[Bacteria] have an incredibly complicated chemical lexicon that ... allows bacteria to be multicellular. In the spirit of TED they're doing things together because it makes a difference.
Interpretation
Bacteria communicate to form complex communities, highlighting the importance of collaboration.
In this quote, Bonnie Bassler emphasizes the remarkable ability of bacteria to use a sophisticated system of chemical signals to communicate with one another. This communication enables them to coordinate activities and function as multicellular organisms, illustrating the concept that working together enhances survival and efficacy in nature, much like in human society.
In practice
In a biology class discussing microbial life, this quote can illustrate how even the simplest organisms rely on teamwork.
We've all been sick; we're all afraid of infection. I think the easiest application to help people understand what quorum sensing is and why it's important to study is to tell them that if we could make the bacteria either deaf or mute, we could create new antibiotics.
I learnt to distrust all physical concepts as the basis for a theory. Instead one should put one's trust in a mathematical scheme, even if the scheme does not appear at first sight to be connected with physics. One should concentrate on getting interesting mathematics.
The way I see it, commercial interests should manage a lunar base while NASA gets on with the really important task of flying to Mars.
How lucky we are to live in this time / the first moment in human history / when we are in fact visiting other worlds
When it comes to atoms, language can be used only as in poetry.
The mathematical facts worthy of being studied are those which, by their analogy with other facts, are capable of leading us to the knowledge of a physical law. They reveal the kinship between other facts, long known, but wrongly believed to be strangers to one another.
You make observations, write theories to fit them, try experiments to disprove the theories and, if you can't, you've got something.
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