What if we ARE alone in the universe? What if in 14 billion years across 200 trillion stars, there has never been life that could replicate itself? This thought is deeply poignant to me. If we are the only life that can exist, has existed, can ever exist in the universe, the existence of life… Continue reading Alone in the Universe
“We live submerged at the bottom of an ocean of air.” – Evangelista Torricelli There was a time before air. There was a time when what we saw around us between the ground and the sky was a void, comprised of absolutely nothing. We still kind of see things this way – in her wonderful… Continue reading The Science of Nothing
Hi there. We are here. You and me. And you. And you. This planet has been here 4.5 billion years. 3 billion years ago, there were microbes, enterprising little living things that somehow invented the ability to replicate themselves. 250 million years ago, weird swimming lizards and amphibians appeared on the scene. Forests covered the… Continue reading I’m So Glad You’re Here
The mind can be a terrible place. The chorus of thoughts running through our heads can be abusive, needling, relentless, and cruel. “My partner must not reciprocate my love, how dare they act like that.” “The cat didn’t eat well this morning, they must be dying.” “Does my best friend love me back?” “My boss… Continue reading A Tempest in a Teapot
This planet teems with life. It’s been changing everything from the atmosphere to rocks for 4 billion years. It’s everywhere. It’s in crevasses in the Antarctic to the bottom of the Marianas Trench to the clouds above – it’s absolutely in every nook and seemingly uninhabitable cranny. Where conditions are friendly, it’s absolutely run amuck… Continue reading Life – Everywhere, Life
Death is all around us. Different, but related: Non-life is all around us. There is a lot of matter in the universe, and there are lots of things on Planet Earth. Hardly any of this is alive. Life is bizarre, and improbable, and very, very rare. Except for the things that are alive right this… Continue reading Life Is the Exception
