Light, Life and Information

Seeing Clearly

Millions of living things in the animal and plant kingdoms have a working relationship with light.  Any with sentience "know" what that relationship is.  Or, at least, they make decisions based on perceptions of the benefits of that light.

Light is a form of energy as is evident in the growth of plants.  Without light, green plants die.  Even with plenty of nourishment and hydration, the healthiest of plants need light.  This energy is used to combine water, carbon dioxide and various other nutrients to build stems, limbs, leaves and fruit.  This energy is then released when that material is consumed by other organisms or by combustion.

But the most remarkable thing about light is that it allows sentient beings to gather information from the environment remotely.  Direct contact is not necessary when we animals can see things around us.  Some of us need help as our eyes, wonderful light receptors that they are, become weaker.

I know that light moves so fast that, comparatively speaking, things close by and far away are equally accessible.  However, there are ways to slow light down just a little.  When this happens, light is scattered, absorbed or reflected.  In this way, over time, scientists have figured out that light travels through a vacuum at about 186,282 miles per second.  That is fast enough to travel around the earth at the equator about 7.5 times!

Since light moves so fast, information from all over the universe is accessible on a clear night.  Certain stars, along with the moon, allow navigation along the surface of the earth because the information is predictable.  Based on the apparent movement of the sun on the horizon at sunrise and sunset, we are able to discern the passage of time.

So, what do I know?

• Light is basically energy.
• Light travels very fast.
• Light enables access to information.

Falling is Normal

I move from basic math concepts which I "know" by instinct to other things that are harder to prove, but still just as much of my knowledge base.

Let's move to "gravity."  I won't get into the math behind it, for that is in the territory into which geniuses dare to tread!  But I will speak to the concept.

I know that things FALL.  How much more basic can you get?  If there is any space at all between my hand and the floor, when I let go of an object, it falls to the floor. I've heard, and I've seen video evidence to prove it, that all objects fall at the same speed in a vacuum.  That is convenient for making calculations if one knows the math.

Related to gravity is "weight."  This is the evidence of what in science is called "mass" and "density."  The fact that a feather takes longer to fall to the ground that a marble is because the air around us has both mass and density.  Because of this, we have weather as the air is heated to change its density.

Personally, I experience gravity's effect in whatever I am doing.  As I sit here typing this blog, I can feel my body pressing against the chair.  If I am not careful, my legs will grow numb based on pressure distributed upon my hips.  The keyboard rests securely upon the flat surface of the desk, making typing possible.  All thanks to gravity.

If I were to go outside to play a game of catch with my grandson, gravity would be there to challenge me.  I would take advantage of the fact that the ball is of such a mass and density as to be able to temporarily "defy" gravity due to the energy imparted to it by my releasing it in a forward motion.  That motion, though, would diminish with distance as gravity worked by the laws of motion. The ball would either end up on the ground or in the hands of my grandson.

In all likelihood, my grandson's return of the ball would take a curved line.  This line would put the ball further from the ground for a moment.  The arc it forms obeys the laws of gravity and I have to adjust to intercept the ball.

So, What do I know?

Things fall until they hit a surface.

Things have mass and density.

Things can "fly" when energy is exerted against them that is greater than the gravity that makes them fall.