When a living system is under compression, there is a force pushing on it, like a chair with a person sitting on it. When evenly applied to all sides of a living system, compression results in decreased volume. When applied on two sides, it results in deformation, such as when pushing on two sides of a balloon. This deformation can be temporary or permanent. Because living systems must retain their most efficient form, they must ensure that any deformation is temporary. Managing compression also provides an opportunity to lessen the effects of other forces. Living systems have strategies to help prevent compression or recover from it, while maintaining function. For example, African elephant adults weigh from 4,700 to 6,048 kilograms. Because they must hold all of that weight on their four feet, the tissues of their feet have features that enable compression to absorb and distribute forces.
The vast majority of biochemical assembly and break down processes––even by the most complex organisms––occur within cells. In fact, cells are able to perform hundreds, even thousands, of chemical transformations at the same time under life-friendly conditions (ambient temperature and pressure in an aqueous environment). Within cells, organisms utilize organic compounds to facilitate the assembly of mineral crystals. For example, oysters utilize acidic proteins and sulfated polysaccharides to assemble layers of aragonite crystals.
High force impact or stress can cause materials that comprise living systems to separate into two or more pieces (called fracturing) or to break or burst suddenly (called rupturing). For example, a scallop prevents structural failure from fracture because its shell is comprised of two materials of varying stiffness. When a crack moves from the scallop’s stiff material to the less stiff one, the latter reduces the force at the tip of the crack, thereby stopping it from spreading farther.
Class Gastropoda (“stomach-foot”): Snails and slugs
There are at least 40,000 known species of gastropod, with many more yet to be discovered, making it the largest class of mollusks. These animals exhibit torsion, meaning their internal organs are twisted 180° during development. The majority of gastropods have shells, and most open up on the right side. The largest gastropods are the size of a small child (3 feet, or 1 meter) while the smallest are barely visible to the naked eye.
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