BioPhysics: Life and Living Systems

I know I'm a living system because I am a multicellular organism in which cells are specialized to do different jobs, ie: connective, muscle, and nervous tissue. And these tissues make up organs, such as the heart or lung which carry out functions necessary to life and breath. Our hearts and lungs created our breath and without it, we die. It's amazing to think about that -- our hearts and lungs are continually pumping, non-stop, even when we are sleeping.

To speak more to human beings as a living system; our metabolisms. All of the biochemical reactions occurring in an organism make up the metabolism. Thus, along with our hearts and lungs, are GI systems are always working as well. Another aspect to human life being a living system is homeostasis. (An adventure in Chinese Medicine!) Our internal environment is always trying to create a balance in order to maintain or achieve proper cell function. We grow too! Our whole bodies are growing until about early twenties (more or less) and it is hypothesized that the cartilage continues to grow! (ie: noses and ears getting bigger as we age). Lastly, Reproduction, we can literally reproduce ourselves, that takes life!

BioPhysics and Traditional Chinese Medicine:
What happens exactly when a TCM practitioner puts a needle in someone's arm and their neck immediately feels better (maybe not completely)? We don't really know. And, unfortunately, there is no real answer to this- but, many hypothesized answers, of course. The meridians in our bodies have an intimate connection to our organs and other parts of our bodies. The points indicated on the meridians (or close enough to) each have a name, a meaning, an action. Why is this? There is some "biophysical connection" to these points otherwise these points wouldn't be points (and we wouldn't have to spend years learning them!). I can't explain why these points work, but I do know that they do. Our bodies react (biophysically) to these points and then some (maybe, chemical) reaction takes place. Future research is thus vital in order to explore the mechanisms of these Acupuncture points. Those who practice, show interest, are patients may not need the tangible research to validate its effectiveness, but perhaps the Western society would.

Image of a jackrabbit in the desert, showing the rabbit's very thin—almost see-through—heavily veined ears, which are used for heat dissipatio