When I was researching electricity, I found out the speed of electricity in the body, and it was slower than I thought. The measured speed of the electrical potential of the neural circuits in the brain is 0.2 to 1.5 m/sec. This is a speed that seems instantaneous for a living organism, but it may seem slow compared to the image of the speed of electricity, which is almost the speed of light.
https://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/focus/ja/press/redirect_01062.html
The speed of electricity is also almost the speed of light, which is the speed at which the electric potential propagates, but the speed at which electrons move is much slower, like a snail’s. It is said that the average speed at which electrons move in conductors such as copper is 0.075 mm/sec, and it seems that it is actually the electromagnetic field generated around the electric wire that carries the power. The electron’s speed itself is much faster, but its movement is random, so when you consider the distance traveled, it becomes this speed. I looked it up, and it seems that the speed of a snail is 1 to 2 mm/sec.
https://jfs.or.jp/jfs-cs/speed-in-electrowire
Sloths, which are famous for being slow-moving creatures, move at a speed of 40cm per second, while the desert tortoise, a keystone species, moves at 8cm per second. Slow-moving creatures are said to be minimizing energy consumption to the bare minimum, and moving slowly is also convenient for hiding. Other leisurely sea creatures that move quite slowly include manatees, sea slugs, and Greenland sharks. Greenland sharks are said to be long-lived creatures that can live for over 400 years, so perhaps there is a relationship between living slowly and lifespan.
https://natgeo.nikkeibp.co.jp/atcl/news/15/a/102000043/
In addition, continental plates move slowly, at 18cm/year = 0.000006mm/second. It’s so slow that it’s hard to really feel it, but it’s amazing that plates spanning thousands of kilometers are constantly moving.
https://qzss.go.jp/info/archive/tohoku_151121.html
I was surprised by the speed of bioelectricity and electrons, but the speed of bioelectricity is sufficient for life activities, and the speed of electrons is sufficient for the propagation of electricity. There seems to be a meaning behind the speed itself, and for slow organisms, that speed is a kind of survival strategy. Sloths in particular are relaxed and peaceful, without fighting, living symbiotically with moss and moths, eating the moss and defecating in set places to create a cycle, and seem to live with very little food and low energy consumption. Sloths are amazing.
https://biome.co.jp/biome_blog_100
And the workings of the Earth continue to move slowly on a grand scale, out of sight. Things that move slowly are amazing. The scale of speeds that exist on Earth, from fast to slow, is amazing.
