Sciency Stuff
Articles and posts I’ve written of a scientific nature. Above all, I think I am a rationalist who keeps an open mind.
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The will to live
Throughout recorded history, thinkers and natural philosophers have commented on the innate, energetic spark that is imbued within all living things. Eastern and Western civilisations have simultaneously described a will to live, an internal life force, a spirit, or soul,… Continue reading
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K2-18b, a planet with 97% certainty of alien life
Scientists have detected a molecule called dimethyl sulfide, or DMS for short, which is the gas that gives beach areas their distinctive smell. The gas is produced by phytoplankton on Earth, and is estimated to be thousands of times stronger,… Continue reading
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It’s Life Jim!
Some scientists now believe the chances of life emerging on Earth by itself are too remote. In a very honest, refreshing, (but complex), scientific paper, Robert Endres of the Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College, London in December 2025, explored… Continue reading
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The Blob
A short story. The blob floated mindlessly in the darkness. It had no eyes, or senses, save the ability to touch. To feel. It had no explicit conscious thoughts as such. But, driven by impulse, it knew what it wanted.… Continue reading
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One in a billion
In the Big Bang, when the universe was formulated, there should have been a blinding flash of radiation as these opposing forces cancelled each other out. But that is not what happened. By the order of one particle in a… Continue reading
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Reality is a load of balls
It is easy for imaginative humans to slip into science-fiction, or non-evidence based beliefs, simply because they fit our own world view and yet the reality is just as interesting. At the heart of everything we see, hear, feel, and… Continue reading
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Stephen Hawking: Is there a God?
“One could define God as the embodiment of the laws of nature. However, this is not what most people would think of as God. They mean a human-like being, with whom one can have a personal relationship.” Hawking refers to… Continue reading
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The axis of evil
Aristotle’s geocentric model of the universe, with earth in the centre, fitted with western Biblical ideologies and so stood for two thousand years until Copernicus upset the apple cart and proclaimed the sun was at the centre of things. Despite… Continue reading
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The grand coder
A computer coder creates a virtual world which replicates our ‘real’ world, and the characters have a form of artificial intelligence. Characters in this world have the ability to sense their environment, and assume what they experience is real. In… Continue reading
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Dark Matter
As the early universe expanded, dark matter clumps formed. However, the dark matter didn’t expand as quickly as the universe, leaving a sprawling cosmic web of dark matter strands and filaments behind. The intense gravity within the filaments dragged in… Continue reading
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Finding Patterns
Pattern Is religion just the brain seeing patterns in things? Human beings have a tendency to attach supernatural meanings to everyday phenomena. Seeing faces in clouds (pareidolia), believing there is a pattern in random events (like in gambling), or confirmation… Continue reading
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Melding our Minds
A mind meld is a fictional, telepathic link that the character Spock was able to perform on other organisms to connect their minds. But could it possibly be a real ability? Might we be able to connect our thoughts with… Continue reading
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Part of something greater
If the Earth were a hydrogen atom, and I looked out from my window at the electron whizzing past in the air above, I might be tempted to think that this was all there was. After all, I wouldn’t know… Continue reading
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Near Death Experiences
I’ve been reading an old book about Near Death Experiences called Life After Life by Dr Raymond Moody. It very much relates to a topic I wrote about a while ago Where Do We Go When We Die? in which… Continue reading
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The effects of infinity on finite systems
“Imagine you had a perfectly sealed box. Nothing can come in, and nothing can escape. Into this box you placed an apple and sealed it shut. If you waited long enough, the apple would go through various states of decomposition.… Continue reading
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Life and time
Which activities make you lose track of time? Einstein showed that, rather than there being a single unified time, time is relative, and so every phenomena has its own time. There isn’t a single entity of time, there are numerous… Continue reading
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Beyond Words
All of our thinking is through words, all of our actions, all of our science, all of our literature, all of our history, all our technology, all our kingdoms and empires. All of it stems from language and communication. And… Continue reading
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What is the shape of the universe?
Cosmologists aren’t sure what shape the universe is. And, while this may sound like a pointless thing to think about, it is actually a profound question that has significant implications. There are three leading models for the shape of the… Continue reading
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Facts about electrons
Taken from the article What is an Electron? by Peter Ripota Continue reading
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An Elegant and Persuasive Power
Why should we believe in something that only adds an immaterial layer to the scientific view, and which takes away the profound, revelatory nature of religion? I’ve set out in earlier blog posts what my evidence is for believing there… Continue reading
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I am that I am
Remember, every atom in my body was forged in a star, This body is mostly just empty space after all, and solid matter? It’s just energy vibrating very slowly. There is no me. There never was. The electrons of my… Continue reading
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More is Different
The constant void enables one to observe the true essence. The constant being enables one to see the outward manifestations. These two come paired from the same origin. But when the essence is manifested, It has a different name. Tao… Continue reading
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The fuse of time
It occurred to me that our perception of time and reality is like a burning fuse. We experience the point of ignition in unison, all of us moving along in the heat of a singular moment, burning our available energies,… Continue reading
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What Matters?
Is matter all there is? The prevailing scientific viewpoint leaves some big unanswered questions. Materialism is a philosophical and scientific viewpoint that states that matter is the fundamental substance in nature, and that all things, including consciousness, are the result… Continue reading
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Explaining premonitions of future events during dreams
Introduction – Much has been written about premonitions during dreams, which seem to be a recurring phenomenon throughout human history. My theory is that some people can ‘tune in’ to EMF waves emitted by temporal future events during deep sleep.… Continue reading
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Evidence the Universe was created
A scientific summary, from an agnostic viewpoint, as to why I believe the universe was created. Continue reading
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Reality? There’s nothing to it!
What’s something most people don’t understand? Everything in the universe is made of 17 elementary particles and four forces. Those particles are incredibly small. Barely even a dot. As far as anyone knows, they are point-like, exhibiting no finite and… Continue reading
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What is a flower?
If you want to know what a flower is, be mindful of who you ask, because this will determine the answer you get. All of them are properly answering your question. All of them are providing you with knowledge about… Continue reading
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The hard problem of Paul
What is it about us that makes us, us? Continue reading
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Scientific facts that blow my mind
Amazing scientific facts Continue reading
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The Great Attractor
What is the last thing you learned? The last thing I’ve learned is that our galaxy, and millions of other galaxies, are flowing through space in a vast, cosmic, three-dimensional river, towards a galactic supercluster called The Great Attractor, which… Continue reading
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What in the World…
Science tells us that everything is made from particles and forces, but this does not tell us why these things exist or where they come from. Everything is particles and forces According to science, the four forces of nature and… Continue reading
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Come on down, try your luck on Fortuna’s Wheel of Destiny!
Do you believe in fate/destiny? From physicist Sabine Hossenfelder: There is nothing in physics that distinguishes the past, present and future from each another. It’s simply that we can only access the present. According to the currently established laws of… Continue reading
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Abstractions of Microbes
A selection from a series of drawings I did based on microbiology. These are produced digitally on an iPad using an Apple Pencil in Procreate. Continue reading
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Am I going bananas?
Alethea thought she was going mad. When she awoke that morning, she went downstairs for breakfast and her banana started talking to her! It said it wasn’t really real. It told her it was just a shadow on a cave… Continue reading
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“This is another fine-tuned mess you’ve gotten me into…”
‘When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?’ John Maynard Keynes ‘We have overwhelming evidence for cosmic purpose. Goal-directedness played some role in shaping the early universe. Professor Phillip Goff I recently outlined that I… Continue reading
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The Great Creative in the Sky
“I often wish (God) would manifest himself a bit more. He limits himself to once in a million years if we’re lucky.’ Peter Cook ***** I’m not an atheist – I don’t disbelieve in God, but I’m not religious either.… Continue reading
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Anatomical Self-Portraits
Here are a few anatomical self-portraits I did in 2022. I find it incredible that all of this is stuffed inside our heads! Continue reading
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Anatomical art
I produced these drawings during lockdown from medical atlases. I have a long obsession with the human body and its many intricacies. I hope you like them. Don’t forget to hit subscribe and like! If any medical students want to… Continue reading
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The Electric Life Orchestra
How bioelectricity shapes the whole universe and every living thing. Continue reading
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Where do we go when we die?
Spirits; 0% proof I’ve been thinking quite a lot about spirits lately, and what happens to us when we die. Unfortunately for me, the spirits are the out of body kind, not the alcoholic kind, as I don’t drink. I… Continue reading
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Drawing for Science, Invention & Discovery
Buy it from: www.paulcarneyarts.com This book is aimed at all the scientists, mathematicians, engineers, pioneers and thinkers out there who understand the value of creative thinking in their field. It identifies some of the key cognitive processes that drive innovation,… Continue reading
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Drawing for Anatomy
I observed a second-year medical students’ practical anatomy session at the school of medical education, Newcastle University in May 2019 under the tutelage of Doctor Joanna Matthan. It was a great honour to be given an insight into this important… Continue reading
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Perfect Child
No two things in nature are exactly the same, yet everything is made from perfect, exact particles. Nature is like some eerie living Minecraft game, where electrons and atoms simulate bricks and build incredible, unique structures. The implication of this… Continue reading
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