From the gleaming sands of the Arabian desert to the frosty tundra, the rays of the sun have the power to nourish and transform. The solar energy that is absorbed by plants during the day is stored in their energy reserves for later use. However, the amount of energy that a plant absorbs depends on various factors such as the time of day and the angle at which the sun rays fall on the surface of the earth.
The amount of energy that the sun emits is referred to as its “power”. As measured in watts, the power of the sun is estimated to be about 3.8×10^26 joules, which corresponds to 370 million million million (Watt) Mega Watts (MW). Put another way, it would take about 93 million years to obtain the same amount of energy as is emitted by the sun in a single second. Scientists also estimate that the total energy of the sun is released about every 300 days, which means that the sun will consume the equivalent of its own mass every million years.
How much solar energy would it take to power a human? To put it another way, how long would it take for the sun to completely fuel a human body? The answer to this question depends on various factors such as the type of human body you have, how much exercise you get, and what type of food you eat.
Let’s examine how much solar energy you need to power some typical human body parts and activities:
Your Brain
The brain is the most energy-hungry organ in your body, consuming about 20% of the total energy that you consume. That’s a lot of energy! When we think about how much energy our brains consume, it makes us think about our own brains, which is interesting, given that most of us don’t think about ourselves as energy consumers. We are, however, faced with the fact that our brains are growing smaller every year, which means that we need more and more energy to keep them functioning. This leads us to ask: are we harming ourselves by consuming too much energy? Maybe not. It’s been suggested that the extra energy that we consume is fueling innovations in science and technology that help us live longer and healthier lives. So, in this case, consuming energy might not be a bad thing.
Your Heart
Your heart is another energy-hungry organ, responsible for delivering oxygen to all the cells in your body. It also acts as a pump, sending blood throughout your body. The human heart beats about 100,000 times a day, which means that it consumes about 2 joules of energy every minute. That’s a lot of energy! Again, this is something to think about, as most of us don’t give our hearts much thought. The truth is that heart disease is one of the leading causes of death in developed countries. Scientists have also suggested that the rise in heart disease might be caused by our increased need for energy, as a result of our increased exposure to the sun. It’s not necessarily a bad thing that our hearts are craving energy; it’s possibly a good thing that they are wanting to function properly. So, in this case, consuming energy might not be a bad thing either.
Your Hands And Feet
Hands and feet are essential for performing daily tasks, so it is no surprise that they are among the organs that consume the most energy. Your hands are responsible for moving things around, so it makes sense that they would need a lot of energy to perform their function. Your feet also help you to stand and move around, so they need a lot of energy as well. These are all natural muscles, which means that they grow weaker as we age. This is why it’s important to stay active and move around as often as we can. Even a simple task like standing on your hands for a couple of minutes can raise your heart rate and respiration, and it’s not hard to see how this can burn a lot of energy. So, in this case, consuming energy might not be a bad thing either.
Your Kidneys And Liver
Your kidneys filter the blood that flows through your body, removing toxins and excess fluids. They also maintain the correct balance of salts and fluids in your body. On average, your kidneys remove about 200 milligrams of excess fluid from your body every day. That’s a lot of fluid! Your liver helps to regulate the body’s chemical composition and activities; it also helps to process and eliminate toxins. Your kidneys and liver act together as a team, removing toxins and excess fluids from the body. So, in this case, consuming energy might not be a bad thing either.
Your Lungs And Skin
Your lungs are vital, as we’ve discussed. They allow you to take in more oxygen than your body needs, and they remove toxins and impurities from the air that you breathe in. Oxygen is vital for the human body, as it helps our bodies to stay healthy and active. Your skin is another important organ, acting as a barrier between you and the environment. It also lets you feel pleasure through touch. We are constantly exposed to the sun’s rays, which causes our skin to become more oily and glowing. This is why it’s important to stay hydrated, which means that you should drink lots of water. If your body is not hydrated, it cannot function properly, which means that you’ll have trouble exercising and performing tasks. So, in this case, consuming energy might not be a bad thing either.
Your Spleen And Thymus
Your spleen filters the blood that flows through your body, removing excess fluids and toxins. Like your kidneys, it also maintains the correct balance of salts and fluids in your body. It’s interesting to note here that your spleen and thymus are among the many glands that produce hormones, the bodies’ natural chemicals that help to regulate various functions such as growth, reproduction, and immunity. Hormones allow your body to function in an integrated manner, as it would be hard for the different parts of your body to work together if they were not affected by one another. For example, if you don’t have enough spleen energy, it will be hard for your body to rid itself of toxins and fluids, leading to infection and other risks. So, in this case, consuming energy might not be a bad thing either.
The point is that it depends on what kind of human you have. If you’re a bit of a couch potato, it might be smart to decrease the energy that your body consumes. If you’re young and healthy, it’s probably not necessary to worry about it too much, as you’ll have plenty of energy to fuel your body’s activities. We should, however, be mindful about our bodies’ energy reserves, as they will decrease every year that we don’t use them. This, in turn, will make it harder for us to perform certain tasks, especially if we want to have children someday. In this case, it might be smart to consume less energy, to ensure that we have enough for the activities that we need to engage in daily life. It’s never easy to find the right balance between energy and life, but it’s crucial to do so if we want to have a long and healthy life.