Tom Murphy

Tom Murphy is a professor of physics at the University of California, San Diego. An amateur astronomer in high school, physics major at Georgia Tech, and PhD student in physics at Caltech, Murphy has spent decades reveling in the study of astrophysics. He currently leads a project to test General Relativity by bouncing laser pulses off of the reflectors left on the Moon by the Apollo astronauts, achieving one-millimeter range precision. Murphy’s keen interest in energy topics began with his teaching a course on energy and the environment for non-science majors at UCSD. Motivated by the unprecedented challenges we face, he has applied his instrumentation skills to exploring alternative energy and associated measurement schemes. Following his natural instincts to educate, Murphy is eager to get people thinking about the quantitatively convincing case that our pursuit of an ever-bigger scale of life faces gigantic challenges and carries significant risks.

Note from Tom: To learn more about my personal perspective and whether you should dismiss some of my views as alarmist, read my Chicken Little page.

Game of Life simulation

The Game of Life

Whatever the case, I will continue to play the role it seems I am set out to play, and hope that I happen to be on the “right side of history.” In the game of life, the only way to know is to keep playing.

March 13, 2024

Let's Make a Deal!

Let’s Make a Deal!

Thus, maybe the choice is not a false one after all. If we value the animals above our devices and conveniences, than maybe we ought to act like it—because it is far from obvious that we can have our cake and eat it, too. What fool would even risk it?

March 6, 2024

goose chase

Unsustainable Goose Chases

Let’s begin the healing, by first falling out of love with (abusive) modernity, and thinking about what matters most in life. Hint: don’t stop at humans, as that spells a dead end for humans as well.

February 28, 2024

Nissan Leaf battery pack

Inexhaustible Flows?

It should not be surprising that we have not yet been—and may never be—able to engineer long-term-sustainable modernity (i.e., high-tech). I strongly suspect that’s not even a thing. Why on Earth would we just assume that it’s possible?

February 21, 2024

hourglass

Sustainable Timescales

Will our intelligence prove to be too much of a “good” thing and turn us into evolution’s deadliest blunder, or will at least some of us learn to tuck back into our family, no longer hubristic enough to play at being gods?

February 14, 2024

clockwork

Mysterious Materialism

I’m glad to have a part, and to participate in this incredible life. It gives me pleasure to be on the side of all life, and to be an agent trying to nudge humanity in an adaptively beneficial direction.

February 7, 2024

Load More

2 thoughts on “Tom Murphy”

Leave a Comment