It seems that 2017 is expected to become an annus mirabilis (latin: miraculous year) in science, particularly in physics. It's only a few weeks ago that the news on the discovery of metallic hydrogen broke out; now we're presented with the possibility of life existing on another star system.

Hopefully this trend keeps up!

Look at yourself. Are you the product of nature or nurture? Sometimes it may be both, especially for things like food. The stuff we eat are as alien to nature as we are to our ancestors. We had purposely bred crops and animals to carry on traits that are beneficial to us: fatter chickens, sweeter fruits, greater yielding grains, for instance. All of these are impossible without an understanding of heredity...

​What about yourself? Are you a product of nature or nurture?

Lets face it, we'd like to think we're the greatest living thing on the Planet, but we know we're not. We may be able to smelt metals, generate electricity, and even split atoms; but those are nothing compared to a plant's ability to use light to manufacture the complex chemicals that keeps this planet teeming with life.

If you still scoff at this notion, then prepare to be humbled.

Where do we get our energy from? Most of you would say food, carbohydrate, or sugars, which is right. But those answers may be enough to satisfy a preschooler, not those taking biology, or having even the mildest interest in its branches.

A simple question sometimes require an extensive answer, and this being the study of life, the answer is never simple.

Mamihlapinatapei is a short story on the possible future where long extinct species were brought back. It tells a story of Marta, a Chilean of Yaghan ancestry, and fits the irony of her job in a world where extinct creatures were brought back, while minority cultures are becoming more and more endangered.

There's so much irony in this story, the ancient Greeks would appreciate it.