Thermodynamics of Life | Thomas Seager, PhD | Uncommon Living 27

In this solo episode of Uncommon Living, Thomas Seager, PhD dives deep into the thermodynamics of life. He describes how the concept of entropy was invented to solve problems in the design and operation of steam engines during the industrial revolution, and how it evolved to help solve problems in chemical engineering, computing, and artificial intelligence.Although all living systems rely on structured energy flows, Seager points out that the word "calorie" was exapted from mechanical engineering and its application to food and diet results in serious misconceptions. He suggests that the correct way to think about food is as information first, material second, and energy last -- just the opposite from the chronology of discovery in physics.Seager points out that the human body is far more complex than a steam engine, and that hormones are the information carriers, like material embodiments of condensed information, that signal metabolism.Seager gives the example of two hormones that govern appetite, ghrelin & leptin, and he mentions two that govern body composition, insulin (governing fat cell growth) and myostatin (inhibiting muscle growth).Lastly, Seager describes the essential role of mitochondria as the environmental sensing agents of the metabolic system. The mitochondria, he says, are what modifies the epigenome -- turning genes on or off -- in response to light, food, and temperature. Thus, mitochondria are the master controllers of human thermodynamics, not the DNA in the nucleus.Calories & Cold Plunge: https://www.morozkoforge.com/post/cold-thermogenesis-weight-lossThomas Seager PhD is an Associate Professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering at Arizona State University and CEO of the Morozko Forge ice bath company. Opinions and any other information expressed in this interview are for general education and entertainment purposes only. Nothing in the Uncommon Living podcast constitutes medical advice.