Why do we dream?: A Sensory Deprivation Chamber Story

By | 2016-08-23T11:28:06-07:00 May 19th, 2016|Biology, Featured, Philosophy, Science, Technology|

It was beyond darkness; it was emptiness. A short time ago, I went with some friends to spend 2 hours in a sensory deprivation chamber.  As strange as that may sound, the idea behind the chamber is simply to eliminate all of your senses so that your mind is free to roam and meditate. In practice, the chamber is really just a shallow hot tub in a closet.  Inside the steel door is 2 feet of water with 800 pounds of dissolved salt, silence, and complete darkness.  But once you begin floating inside this confined abyss; you somehow forget that your [...]

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We are the Sims

By | 2016-05-19T10:36:50-07:00 May 2nd, 2016|Featured, Philosophy, Physics, Science|

Think back to the video games of your childhood.  Imagine that one of the characters in your favorite game had such advanced programing that the character itself became "conscious."  What would this character in this video game simulation think?  What would it believe? However strange it may seem, new evidence has the world's leading scientists believing that our universe is simply an incredibly advanced simulation and that we are the sims.     This idea first surfaced in the Greek philosopher Plato's hypothetical scenario: "Plato's Cave."  The story describes 4 prisoners who had been locked up in a cave without ever seeing the [...]

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The Experiment that Changed Everything

By | 2016-03-24T21:01:26-07:00 March 15th, 2016|Featured, Philosophy, Physics, Science|

For 4,000 years we have been fading into the background of existence.  There was a time we thought our local world to be so privileged as we boasted ourselves the center of the universe.  But soon the earth was round, we revolved around the Sun and not the other way around, and the whole planet was just one speck of dust drifting through the cloudy Milky Way.  Our big egos were crushed with every discovery. The final blow came when the Hubble telescope discovered that even our galaxy was not unique; billions more just like it are hiding in every seemingly empty patch [...]

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The Semmelweis Reflex (famous only in death)

By | 2016-02-11T06:28:43-08:00 February 9th, 2016|Biology, Featured, Philosophy, Science|

Revolutionaries play on a different timeline.  They see further and their ideas live longer.  Pushing past ridicule and ritual they open up new worlds so that when they die, instead of being forgotten, they are immortalized. Names like: Van Gogh, Galileo, Dickinson, Tesla, and Edgar Allen Poe come to mind.  But what all these names also have in common is that they belong to those who found no fame in life, but only in death.  We may remember them as triumphant revolutionaries, but their lives were filled with more defeats than victories and their "great works" were their unhealthy obsessions. With the passing of time, [...]

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My Blind Faith

By | 2016-03-11T04:58:25-08:00 November 10th, 2015|Astronomy, Biology, Featured, Philosophy, Physics, Politics|

"Oh I'm a Christian, so I don't believe in that" is no longer a valid excuse for ignoring concrete scientific facts.  And so it is time for all Christians (including myself) to wake up into the modern scientific age and ask some tough questions about our beliefs or be left at the kids table with the guy who is way too old to still believe in Santa Clause. Christianity needs a scientific revolution. A pursuit as noble as seeking the truth found in Christ has somehow made enemies with a pursuit of the same family; Science, the pursuit of truth found [...]

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The Language that Shapes Us

By | 2016-11-15T10:01:11-08:00 August 28th, 2015|Biology, Featured, Philosophy, Science|

It is so easy to let language shape you, much harder to shape language around yourself. The great communicators never concede to the boundaries of language.  Yes, language can set you free but it can also hold you in because language has rules...a few of which I aim to break; for the human mind should wander and rules are meant to be broken. Language can shape the way we think.  It can box us in or leave us wanting.  Giving stigmas to words that it shouldn't or masking stigmas that are deserved. The world is not made of words but [...]

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Time Traveling Crime Fighters

By | 2016-03-22T04:52:26-07:00 August 17th, 2015|Featured, Philosophy, Physics, Science, Technology|

  "So this is how freedom dies...with thunderous applause." - George Lucas Thousand of miles above crime ridden Mexico City flew the fabled "eye in the sky."  A demo by Persistant Survalence Systems is nothing but a dot in the clouds to those below but up above, an aircraft equipped with high tech cameras is watching every citizen's move. These wide angle cameras can see a huge area of land in high enough definition to track the movement of cars and even people.  All the law enforcement had to do was wait for a crime to be reported. Once a call [...]

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Dark Energy Epicycles

By | 2015-11-11T07:24:39-08:00 July 23rd, 2015|Astronomy, Featured, Philosophy, Physics, Science|

  There is a world hidden from sight.  A world that we cannot touch, see or hear.  It is hidden behind every point of space and every moment of our lives; a dark world that surrounds us.  Or so most scientists believe. Graphic showing how the measured speeds of stars as they get further from the center of their galaxies does not decrease to match calculations. Why do scientists believe in this hidden world?  Because galaxies should simply not exist based on our understanding of gravity and the laws of physics.  These massive collections of stars spin so [...]

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A Random Life

By | 2015-11-06T07:14:06-08:00 April 2nd, 2015|Biology, Philosophy, Science|

Life may just be an anomaly brought about by random chance.  From the primordial ooze we climbed through natural processes governed by unconscious arithmetic.  And so here we are.  A collection of biological machines staring into the abyss and straining to find some sign of purpose. It makes one wonder.  If we did run into an alien species, would they chuckle at our desire for purpose?  Would they scoff at our need for belief? Perhaps...but perhaps instead this deep seeded desire for meaning is just another biological adaptation that gives species motivation to improve their surroundings and proliferate.  If this is [...]

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Man and Machine

By | 2015-11-11T07:25:00-08:00 October 28th, 2014|Biology, Philosophy, Science, Technology|

Could it be that mankind is no more than biological machines?   Are we simply products of complex chemistry that produce complex results; hardwired and mechanical? Science answers this question with a resounding "yes" followed by a rebuking, "get over it"  because the truth is that world is made of matter and we are no different.  We are governed by the laws of nature and our behaviors reflect of these laws.  We are simply more complex. (In fact, studying behavioral biology at the University of Oregon.  I was repetitively assured that man follows the same evolutionary and behavior rules as do all organisms. [...]

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Our Cosmic Bubble

By | 2015-11-11T07:28:51-08:00 December 4th, 2012|Astronomy, Biology, Featured, Philosophy, Science|

  Our cosmic bubble is a nurturing oasis, yet so fragile and vulnerable.   The Earth is home to us all, the only known refuge for life across the universe.  Past its thin atmosphere, we find life growing abundantly.  From the oxygen rich atmosphere, to the shielding magnetic field; the Earth seems to be almost perfectly adjusted for life.  As if the planet was made with humanity in mind.  As if this place we call home was predestined for life.  So much had to have gone right for the earth to be so hospitable. However, this third rock from the sun has not always been [...]

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Programmable Consciousness

By | 2015-11-11T07:29:03-08:00 November 14th, 2012|Biology, Philosophy|

  The most common assessment of human consciousness among scientists is that it has spawned from the unique complexity of the human mind.  That within our DNA lays a design for a being capable of dreams, hopes, and fears.  Yes, these seemingly intangible qualities are thought to be simply manifestations of a complex physical structure.  It is ironic that the concept of consciousness being the product of complex bio-chemistry is hard for that same consciousness to accept.  That mechanical processes, quantum effects, chemical interactions and biological machines can generate such a seemingly unique, self-aware, and sentient being. But if it is only a matter of complexity then it could be [...]

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Creationist Evolution

By | 2015-11-11T07:30:25-08:00 October 20th, 2012|Biology, Philosophy, Science|

There is a great divide between science and religion.  And these two groups have never had a more polarizing topic than the origin of man.  Evolutionists vs. Creationists has become a misconstrued bifurcation.  But this battle royal is an unnecessary one and this divide can be easily bridged.  There can be a peaceful union of church and science. Evolution through natural selection is a theory for a mechanism of positive change in organisms.  Simply put it states that the organisms that survive are the ones that have properties that encourage their survival.  This idea is a theory, much like the [...]

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The Superior Species Complex

By | 2016-09-20T07:23:55-07:00 October 19th, 2012|Biology, Philosophy|

  Hello my name is humanity and I have a species superiority complex.  I am the pinnacle of evolution...or creation. I haven't unanimously decided yet.  Unfortunately, my neighboring species on this planet don't all feel the same.  They find me a nuisance and a danger to our planet, but honestly I couldn't care less because they are too inferior to even have an opinion.  In fact, I don't think they can even think at all. We humans have a giant ego.  However, have we possibly misevaluated our superiority?  It just might be the case that we have delusions of grandeur.  Does the towering [...]

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Stargazing Monkeys

By | 2015-11-11T07:30:45-08:00 October 10th, 2012|Astronomy, Biology, Philosophy|

  We are as specks on a cosmic fabric, a vapor in the celestial wind.  However, our species have become conscious not only of our existence but also of the happenings of the universe we inhabit.   How is this revelation of existence evolutionarily significant?  Or is this question a leading one due to the assumptions imbedded?  There is strong fossil, genetic, and experimental data to support the selfishness of genes.  Meaning that genes that survive are the ones that promote the reproduction of the organism.  Or in some rare cases simply the reproduction of the gene itself.  This is [...]

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What is Real?

By | 2016-04-25T21:47:13-07:00 September 8th, 2012|Featured, Philosophy, Physics, Science|

What can we not doubt? What can we be certain of? It seems all that we can be entirely certain of is that we are in fact experiencing something, even while not knowing quite what it is.  In the words of Decartes, “cogito ergo sum” or  “I think therefore I am,”  our experience is our reality, and our thoughts are our souls.  So how does this consciousness, capable of experiences, stem from matter. “Well whatever matter is made of it clearly isn’t matter” (source unknown).  At least not as defined by common understanding.  We see matter as inanimate, lifeless and [...]

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The Big Freeze

By | 2015-11-11T07:31:58-08:00 September 7th, 2012|Astronomy, Philosophy, Physics, Science, Technology|

Like most landmark discoveries, the history of our universe was stumbled upon by accident.  It seems most game-changing, earth-shattering discoveries are a product of proper planning giving opportunity to dumb luck.  (The discoveries of radiation, the electromagnetic force and penicillin to name a few.) Albert Einstein once said, “Education is what is left after we have forgotten all we have learned in school.” And it seems similarly, scientific break-throughs are what is left after the scientific method breaks down. The discovery that revealed our universe's rich history was the detection of cosmic background radiation, and it was found in a [...]

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