trace

[Taka]

The sentence:

The cell becomes two, then four, and so on, and after a while the last trace is gone.

What exactly does "the last trace" mean? Why not just "the trace" but "the last trace"??

[Casiopea]

The sentence:

The cell becomes two, then four, and so on, and after a while the last trace is gone.

What exactly does "the last trace" mean? Why not just "the trace" but "the last trace"??

Biology
The cell divided into two cells, then it divides into four cells, and so on, after a while the last trace element of the original cell is gone. :D

[Taka]

Ah! I thought that should be the first trace. So I counted down...

[Casiopea]

Ah! I thought that should be the first trace. So I counted down...

Wow. I see what you mean. Cool! :D 8)

[Taka]

But wrong, huh?

[Mister Micawber]

Actually, it's a little strange, Taka-- could you check the source and tell me 'the last trace of what'?

[Casiopea]

But wrong, huh?

Yes and No. "No" in that trace means, trace element (i.e., the trace element has been redistributed to the point that is it no longer quantifiable) and, "Yes", because Quantum mechanics would have a thing or two to say about how to quantify such things. :D

[Taka]

Actually, it's a little strange, Taka-- could you check the source and tell me 'the last trace of what'?

It's Lewis Thomas' essay "Death in the Open," a section of his now famous book, Lives of a Cell.

http://empirezine.com/newwave/1.htm

[Mister Micawber]

...there are some creatures that do not seem to die at all; they simply vanish into their own progeny. single cells do this. the cell becomes two, then four, and so on, and after a while the last trace is gone. it cannot be see[n] as death; barring mutation, the descendants are simply the first cell, living all over again.

Thanks, Taka-- so, a 'trace' is 'a slight evidence' of the original cell, and the 'last trace' is just that: the final evidence of the original cell (as an entity) disappears eventually, down the generations.

[Casiopea]

...there are some creatures that do not seem to die at all; they simply vanish into their own progeny. single cells do this. the cell becomes two, then four, and so on, and after a while the last trace is gone. it cannot be see[n] as death; barring mutation, the descendants are simply the first cell, living all over again.

Thanks, Taka-- so, a 'trace' is 'a slight evidence' of the original cell, and the 'last trace' is just that: the final evidence of the original cell (as an entity) disappears eventually, down the generations.

I couldn't have said it better myself. Hey, wait a minute! I did:

Biology
The cell divided into two cells, then it divides into four cells, and so on, after a while the last trace element of the original cell is gone.