Random Thought #86

Ever wonder why renewable energy isn't catching on? Most would say greed and politics and that's probably true for the most part, but the argument made in this video is that it is an intermittent source of energy and isn't on-demand. If you need more energy, you can't just conjure up a wind storm or bring the sun back out, so you need to be able to store it somehow. This video talks about an amazing new technology developed at MIT called liquid metal batteries. Pretty awesome. Check it out!

http://www.ted.com/talks/donald_sadoway_the_missing_link_to_renewable_energy.html

Random Thought #85

Since this is a random thoughts blog, I had some random questions that I'm not sure have definite answers to them. If you have any thoughts or insights into them, feel free to comment. I've been reading a book on what things are like in the Spirit world and one of the descriptions was that since we don't have physical corruptible bodies, we have no need for rest or sleep. So I thought why do we need sleep? What causes fatigue? Why do we yawn? There are a lot of theories out there but nothing conclusive. Intriguing nonetheless.

Random Thought #84

I've often wondered what the purpose of ordinances in the church was. This question initially stemmed from the question whether baptism actually cleansed you from sin or whether repentance did that and baptism was an outward expression of your commitment and covenant made at baptism. I was always a proponent of the latter and after asking this question in Elders Quorum last week, a friend of mine sent me a great article that presents both sides of the argument as to whether or not we need ordinances and provides a great explanation.

http://mormonmatters.org/2009/02/15/why-would-god-create-ordinances/

Random Thought #83

I'm all about challenging the status quo and not just going along with the crowd for the sake of it or because that's the "normal" thing to do. The speaker in this video apparently feels the same way but does something about it from a design perspective. Its really quite creative and I especially like what they did with the interactive wedding invitation and the New York Times knock-off. I think you'll enjoy too

http://www.ted.com/talks/kelli_anderson_design_to_challenge_reality.html

Random Thought #82

So TED (one of my favorite websites) has launched a new series called TedEd meant to inspire youth to be the next generation of great thinkers. I watched this cool video that shows how the brain works using the leg of a cockroach and some cool technology. Its kind of ironic considering that when I walked into work this morning, I saw a cockroach on its back and when I left, it was still laying there. I learned a whole bunch of other things too outside of just neurons and nerve impulses. Maybe its just the science nerd in me, but I thought it was pretty cool

http://www.ted.com/talks/the_cockroach_beatbox.html

Random Thought #81

Here is a short little video clip about what drives folks like me to keep asking questions. Interestingly enough, many of this guy's questions are things that can be answered with knowledge of the restored gospel. Hope this short clip keeps you wondering and awe-struck inside.

http://www.ted.com/talks/questions_no_one_knows_the_answers_to.html