Much as Einstein sought a unified theory of nature’s forces, and much as physicists today dream of an even grander synthesis embracing all matter and perhaps space and time too, there is something thoroughly seductive in identifying a common core within a vast range of seemingly distinct phenomena. That the deep inner workings of all life—from my two dogs resting quietly on the carpet, to the chaotic swirl of insects attracted by the lamp near my window, to the chorus of frogs rising up from the nearby pond, to the coyotes I now hear howling in the distance—rely on the same molecular
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