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WILL THE UNIVERSE COMMIT SUICIDE?

By Arthur Zulu

Once upon a time, there lived a madman who wanted to die a horrible death. He thought of two options for final exit. Option one: Make a gigantic camp fire hotter than sun and jump into it. Option two: Dive into a sub zero degree ice and bury himself with glacier. Either of choices seemed appealing to him.

But hold on, before you think that this is a folk story from Mars. The story may soon play out, say some school of thought, who believe it is world’s fate.

Only that characterization is wrong. Because madman is not human race but universe. And mankind has no choice. The universe will decide which is a better choice--fire or ice. Either choice is period for life.

How did we come to have such destiny?

It is because of how universe started, they say. And how did universe begin?

Scientists believe that in beginning, space was one small dense point. Then suddenly this singularity expanded at a terrifying speed, spewing out gigantic stars and galaxies, and has continued to race to Heaven knows only where, ever after.

As to how life eventually began, well, this is biology made easy. Out of this non-living world, someday a micro-organism sprang out of one warm chemical soup in ocean. And by some kind of clever maneuvering, yielded abundant variety of living species today, including man. Interesting story.

Now, it does not matter whether you believe this story or not. Or whether you even fully understand. In fact you are not supposed to understand it. So, ignorant you are, better.

You know that these things happened billions of years ago. And in those times, before man learnt to write, things happened spontaneously. Just like that, without any outside help.

Author: Arthur Zulu Contact Author: mailto: controversialwriter@yahoo.com Copyright: Copyright © Arthur Zulu 2002 Word Count: 452 Web Address: http://www.1stbooks.com/bookview/10975

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WILL A PLAGUE DESTROY THE WORLD?

By Arthur Zulu

Figure out this puzzle. What are these? Oropouche, Rocio, Chikungunya, Mokola, Duvenhage. Q. Guanarito, VEE, LeDantec, Sindbis, Marburg, O’nyongnyong. Yes, give me your answer.

“Names of new planets” No, come down to earth. “Names of new fish species” No, come off river. “Botanical names”. No, leave forest. “Characters in a Greek drama”. No, exit theater.

Ok. No idea. Let me help you. Now, try this.

“I am greatest killer in this century. I was living under skin of chimpanzees, till some hungry bushmen invaded forest, killed game and ate us up. From forest to dinner table, I can now be found in bodies of millions of persons, destroying their immune systems and sending them to their untimely graves. I have a cousin in this obituary business called HIV. What am I?”

Of course, you got it right -- AIDS. So saying goes in some quarters that someday, a plague would wipe out world. But can they be right?

Well, if you see emerging new diseases, some with strange names as you saw in above list, you would subscribe. The common trait about these diseases -- old and new, is that they are deadly and have defied medical cure.