Spiritual Lessons from Biology

This morning I read a fascinating paper from a group of researchers in Paris. The scientists wanted to figure out what sorts of creatures were living in the gutters of the city. They sampled 90 puddles across twenty districts of Paris and came back with astonishing results. Apparently, each of these little puddles harbors their own unique ecosystem. Each one contains “an extremely diverse community” of creatures[1]. Among the animals found were Ephydatia (a fresh-water sponge) and Dreissena (a mollusk, a mussel to be precise). It made me marvel to think of these tiny aqueous worlds, and I imagined what it might feel like to live inside one of them. If I were a freshwater snail, going about my day at the bottom of a Parisian puddle, how aware might I be of the bustling city around me? Would I perhaps feel the vibrations of the passing cars, or hear the murmuring voices of passers-by? In springtime, would the petals of blooming trees sink down into my world, and what would I think of t