to exist on Earth today, and all life evidenced in the
ozonelayer.Thethirdproposedmechanismhaslifeorig- geological records, seems to be based on DNA genomes
inatingfromthecarbonandhydrocarbonsincometsand and protein enzymes (with exceptions of some RNA
meteorites as they burned in the atmosphere. It has also viruses).DNAislikeablueprintofbiologicalinformation
been suggested life may have originated in inter-tidal neededtobuildandmaintainthelivingorganisms.While
pools that were repeatedly flooded and dried out under discussing the DNA versus RNA in terms of identifying
the sun—a process for which the geological record pro- livingcells,useofahighlysensitivemoleculartechnique
videsevidence. specifically targeting RNA as indicator of living cells in
The first known single-cell organisms called prokary- deeply buriedmarine sedimentshas been explained.
otes probably originated in the Archean period about There are also detailed discussions on the leading
3.8BYA in the oceans, when chemical composition of “RNAworld”theoryoforiginoflife;arguingthatbefore
the ocean and the atmosphere was very different from presentlifeemerged,itwasbasedsolelyonRNA.Strong
today. Scientists have identified liposomes (pre-cellular reasonshavebeengiventoconcludethatDNAandpro-
systems) in which the encapsulation of DNA has been tein based life was preceded by simpler life forms based
achieved using dehydration-hydration cycles similar to primarilyonRNA,inwhichthegeneticinformationwas
those that may have occurred in an inter-tidal setting storedinthesequenceofRNAmolecules,andthepheno-
on early Earth. Darwinian selection would have acted typederivedfromthecatalyticpropertiesofRNA.RNA
onceself-replicationoflifewasestablishedandthenevo- was the first genetic molecule to form, providing a tem-
lutiontomorecomplicatedformsoflifecouldhavetaken plate to reproduce itself and make further molecules of
place.ProkaryotesweretheonlyformoflifeonEarthfor life. Informational polymer RNA must have arisen by
millionsofyearsuntilmorecomplicatedeukaryoticcells purelychemicalmeansatsomestageintheoriginoflife.
cameintobeingthroughevolution.Microbiallifehaspre- Thesupport infavorof“RNAworld”hypothesiscomes
vailedinthebiospheresincetheArcheanperiodatleast, fromthefacts,including:(a)thecentralroleplayedbydif-
andaccordingtothemostrecentstudy,probablyforthe ferent RNA molecules in the protein synthesis, (b) this
last 4.1billion years. process can take place in the absence of DNA, but not
Thetwogroupsofprokaryotes(ie,archaebacteriaand ofRNA,and(c)theexistenceofreplicatingbiologicalsys-
eubacteria)aresignificantlydifferentincellularmake-up tems such as viroids and RNA viruses that use other
and in their modes of evolution. There is now a general single- or double-stranded RNA molecules to store
consensusamongtheOriginofLifescientiststhattheLast geneticinformation.So,itisarguedthatgeneticcontinu-
Universal Common Ancestor (LUCA) is the previous itywasassuredbythereplicationofRNA;andgenetically
stage of prokaryotes. It is the most primitive organism encoded proteins were not involved as catalysts during
from which all organisms now living are supposed to the origin and evolution (development) of life on Earth.
haveevolved.TheLUCAisestimatedtohavelivedsome It is also interesting to view DNA as a modified RNA,
3.8–3.5BYA.Atabout3BYA,somethingsimilartomod- because the components of DNA are synthesized from
ernphotosynthesisdevelopedandoxygenwasproduced. RNA components in modern biological systems. It was
Over time, it transformed the earth's atmosphere to its alsoassumedbytheproponentsofaRNA-worldhypoth-
currentstate.Someoftheoxygenreactedtoformozone, esis that RNA-based life had been driven to extinction
whichcollectedinalayerneartheupperpartoftheatmo- long agowith the arrival of superiorDNA-based life.
sphere. By blocking the ultraviolet radiation, it allowed According to some origin of life scientists, “life” may
cells to colonize the surface of the ocean and ultimately haveoriginatedwhenfirstofallRNAchainsexperienced
the land. thebasicconditions(asconceivedbyDarwin)fornatural
This book provides an interesting discussion on the selectiontooperate.Theseconditionsare:(i)heritability,
homochiralityofaminoacidsandsugars.Homochirality (ii) variation of type, and (iii) competition for limited
is essential for the functioning of proteins as amino acid resources.FitnessofanearlyRNAreplicatorwouldlikely
polymers, andforthe structure ofdeoxyribonucleic acid havebeenafunctionofadaptivecapacitiesandtheavail-
(DNA)andribonucleicacid(RNA),whichrequiresincor- ability of resources. Three primary adaptive capacities
poration of D-sugars. Appearance of homochirality in could be: (1) capacity to replicate with moderate fidelity
some biomolecules can apparently force corresponding (resulting in heritability and variation), (2) capacity to
xi
FOREWORD
avoid decay, and (3) capacity to acquire and process ratioofCarbon-12toCarbon-13—thatindicatesthepres-
resources. These capacities would have been encoded in ence of photosynthetic life. Therefore, the most recent
theirnucleotidesequences.Theirrelativevaluesofadap- research reported in 2015 argues that the graphite's C12
tive capacities would have determined the competitive -rich isotopic signature may be evidence for the origin
success among different RNA replicators. RNA/vesicle oflifeonEarthby4.1BYA,basedonexaminationofzir-
systemsthatcontainmoregeneticmaterial(duetofaster consdiscoveredfromJackHills,WestAustralia.Thedis-
RNA replication) develop more internal tension than coveryindicatesthatlifemayhavebegunshortlyafterthe
neighboringvesicleswithlessRNA,anddrawmembrane planetformed4.54BYA.Somescientistsbelievelifearose
material from them. This would have allowed natural relativelyquicklyonEarth;thenbyanalogy,lifecouldbe
selection of vesicles by competition and control their commoninthewholeuniverse.Theresearchfurthersug-
owngrowth.Thus,forthefirsttime,asystemwouldhave gests that lifein theuniversecouldbeabundant.Simple
undergone Darwinian “evolution by natural selection” lifeonEarthappearstohaveformedquickly,butitlikely
actingonvariationandbeenanewandcrucialemergent took many millions of years to evolve the ability to
property arising at the transition from non-life to life. photosynthesize.
However, a superior DNA molecule is thought to have Darwin's theory of “natural selection” proposed a
taken over the role of data (genetic information) storage mechanismbywhichalllifecouldhavedescendedfrom
due to its increased stability, while proteins, through a a common ancestor. Darwin propounded a plausible
greater variety of monomers (amino acids), replaced mechanism, natural selection, defined as the principle
RNA's role in specialized bio-catalysis. In contemporary by which each slightvariationof atrait, ifuseful,ispre-
life, we have our familiar DNA/RNA/Protein world served. According to some Darwinists, the common
we now inhabit. ancestor somehow evolved from nonliving matter, which
However,therearealsoobjectionstothe“RNAworld” ispresumedtobesomekindofdirty-watersoupcompo-
hypothesis. The central problem is to understand how a sition.Thus,submarinehydrothermalventshavebecome
protein-freeRNAworldbecameestablishedontheprim- important to the origin of life studies. Charles Darwin
itive Earth. It is far from obvious how ribonucleotides, showed that it is the gradualness of evolution through
building blocks of RNA, could have formed from their the natural selection process that allows formation of
constituent parts (ie, ribose and nucleo-bases). The advanced/complicated life forms from simple ones. As
researchershavereliedonlyonindirecthintstoinferwhat forexample,ancestorsthatlooklikebacteriacanchange
RNA-based life was like. Some scientists believe that into descendants that look like humans gradually over
RNA-based life may not have been the first life to exist. time, if given sufficient generations. As long as there is
It is believed that RNA may have played a major step some variation between individuals and that variation
intheevolutionofcellularlife,butthisdoesnotnecessar- isheritable,therewillbeaninevitableselectionofindivid-
ily mean that first life was RNA-based. Evidence have ualswithmostadvantageousvariations.Ifthevariations
beenputforwardthatmultipleself-replicatingmolecular are inherited, then differential reproductive success will
systemsprecededRNA.ThemainobjectionstotheRNA- lead to a progressive evolution of particular population
worldhypothesisare:(i)RNAistoocomplexamolecule ofaspecies,andpopulationsthatevolvetobesufficiently
tohavearisenprebiotically,(ii)RNAisinherentlyunsta- different eventually become different species. “Origin of
ble,(iii)catalysisisarelativelyrarepropertyoflongRNA Species” was published in 1859, 23 years after Darwin
sequencesonly,and(iv)thecatalyticrepertoire(skills)of returned from his long research voyage aboard the
RNA istoo limited. HMSBeagle.Theconceptwassimplebutpowerful:indi-
Dr.Josephalsoexplainsthetimeperiodofclueforlife viduals best adapted to their environments are more
on the Earth and Darwin's Theory of Natural Selection. likely to survive and reproduce. Although Darwin's
Evidence for biological activity can be derivedfrom car- explanation of the causes of evolution had fallen out of
bonisotopesbecauseahighC12/C13ratioischaracteristic favor among biologists during the first decades of the
ofbiogeniccarbon.Themicrofossilrecordonlyextendsto 20th century, the advent of molecular biology has
(cid:1)3.5BYA and the chemo fossil record to (cid:1)3.8BYA. advanced and accelerated the study of evolution by
Besides this, evidence of life on Earth is manifestly pre- allowing direct examination of the genetic material that
served in the rock record as well. Given the temporal ultimately determines the phenotype (the set of observ-
limitsofrockrecord((cid:1)4billionyears),thedetritalzircons able characteristics of an individual resulting from the
as old as 4.38 billion years have been documented. Zir- interaction of its genotype with the environment) upon
cons,servingastimecapsules,cancaptureandpreserve which natural selection acts.
theirenvironment.TherearereportsonC12/C13ofgraph- Scientists have proved recently that simple microbes
itepreservedin4.1billionyearsoldzircongrainsimaged found at the oceans' floors were our real ancestors.
bytransmissionX-raymicroscopy.Thecarboncontained The discovery in 2015 of a group of microorganisms
in the zircon has a characteristic signature—a specific called Lokiarchaeota throws light as to from what type of
xii
FOREWORD
microbial ancestor humans descend. Deep beneath the briefly pointed out in passing how science and technol-
Atlantic Ocean, scientists have found microorganisms, ogyhaveinteractedwithanadamantandintolerantreli-
Lokiarchaeota, which they call a missing link connecting gioussociety(particularlytheRomanCatholicChurch)in
the simple cells (prokaryotes) that first populated the alifeanddeath wayduringthe16thand 17thcenturies.
earth to the complex cellular life (eukaryotes). These Theproblemoforigin,evolution,andthestructureof
microorganismsinhabittheinhospitable,frigidseafloors theuniverseandlifeonEarthhasalwaysbeenanintrigu-
andicycold,oxygen-starved,hostileenvironmentabout ingandexciting questionforthescientists.According to
2.35kmundertheoceansurfacenottoofar(15km)from Dr.(Fr.)GeorgesLemaitre'sBigBangtheory,theuniverse
ahydrothermalventspewingfluidsreachingabout300° evolved with an explosion from a single point of matter
C.Thediscoveryoftheserudimentarymicrobesfromsea- with an infinite density and temperature at a finite time
floor sediment layers was made during voyages of a inthepast,about13.8BYA.Self-organizationintheorigin
Norwegian research vessel. Microbial life originated and evolution of the universe (physical world) and life
4.1–3.8BYA. The first complex cellular life appeared (biological world) has drawn much attention to these
roughly2BYA.Ithasbeenoneofthebigpuzzlesofevo- researchers. Itis now generally accepted in scientific cir-
lutionarybiologyhowcellularcomplexityfirstdeveloped cles that the laws of nature are so self-sufficient that the
from prokaryotes (bacteria and archaea) to eukaryotes complexity of the entire physical universe evolved from
(fungi, plants and animals, including humans). Lokiarch- fundamental particles. Just as atoms, stars, and galaxies
aeota share with eukaryotes several similar important self-assembledoutofthefundamentalparticlesproduced
gene characteristics, many of which have to do with cell by the Big Bang, the laws of nature are self-sufficient
membranefunctions.Scientistsareoftheviewthatthese enoughtoself-assemblelifebychemicalevolutionofsuit-
genesareresponsibleinprovidingaLokiarchaeota“starter able molecules and structures, regardless of whether
kit”to support the development of cellularcomplexity. theselawsarenotdesignedordesignedbyGod,aspro-
The author has also explained the extinction events posedbyoneschoolofthought.Inthelanguageofscience
which affected life on Earth and the complexities of sea- embodiedinDr.(Fr.)Lemaitre'sBigBangtheory,theuni-
floors and oceans. He discussed such topics as sub- verse evolved by self-organization of simple material
seafloor microbial life (partial clues to origin of life), structures towards more and more complex structures.
organismslivingabove100°Cunderanaerobicconditions Atoms,stars,andgalaxiesself-assembledoutofthefun-
(such as deepsub-seafloor sediments,submarine hydro- damentalparticlesproducedbytheBigBang.Ithasbeen
thermal areas, and submarine volcanoes), significance suggestedthat,justlikestarsandtheirplanets'satellitesin
of deep-sea hydrothermal vents, microbial activity in the Universe—formed primarily from heavier elements
hydrothermalfluids,andanewHomogenuscalledHomo such as carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen that were born in
naledi, indicating the slow evolutionary transition from theexplosionsofsupernovae—we,whoconsistprimarily
simplemicrobesfoundattheoceans'floorstomorecom- oftheseverysameelements,arethusliterallybornfrom
plexlifeformsthatpermeatedtheearthoveralongperiod the stardust.
of time. Asindicatedearlier,theprocessofbiologicalevolution
Inthechapteron“AstronomicalandBiologicalOrga- started from bacteria-like tiny cells, termed the LUCA,
nizationalRelationships,”Dr.Josephprovidesanaccount and gave rise to complex life forms on Earth, including
ofournewunderstandingoftherelationshipbetweenthe human beings. It is very interesting and admirable that
organization and evolution of biological system and thesatisfactoryexplanationofferedbytheBingBangthe-
astronomicalsystem,citingconcreteevidence.Biological ory of the origin of the universe, founded solely on Dr.
organization at the microscopic level (DNA molecule) AlbertEinstein's“GeneralRelativity”theoryandHubble's
and astronomical organization at the macroscopic level cosmological measurements, gave a new dimension to
have striking resemblances. As a prelude to explaining the discussion on the topic of a totally different subject
thisrelationship,hefirstbringsintofocusthegreatstrides in science, that is, biological evolution of complex life
made in astronomy, cosmology, and the working of the formsfromsimplecells.PrimitivelifeonEarthisbelieved
universe by extraordinary thinkers and visionaries such to have happened just over 3.5 to 4.0(cid:3)109years ago.
as Nicolaus Copernicus (1473–1543), Giordano Bruno Oparin in his book “The Origin of Life,” proposed that
(1548–1600),JohannesKepler(1571–1630),GalileoGalilei in prebiotic times, spontaneous generation of life would
(1564–1642), Sir Isaac Newton (1642–1726), Dr. Albert be less difficult if the ocean contained a large amount of
Einstein (1879–1955), Dr. Vesto M. Slipher (1875–1969), complex organic components similar to those present in
Dr. Alexander Friedmann (1888–1925), Dr. (Fr.) Georges living organisms. These compounds would serve both
Lemaitre (1894–1966), Dr. Edwin Hubble (1889–1953), as structural components and as the energy source for
Sir Arthur Eddington (1882–1944), and Dr. George the first organisms. He also proposed that Earth had a
Gamow(1904–1968).Whileappreciatingthegreatcontri- reducing atmosphere of hydrogen (H ), ammonia
2
butions made by these visionaries, Dr. Joseph has also (NH ), methane (CH ), and water (H O) in its early
3 4 2
xiii
FOREWORD
stages, and that organic compounds might be formed togethertoformatissueofspecializedfunction,anddif-
under these conditions. Urey based his arguments for ferent tissues are organized to form organs to perform a
thereducingatmosphereonthethermodynamicproper- particularfunctioninanorganism.Thereisalsoadefinite
tiesofgasesinacosmicdustcloudfromwhichthesolar organizationalplaninoursolarsystemandgalaxy,other
system was formed. He proposed that organic com- galaxies,andclusterofgalaxiesoftheexpandinguniverse
pounds might be synthesized by ultraviolet radiation asrevealedbytelescopicandastrophysicalinvestigations
and by electrical discharges (lightening) in the reducing ineverybandoftheelectromagneticspectrum.However,
atmosphere. Stanley Miller performed fundamental littlehasbeendonetoinvestigatearelationshipbetween
experiments using electrical discharges in a flask into themicroscopicorganizationoflivingorganismsandthe
whichwatervapor,H ,CH andNH hadbeeninjected astronomicalorganization.Myinvestigationimpliesthat
2 4, 3
andfoundthataminoacidshadformed,therebystrongly thetwopartsofnature—biologicalworlddowntomicro-
supporting the above theories. Since then, several other scopiclevelandphysicalworldatmacroscopiclevel—are
stepsinthesynthesisoforganicmoleculeshavebeencar- intimately correlated; a fact which has always been
riedoutandexperimentssimulatingprebioticconditions overlooked.Theinvestigationpointsoutadefinitecorre-
haveyieldedsugars,fattyacids,andnucleicacidbases.In lationbetweentheorganizationalplanofDNAmolecule
continuationoftheseresults,muchresearchonchemical andcellsduringorganicevolutionandtheorganizational
evolution and the originof life have beencarried. plan of our solar system during inorganic evolution.
Acloserelationshipbetweenthechemicalevolutionof Thefollowingequation,showingthecorrelationbetween
lifeandtheevolutionofEarth'scrusthasbeenreported.It the genetic code of DNA molecule and the apparent
isarguedthatchemicalevolutionwasfollowedbybiolog- motion of the Sun—due to Earth's revolution around
ical evolution, in which proteins were formed by poly- the Sun—has been derived by me and reported:
merization of amino acids, and aggregates appeared in (64(cid:5)K)/20¼339/107.65, where 64¼number of codons;
thewatermediumalongwithotherorganiccompounds. 20¼numberofaminoacids;K¼astro-molecularconstant
Then,onlyaftertheoriginofthegeneticcode,determined derived in my paper; 339¼number of disks of the sun
by the sequence of bases in nucleic acids—the first self- to measure its apparent path along the ecliptic in the
reproducingmolecule,self-perpetuatingcellscouldhave celestial sphere between the two equinoxes; and
arisen.Thus,self-organizationoflifefirsttookplaceatthe 107.65¼average distance of the sun in terms of its own
molecular level, for example, proteins, nucleic acids diameter from Earth.
(RNAandDNA).Followingtheevolutionofthefirstcell All living organisms on the earth share the same 64
ontheEarth(ie,prokaryoticcells,whichdidnothavedis- codonsand20aminoacids.Theaboveequationcorrelates
tinct organization of nucleus), organization of nucleus the biologicalmolecular data withthe astronomical data,
took place in eukaryotic cells, which evolved from pro- thereby implying a common organizational plan of the
karyoticcells.Subsequently,fromthelowerformsofuni- DNAmoleculeandoursolarsystem,probablyduetothe
cellular livingorganismsevolved all the higher forms of influence of a common governing force, that is, gravita-
complexmulti-cellularlivingorganisms,spearheadedby tionalforceandwaves.IntheframeworkofDr.Einstein's
modernhumans.Itisnowawell-establishedfactthatthe General Theory of Relativity, the properties of space, time,
geneticcodehasplayedakeyrolethroughouttheevolu- andgravitationaremergedintooneharmoniousandele-
tionaryprocessandactedasanintracellularcomputerin gant picture. Dr. Albert Einstein propounded the idea of
the organization of the cells, tissues, organs, and the gravitationalcurvatureofthefour-dimensionalspace-time
whole organisms. continuum. This correlation also suggests that all natural
AsDr.Josephexploresinhischapteron“Astronomical self-assembly—from microscopic to macroscopic world
andBiologicalOrganizationalRelationship,”I,too,have (microcosmtomacrocosm)—areprobablyinfluencedand
touchedon,reported,anddiscussedsomeaspectsofcor- controlledbygravitationalcurvatureofspace-time,asfor
relation between biological organization at microscopic example,self-assemblyofthesolarsystemandDNAdou-
levelandastronomicalorganizationatmacroscopiclevel; blehelicalmolecule.Scientistshavelongusedmathematics
and found an underlying unifying relationship between to describe the physical properties of the universe. But
two seemingly different disciplines of science. Based on cosmologistMaxTegmarkbelievesthattheuniverseitself
thelatestestimates,thereexistabout8.7(cid:4)1.3milliondif- ismathematics.InTegmark'sview,everythingintheuni-
ferent species of organisms on Earth; at the cellular and verse,humansincluded,ispartofamathematicalstructure.
molecularlevels,thereisauniquemasterplanoforgani- Inhisbook,“OurMathematicalUniverse,”theM.I.T.phys-
zationcommontoall.Allorganismshavethecellsastheir icistMaxTegmarkdescribestwoimportantaspects—oneis
basic structural and functional unit and all have essen- aninformative survey of excitingrecentdevelopmentsin
tially the same genetic code made of DNA. The light, astrophysicsandquantumtheory,andtheotherisadiscus-
scanning, and transmission electron microscopic studies sionofhisinnovativeideathatrealityitselfisamathemat-
have shown that cells of a particular type are organized icalstructure.DNAandlifeoriginatedandevolvedinthe