Showing posts with label Metabolism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Metabolism. Show all posts

27 March 2015

An invisible sun within us

We use about 2 milliwatts of energy per gram - some 130 watts for an average person weighing 65kg, a bit more than a standard 100 watt light bulb. That may not sound like a lot, but per gram it is a factor of 10,000 more than the Sun (only a tiny fraction of which, at any one moment, is undergoing nuclear fusion). Life is not much like a candle; more of a rocket launcher.
from The Vital Question by Nick Lane (2015)

Image of ATP synthase by David S. Goodsell, the Scripps Research Institute via PDSB

17 February 2015

Bright light

A human being has about the same power rating as one incandescent light bulb.


photo by author