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As requested by Chok, an entry on cockroaches.

When we see a cockroach, what comes into our mind? A pest, a nuisance, something to wipe off our shoes when we eventually step on it. But have we ever given any thought as to why there are cockroaches? The funny thing about nature is that she made so many animals, plants, and insects that we barely understand - like the lowly cockroach. Much of all her creations serve no visible use for us, but they were created because they had a purpose. Everything that lives and breathes were designed for something.

The web of life is a vast tapestry of creatures big and small, from the gigantic blue whale to the smallest bacteria. And being a web, all of them are connected. As such, even the cockroach is part of some grand design. There is a law in nature about the survival of the fittest. There is also a concept of a food chain. All of these contribute to the fragile balance that nature tries to maintain.

The cockroach has been around even before the time of the dinosaurs. They are a resilient species, able to survive extreme conditions such as freezing cold and scorching heat. Even enough radiation that would singe our flesh is nothing for a cockroach. They have survived the extinction of the dinosaurs, and with the way they're going, they might long survive us humans too. With a span of existence that long, they're already intricately woven into the web of existence.

We humans usually undermine the value of those we don't understand. We don't know what might happen if cockroaches suddenly die out. Maybe we won't see it immediately, maybe not even for decades to come. But the loss of one of the oldest and most hardy species in the history of our planet might mean something is going on. Like a line of dominos, the fall of one might eventually lead to the fall of all. There are many things we still don't know, and everyday we continue to discover new things. New medicines are being developed from just recently discovered plants in the rainforest. We know so little of our world that do we really risk killing off a single species - even a cockroach?

We know about the interdependence of nature's creations, we know the risk of altering the food chain, we know that everything has some use. We know all these things, but honestly, when we see a cockroach on our path, do we even think about it? We might feel some satisfaction from stepping on a cockroach, and it certainly won't affect our conscience much. But what if that cockroach was the last of it's kind?

We have more to lose from our ignorance than we care to think.