- Title Pages
- Foreword
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
-
Introduction: Life’s Sensibilities -
1 Valuable Viruses -
2 More Like a Waterfall -
3 Alarmones -
4 Early Sensibilities -
5 Smart Bacteria -
6 Ancient Architects -
7 Others -
8 Nested Communities -
9 Cosmic Rhythms of Life -
10 Life’s Tectonics -
11 Evolutionary Illumination -
12 Symbiogenesis in Russia -
13 From Movement to Sensation -
14 Packaging DNA -
15 Lemurs and Split Chromosomes -
16 Interspecies Hybrids -
17 Origins of the Immune System -
18 Medical Symbiotics -
19 Animal Consciousness -
20 Brains and Symbols -
21 Thermodynamics and Thought -
22 “I Know Who You Are; I Know Where You Live” -
23 Cultural Networks - Bibliography
-
Appendix A: Major Groups of Living Organisms -
Appendix B: The International Geological Time Scale (Time-Rock Divisions) - Glossary
- About the Authors
- Index
- [UNTITLED]
Early Sensibilities
Early Sensibilities
- Chapter:
- (p.44) (p.45) 4 Early Sensibilities
- Source:
- Chimeras and Consciousness
- Author(s):
Kenneth H. Nealson
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
This chapter describes how sensitive bacteria are. It specifically reviews what is known about bacterial sensation and reports the challenges and research opportunities related to the origins of microbial sensitivity. It tries to stimulate thought about the earliest chemistry- and gene-modulated appearance of sensations in cellular ancestors. This chapter suggests that bacteria in extremely stable non-fluctuating environments are on the lower end of the “microbial IQ” curve. It shows a few examples of sensory capabilities and responses of bacteria to mechanical stimuli, gravity, light, heat and cold, Earth’s magnetic field, salt and water concentrations, alarmones, and many other simultaneously and continuously changing environmental stimuli.
Keywords: bacteria, bacterial sensation, microbial sensitivity, microbial IQ, mechanical stimuli, gravity, light, magnetic field
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- Title Pages
- Foreword
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
-
Introduction: Life’s Sensibilities -
1 Valuable Viruses -
2 More Like a Waterfall -
3 Alarmones -
4 Early Sensibilities -
5 Smart Bacteria -
6 Ancient Architects -
7 Others -
8 Nested Communities -
9 Cosmic Rhythms of Life -
10 Life’s Tectonics -
11 Evolutionary Illumination -
12 Symbiogenesis in Russia -
13 From Movement to Sensation -
14 Packaging DNA -
15 Lemurs and Split Chromosomes -
16 Interspecies Hybrids -
17 Origins of the Immune System -
18 Medical Symbiotics -
19 Animal Consciousness -
20 Brains and Symbols -
21 Thermodynamics and Thought -
22 “I Know Who You Are; I Know Where You Live” -
23 Cultural Networks - Bibliography
-
Appendix A: Major Groups of Living Organisms -
Appendix B: The International Geological Time Scale (Time-Rock Divisions) - Glossary
- About the Authors
- Index
- [UNTITLED]