Category Archives: Physics

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

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 sleep) and REM sleep. This post will focus on what drives you to be awake during the day, and makes you sleep at night: your circadian rhythm.  The term circadian rhythm comes from the latin words “circa” which means “around”, and “dia”, which means day. So, a circadian rhythm is any biological process that cycles around the Earth day, which is 24 hours.

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

Thorium Energy – A Source of Nuclear Power

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. Continue reading Thorium Energy – A Source of Nuclear Power

Sunlight Series: Part 6 – Ozone Depletion vs Global Dimming

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. Continue reading Sunlight Series: Part 6 – Ozone Depletion vs Global Dimming

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

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 another few posts), I really hope I will have you convinced! Continue reading Sunlight Series: Part 5 – Solar Irradiance and Earth’s Atmosphere

Sunlight Series: Part 3 – The Electromagnetic Spectrum

Featured image courtesy of Miriam.

My last post discussed the nature of light, and that our current understanding is that light can be thought of as an electromagnetic wave carrying varying amounts of energy expressed by different wavelengths, or frequencies. Continue reading Sunlight Series: Part 3 – The Electromagnetic Spectrum