Bacteria is supposed to be really low on the complexity scale of life. Just above viruses and some other controversial "lifeforms". Yet, when put into the analogy of human technology, I realize just how enormously sophisticated these tiny, underappreciated, bugs are.

If an atom is a brick. Then a single protein has the complexity of a standard house (~10,000 bricks). A single bacteria contains millions of these proteins in a dense, interconnected network that communicate with each others. By this standard, one cell is the equivalent of a well run metropolis with its own waste disposal, work sites, government, residential, recreation, police, etc.

And this huge city can be run at near peak efficiency allowed by physics. A feat of engineering we cannot match despite all of our technological achievements.

All contained in a tiny droplet of oil so small nobody noticed it until a few centuries ago. Yet so numerous and ubiquitous it shapes every aspect of life on Earth. It amazes me everytime.