the.com/sperm
a microscopic kamikaze swimming a marathon for a one-in-millions shot at immortality.
means The male reproductive cell, which carries half the genetic material needed to fertilize an egg.
from From the Greek 'sperma,' meaning 'seed,' from 'speirein,' 'to sow' — the same agricultural image that gives us 'spore' and lurks inside 'diaspora,' a scattering of seed across the earth. The ancients literally pictured reproduction as planting: the body as field, the seed as sown future. The word reached English through Latin 'sperma' and Old French in the late Middle Ages.
- production rate
- about 1,500 made every single second
- swim odds
- roughly 1 in 300 million wins
- tiny payload
- carries half your entire genetic blueprint
- epic journey
- travels relative miles to reach the egg
- discovery
- first seen in 1677 under a microscope
for instance
sperm whale — largest toothed whale, can dive 7,000+ feet deep off new zealand and azores