TIME TO BE ALIVE.

EVERY DAY WE'RE FACING OFF AGAINST THESE GLOBAL CHALLENGES.

ESSENTIALLY CHOOSING BETWEEN ENDLESS POTENTIAL AND SELF-DESTRUCTION.

AS THEY USED TO SAY IN THE '70s, THAT'S HEAVY, MAN.

BUT YOU KNOW WHAT ISN'T HEAVY?

US.

HUMANS.

OUR BODIES.

EVEN NOW IN ALL OUR TERRIBLE GLORY, WE'RE STILL JUST A TINY FRACTION OF THE LIVING WEIGHT ON PLANET EARTH.

TREES WEIGH THE MOST.

BY A LOT.

BECAUSE THEY'RE UGE AND THEY'RE EVERYWHERE.

BUT WE'RE ALSO BEAT OUT BY SMALLER THING, LIKE WORMS.

WORMS OUTWEIGH PEOPLE THREE TO ONE.

EVEN THE SIMPLE SINGLE-CELL BACTERIA LIVING IN THE SOIL, THEY WEIGH 1,000 TIMES MORE THAN ALL HUMANS PUT TOGETHER.

AND NOT TO WORRY, I DIDN'T CALCULATE THESE NUMBERS MYSELF.

I READ ALL THIS IN THE JANUARY ISSUE OF "SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN."

AND I CAN'T STOP THINKING ABOUT IT.

BECAUSE IT DOESN'T STOP.

TAKE OUR BODIES.

THE THINGS IN WHICH WE LIVE, THOSE ARE ONLY 43% US.

THE REST, 57%, IS FRIENDLY GERMS.

HOW IS IT OSSIBLE THAT LESS THAN .01% OF THE DNA ON THIS PLANET HAS MANAGED TO WRAP ITS FINGERS AROUND EVERYTHING ELSE?

IT'S LIKE ONE SINGLE ANT TOOK CONTROL OF ALL CENTRAL PARK.

THAT'S SOME POWERFUL HUMAN GOO, WHICH MEANS, I SUPPOSE, ALL THESE EXISTENTIAL QUESTIONS WE'RE FACING, THEY'RE NOT TECHNICALLY HEAVY.

THEY JUST FEEL THAT