Abiogenesis [antikvár]

THE ELEMENTS OF LIFE There is hardly a part of our planet's surface that does not have its quota of plants and animals. The very soil teems with earthworms, insects, and fungi. Scientists find microbes entombed in Antarctic ice and filaments of algae growing in the steaming hot springs of Yellowstone. Not only is life widespread, it is incredibly rich in variety. Biologists have discovered and classified more than a million distinct species of plants and animals, and more are being found each day. These species are interrelated in often subtle and complex ways. The hawk eats rabbits and other small animals. Rabbits feed on such plants as the pea vines in the vegetable garden. The peas, in their turn, need certain bacteria inhabiting nodules on their roots to convert atmospheric nitrogen to compounds which the plants can use. The fossil record in the rocks shows us that the tapestry of