Men talk much of matter and energy, of the struggle for existence that molds the shape of life.

These things exist, it is true; but more delicate, elusive, quicker than the fins in water, is that mysterious principle known as “organization,” which leaves all other mysteries concerned with life stale and insignificant by comparison.

Loren Eiseley, Immense Journey

When we think about inheritance we tend to think about genes, but to leave any descendants a cell must be capable of growing, repairing, and ultimately replicating itself, and to do that it needs a fully functional metabolic network.

To be alive means to have a continuous flow of energy and materials through this whole network, nanosecond by nanosecond, minute by minute, generation after generation. Our inheritance includes this living network in the egg cell, a flame passed from generation to generation, without pause, right back to the emergence of life.

Nick Lane, Transformer

Men talk much of matter and energy, of the struggle for existence that molds the shape of life.

Loren Eiseley, Immense Journey

A member of the Prickly Pear family, Beavertail is the most common cactus in the Mojave Desert.

Like other cacti, Beavertail’s extensive, shallow root system allows it to capture greater amounts of surface water and rainfall. Its fleshy, round-shaped pads, which have fine hairs rather than spines, allow maximum water storage and reduce water loss.

Valley Of Fire Interpretive Sign

Woodrats build large nests, called middens, made of objects they have collected. The midden is held together by the packrat’s highly concentrated urine.

As the urine dries, substances left behind can cement the midden together, sometimes for thousands of years. We learn valuable information about ancient plants by studying middens.

Ash Meadows Interpretive Sign

When animal life exploded some 800 million years ago, microbes had already existed on Earth for maybe three billion years.

Plants only succeeded in colonizing land when they had developed relationships with microbes that helped them extract vital nutrients from soil.

Perhaps one evolutionary innovation of animals was to scoop up the microbial communities necessary for survival and to take them along for the ride, achieving mobility.

Moises Velasquez-Manoff, Peacekeepers