Out of The Blue

         Now, it should be much easier to conceptualize that Old Capital -C- (carbon) is the utility player among all the organic elements (atoms). Capital -H- (hydrogen) has only one proton to try and keep hold of its electron but, along comes old Capital -C- and grabs ahold of poor -H-, forming many links along the highways of time. As stated, long ... long ... long chains (pop beads) of hydrocarbons that end up pooled in many oil fields and, in my KY, coal fields galore! Then ... out of the blue ... comes that element of oxygen.

        Can you imagine it? Of all things, a gas it is! All around us in the air we breathe. Can't do without it for more than a couple of minutes. Say what! Let's see now.

        First of all, in its natural state, it's an identical twin! Yes sir, a diatomic (that's two atoms joined) molecule. Second of all, it is capable of combining with all other elements out there except some inert gases. What a hoot! It can reach out and touch hands with everybody (the other atoms). It is a colorless, odorless, gas and is the most abundant element in the earth's crust. Besides that, it is the third most common element in the cosmos! In our air (atmosphere) it is 20% by volume and, 21% by mass. In combined states it occurs naturally in many minerals, plants, animals and water. What a gas!!!

        Out of the blue you might say. Anyway, once capital -O- join hands with the hydrocarbons of the world, an amazing thing happens. The long ... long ... long ... H-C compounds are cut down to four to six carbons in length. Can you believe it ... carbohydrates are born! From "fats" to "sugars". How about that! A different substrate appears among the cosmos.

        Anyhow, in our biological structure, oxygen is inhaled from the atmosphere (out of the blue) and picked up and distributed to the various 100 trillion cells for their cellular activities. What a deal!

From My Mom's Kitchen Window

         A saying on a Plack that stood for years leaning on the edge of the kitchen window as my mother accomplished her daily tasks. It reads:

                                 "GRATITUDE ... turns what we have ... into ... Enough" 

        A thought for this first day of October 2026. This Plack now leans in my bedroom window.

How much is that Photon in the window there?

                                               A quantum of Energy in motion.

Little Glands

         The basic anatomy of the cell has been shown in the recent post of September 9th. All six major areas were named. How about that, only six! Let's see now ... 1) Nucleus [the general] ... 2) Nucleolus ... 3) Nuclear membrane [fatty acids!] ... 4) Nucleoplasm ... 5) Cytoplasm [all the space outside of the nucleus] ... and finally all that structural lipid ... 6) Cell membrane. Well, grab your hat, here is a scan of all those "little glands" out there in all that cytoplasm.

        These specialized bodies called "organelles", which means "little glands", are all about that cytoplasm. They each produce products which are the purpose of the cell's activities. For the genealogist who may have stuck it out this far, it is the "Mitochondrion" and its "ribosomes" that are of interest. The mitochrondial DNA ... mtDNA ... that lives about in here!

         For a little more discussion on this topic [mtDNA] see blog on "The Jones Surname DNA" May 24, 2017. Blog is: https://jonessurnamedna.blogspot.com. The scan from above is from my very large and heavy reference The Encyclopedia of Molecular Science, Blackwell Science, London, 1994, page 40. Certainly, not a light weight among those who get paid to know!

A quote for this day

                       "Dripping hollows out rock." -  OVID [P. Ovidius Naso] Roman Poet

                                                                                           43 B.C. - c. 17 A.D.

                                                  Was exiled to banks of Danube in his later days.

Remembering

Will still remember September 11, 2001. The Jones Genealogist on September 11, 2026 

Basic Anatomy

        All around the world, the skeleton of the human cell is the membrane. That super capital C - carbon and good old element capital H - hydrogen, join hands in long chains called hydrocarbons. (imagine that!) As discussed, inside and outside the cell, various functions occur continuously, to keep order among the "quadrillion" biochemical activities. What a deal indeed!

        Now there are other compartments to this anatomy which a scan may help draw a picture. Here is such a scan from page 10 of Guyton (post of July 15).

        Well, here you go. Basic anatomy it is. Find the membrane locations and then name the other principal structures. The headquarters is the nucleus with a nucleolus. The decisions of the cells purposes are already decided here by all that DNA stuff. Then outside the nucleus is the much larger area called the cytoplasm. [housing all that protoplasm and the "little organs"]. There you have it. Nucleus (headquarters) and Cytoplasm (factory) structured by those membranes. Might add, what a hoot!