Physics – Sustainable Balance

Is Consciousness Fundamental?

Thu, 02 Jul 2015 15:00:18 +0000

Introduction About a year ago, I wrote an article called The Essence of Life: Two Potential Models. In that article, I explained that all the matter around us, which includes the bodies and brains of living beings, are made up of protons, neutrons, and electrons. These fundamental particles “swap out” all the time, and yet … Continue reading →

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Nuclear Energy Part 3: Fusion – The Holy Grail of Energy

Wed, 11 Feb 2015 16:00:46 +0000

The Nuclear Energy Series continues! The last post discussed climate change, and who is to blame for it (hint: us). This series has been intended to be an unbiased look at nuclear energy to power our high-energy lifestyles, especially for an eventual transition to a post-carbon society that doesn’t significantly affect the climate. First, I wrote up an introduction to nuclear power, which … Continue reading →

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Nuclear Energy Part 2: Fuels for Fission

Thu, 23 Oct 2014 15:30:22 +0000

Furthering our exploration of different energy sources that are alternatives to fossil fuels, let’s take a closer look at the energy source that was introduced in the last post, nuclear energy. In that post, I introduced where nuclear energy comes from (the nucleus of the atom), and that there are two types of reactions: fusion, … Continue reading →

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Nuclear Energy Part 1: What is Nuclear Energy?

Thu, 09 Oct 2014 14:00:37 +0000

With regards to energy, so far I have talked about why energy is awesome, gone over the basics of energy, and explored how the consumption of energy affects quality of life. With all that out of the way, I want to start taking a look at energy sources that are alternatives to fossil fuels (fossil … Continue reading →

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The Basics of Energy

Thu, 11 Sep 2014 18:47:50 +0000

I was intending to get into a series of posts on human energy needs, but figured it would be a better start to post on the basics of what energy is, what forms it takes, how it is measured, and a few other physical parameters involved. This will hopefully be a light, fun read, and … Continue reading →

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The Essence of Life: Two Potential Models

Thu, 22 May 2014 14:00:29 +0000

Introduction – The Fabric of Life: Everything on Earth, and every other planet, is made up of the same matter. The fabric of life is the particles making up all matter in the universe, including the physical forms of living beings. These particles (simplified) are protons, neutrons, and electrons, with the energy coursing through these particles being … Continue reading →

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Sleep Series – Part 3: Serotonin, Melatonin, and your Circadian Rhythm

Tue, 13 May 2014 14:00:03 +0000

Introduction – Your Circadian Rhythm: My previous post explained what sleep scientists have measured during sleep using EEG, and scientists’ current state of interpretations. Included in that post was my definition of objective sleep quality: going through the proper sequence of sleep cycles during the night with sufficient amounts of both stage 3 sleep (slow-wave … Continue reading →

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Thorium Energy – A Source of Nuclear Power

Sun, 30 Mar 2014 00:23:34 +0000

Kirk Sorensen is an advocate of a much safer and more abundant form of nuclear power that uses thorium energy as fuel. I found this documentary riveting and eye opening. Anyone who has any feelings towards nuclear power should give this a watch. Featured image courtesy of Rui Costa.

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Sunlight Series: Part 6 – Ozone Depletion vs Global Dimming

Wed, 26 Mar 2014 17:51:27 +0000

Featured photo courtesy of Nasa Goddard Space Flight Centre. Introduction: Earlier in the Sunlight Series I wrote about electromagnetic energy being radiated by the sun, and how it’s mostly infrared, visible light,and ultraviolet (UV) radiation. From my last post, we know that the atmosphere absorbs electromagnetic radiation before it hits Earth’s surface. This radiation absorption differs depending … Continue reading →

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Sunlight Series: Part 5 – Solar Irradiance and Earth’s Atmosphere

Wed, 26 Mar 2014 04:29:06 +0000

Featured image courtesy of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. Introduction: I began this series by opining that using sunscreen is a misguided approach to protecting yourself from the sun’s radiation (unless under extreme circumstances), and that we should, in fact, be exposing our bare skin to unfiltered sunlight regularly. By the end of this series (still … Continue reading →

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