I member listening to Joe Rogan's podcast some time ago when the concept of Assembly Theory came up. It caught my interest as a fascinating idea. Intrigued, I dove into researching it further, and that journey has brought us to this post today!

Operating near a chaotic boundary can be.. advantageous. Systems in this state can explore a broad range of configurations. When the brain approaches such a boundary, it shows increased neural complexity. This complexity can support richer information processing. Such effects may explain why states near epileptic thresholds sometimes correlate with enhanced cognitive abilities.

In scripture, time is more than a human experience. It is a creation of God that carries divine purpose and meaning. The Bible begins with God establishing time. “And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day” (Genesis 1:5). From that initial division of light and darkness, time became woven into creation’s fabric. It was crafted to mark the rhythms of work, rest, and renewal.

Sleep is essential for the maintenance of bodily functions that include immune defense, tissue repair, and cellular homeostasis, yet many individuals find their rest disrupted and seek non-pharmacological solutions that are safer and more sustainable than conventional medications. Grounding has attracted increasing interest because it can influence electron exchange and alter the energetic balance within tissues and cells. Recent research in Sprague Dawley rats now provides some cool evidence that grounding can reshape sleep architecture and influence neural and biochemical parameters. I’ve discussed how grounding has influenced anxiety-like behavior in rats previously in Earth & Water.

I probably should've talked about information theory when I went into entropy/order of biological systems.. Information stored in life systems can be measured and the loss of that information = entropy. There's neat universality to open systems having energy flow through them. This makes internal ordering a natural process.

Consider an aging bridge constructed from well-tested materials. Even though it stands firm for decades, small cracks develop in its supports. These flaws appear slowly and quietly as thermal stresses, traffic loads, and subtle shifts in the ground beneath it cause minute changes. Over many years, the structure moves from stable and well-supported to a state where its underlying redundancies begin to fail. Its eventual need for repair or replacement does not occur through a single catastrophic event, but rather through the incremental accumulation of damage. In a similar way, living organisms face aging processes governed by principles of physics and reliability.

Chaos theory simply suggests that what appears to most people as chaos is not really chaotic, but a series of different types of orders with which the human mind has not yet become familiar.

Plants, through photosynthesis, serve as an exemplary system for examining entropy fluxes in conjunction with low-entropy reservoirs and biological processes. The process supports the second law of thermodynamics, which dictates an overall increase in entropy, even as the initial photochemical stages generate debate. Photosynthesis begins with low-entropy radiant energy from the sun. This energy is partially transformed into chemical energy stored in biomolecules, which have lower entropy compared to the heat energy generated during energy dissipation.

When light scatters, it interacts with particles, molecules, or surfaces in its path, causing it to change direction and spread out even further. Each time it encounters something new, it disperses yet again, branching off to illuminate even more areas that would otherwise remain unseen. This physical process mirrors how God’s presence and influence interact with the world, touching one life and then radiating outward to impact others. Like scattering light, God’s influence moves from one interaction to the next, spreading His truth, grace, and love far beyond the initial point of contact.

"For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light." — Ephesians 5:8

This profound verse speaks to a transformation from darkness to light, a journey from ignorance to understanding, from absence to presence. Just as we are encouraged to live as children of light, illuminating the world with our actions and presence, the natural world is abundant with organisms that emit light and energy, bringing illumination to their surroundings. These biological emissions are not merely scientific phenomena; they are manifestations of life's inherent ability to transform and radiate energy into the environment. We now return to our 3-part series on absorption, emission, and scattering phenomena.

If God is light, then when organisms absorb, emit, and scatter light, they are, in a sense, interacting with the divine presence. Each instance of taking in or reflecting light mirrors the way life is sustained and touched by God. Just as organisms depend on light for growth and life, they symbolically participate in receiving and reflecting the essence of God, embodying His presence in the natural world. In the next few posts, we'll be taking a quick look at some of these light-related processes—absorption, emission, and scattering.

In the Christianity, God is the ultimate source and sustainer of all order, a truth reflected throughout creation. Scripture reveals God’s intentional design, proclaiming that He is “not a God of disorder but of peace” (1 Corinthians 14:33). Every aspect of life’s complexity and energy flow through living systems is a testament to God’s sustaining power and presence.

This blog is a fun one - inspired by one of the greats, Mae-Won Ho. Quantum mechanics has reshaped our understanding of reality with phenomena like entanglement and coherence—concepts that have recently found unexpected relevance in biology. While the bridge between physics and biology is not immediately obvious, recent insights suggest that coherence and entanglement are not only relevant but may be fundamental to biological processes. Far from being confined to subatomic particles, these quantum effects may underpin the highly synchronized and efficient behaviors seen in living systems, from molecular interactions to cellular communication and even cognition.

The entropy of a closed system can never decrease—a fundamental principle of the second law of thermodynamics, and one often misrepresented. Some argue that "life defies this law" by suggesting that biological processes, such as the formation of organized structures like proteins or memories, reduce entropy in a way that seems “miraculous” or exceptional. This interpretation, however, stems from a misunderstanding. Life does not defy the second law because life systems are not closed systems; they continuously exchange energy and matter with their surroundings.

For a few years I’ve been working on this project - ARES, with the sole intent of helping create a positive movement in the shoe industry and, ultimately, help a ton of people with this thing called grounding. Finally. The sexiest grounding shoes ever made.

This post is a tribute to one of the most brilliant minds in biophysics, James Oschman. Despite his significant contributions, his work has often been overlooked by many. He is among the few who have articulated the physics of living organisms in a way that resonates with me. Too often, practitioners of "energy healing" lack a thorough understanding of why their methods may be effective or the underlying mechanisms at play. This brief blog aims to provide a foundational basis for these modalities, shedding light on the often underappreciated physics of organisms. By exploring these concepts, I hope to add substantial depth to the conversation about the body's energetic processes.

Welcome back to the Earth & Mind series. In Part 2, we explored the dynamic interplay between cortisol and melatonin—two critical hormones that regulate our stress response and sleep cycles. Now, we shift focus to an intersection of neurology and holistic medicine by examining how grounding might serve as a non-pharmacological intervention for sleep disturbances and psychological symptoms in individuals with mild Alzheimer’s disease. Our primary source comes from a randomized, double-blind study conducted by Lin et al. at the Department of Neurology and Chinese Medicine at Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, spanning August 2019 to July 2020.

In the first installment of the Earth & Mind Series, we explored vagal tone and how it lays the foundation for understanding the complex relationships between the body’s physiological systems and mental well-being. With this groundwork in place, we now move to the next crucial topics: stress and sleep, and how grounding can play a powerful role in mitigating stress and enhancing sleep quality.

The human body is a marvel of intricate systems working in harmony to sustain life. At the core of this symphony is the nervous system, a sophisticated network of cells and tissues that regulate every facet of our existence. From the subtleties of sensation and perception to the complexities of thought processes and emotions, the nervous system orchestrates it all. In this first installment of the Earth & Mind Series, we delve into the fascinating world of the nervous system, focusing particularly on the autonomic nervous system and the concept of vagal tone.