Why Cry?

Did you ever wonder WHY we cry, or at least why it makes us FEEL BETTER? Think about it....how is it that the combination of shaking/convulsing while loudly wailing and releasing liquid from the eye balls can make someone feel better?!?! OKOKOK, even if you don't go as far as convulsing and even if you insist you cry in silence....you can't deny the fact that crying can make you feel better in intense periods of sadness, being overwhelmed, even being overly joyous! Even if temporarily, crying can release tension enough to emotionally regroup. So WHY is that?!?!

The answer......Crying releases chemicals through your tears, that rid the body of wastes and toxins that have built up due to stress! Scientists have even found out that these chemicals are only in "emotional" tears, and not in "reflex tears". Reflex tears are the tears that are produced when you peel an onion for an example. Reflex tears are mostly water, whereas emotional tears contain these chemicals in addition to water. So next time you are crying, just remember that it is nature's way of helping deal with stress and helping you remain healthy.


Check out these sites if you want to learn more!

Tearful Serenity: Crying Away the Stress
How Crying Works

Eye-Tracking Software

A company called Tobi Technology has recently developed a new type of software that allows people to control computers and machines through eye contact. It works by sending out an infarred light pattern that is reflected in a person's eyes, and their eye position is calculated. Even with just a glance, it is known by the computer what a person is looking at. It is now being used by the disabled, who have a hard time using the computer, and by some companies to increase productivity in the office. I have just been trying to figure out how safe the constant infarred light could be, especially if you work in front of a computer all day that is using this technology. One of the other ideas for this technology is requiring it to be installed in cars. The idea is that it will be able to tell if a person is checking their mirrors before they switch lanes, or if they are getting tired or falling asleep. I'm unsure on how I feel about this car installation, especially if it becomes something mandatory in new cars, but overall think its a pretty cool new piece of technology, that is once again blurring the line between humans and technology!






Check out the company website!

Synthetic Organisms?!

Scientists for the first time have created a synthetic cell, completely controlled by man-made genetic instructions. It is claimed though that these are very much real cells, even having the ability to reproduce! This new ability to create life, an entire organism, offers a very new power over life. Of course it could be used for very beneficial purposes, such as curing diseases, but I am left with a major ethical dilemma. I feel very, very unsettled about this whole thing. As much good as this research could do, is it moral or ethical to manipulate life like that? Or not even to manipulate life, but to create something that is living that is forced to live with the genetic code, and perform the tasks that a scientist created. Some people feel that these scientists are just doing what ever they can to disprove God. I don't feel that they are doing that, but I feel that if left in the hands of the wrong person, very bad things could happen. Think about it. After created, these "synthetic" cells take on a life of their own and are able to reproduce and live without help from humans! That is creepy. Creepy because scientists are combining this new found power with chemistry, computer science, molecular biology, genetics and cell biology to breed industrial life forms that can secrete fuels, vaccines or other commercial products. That is what is unsettling to me. What if a bio/computer life form is created, something that we are used to hearing about in "sci-fi" movies? These things are happening now, and this certainly isn't the movies. These life forms technically can be "all-knowing" individuials that can reproduce by themselves.  Scary? Yes.

Gender Switching Frogs?!

Ok, so I heard about some species (especially of water dwelling animals) being able to switch genders, such as clown fish and some types of snails and lizards. But what a college student in California discovered a couple of months ago is really shocking. A common weed killer (atrazine) which can easily get into and contaminate water, has been shown to switch the genders of frogs! The study was done on 40 all male frogs, forced to live in water contaminated with this weed killer as part of the experiment. By the end, 30% of the males started to act like females, even releasing chemicals to attract other males. In addition, 4 had high levels of estrogen (10%). 2 of these 4 frogs with high estrogen were dissected, and it was found that they had female reproductive organs as well. The other lucky 2 were allowed to mate with males and they actually successfully produced babies! 

As weird/amusing/disturbing as you may find this, it is actually a bigger problem than just having to do with frogs. Any chemical that changes the ability or way animals reproduce can actually threaten their survival as a species! Hopefully this study will help us as a nation to combat pollution and other environmental issues. 


Check out the news article!

Food For Thought

When reading through some of the latest science news, one article caught my eye by way of making me laugh, but not intentionally.

The study was being done at Carnegie Mellon University to help people reduce craving and consumption of food.  The whole study was based on the idea if you think about eating food, that you won't eat as much of it later. So they basically tell you that if you are on a diet, to think about eating a candy bar, and then if you do end up eating one, that you possibly won't eat as much.

I do appreciate people trying to figure out something to do about the obesity epidemic in America, but how practical can this be? What happens if you think about a different type of food than the one you will be eating later? Do you eat double since you thought of a different food, and now the cravings are worse? How long do you have to think about the food? What if you only keep imagining fatty and bad-for-you foods? When are people going to find the time to do anything, when for at least 3 meals a day, they are required to think only about the food they are going to eat later? Won't this affect work efficiency, or maybe the person mentally?

I understand that this is a drug-free way to try to keep pounds off, and maybe you can use it in a therapy type session, but really....how practical  is this study in the everyday life of an American?



Heres the link!

Killer Carp!!

Check this out! There is a HUGE problem going on regarding the Great Lakes, which can actually become a global problem. Asian Carp, who are obviously NOT native to America, were brought to America to be used in some businesses to help clean fish tanks, keep other fish populations under control etc. All was fine and dandy until somehow, some got released into the main rivers, which actually connect to the Great Lakes. Now that may not SOUND like a big problem, fish ARE supposed to be in water and rivers, right? Long story short, these fish have no natural predators, meaning that their population is SKYROCKETING because nothing else eats them. So what is the big deal about such a big fish population? First of all, these fish are HUGE and eat so much, that they are seriously taking away massive quantities of food from other species. Next, whenever disturbed, they hop out of the water. Sounds pretty cool, but I mean HUNDREDS of HUGE fish hopping out of water at the same time, when ever a boat goes down the river, or even when the water is simply disturbed. These flying fish are seriously injuring people, by hitting them in the head for example and destroying boats. They are making the rivers unnavigable. Even if you are someone who could care less about populations of fish, imagine how mad you would be if you suddenly couldn't take your boat out anymore because of the dangers, or imagine if you fished for a living, and now suddenly the business comes crashing down because of this invasive species and someone's mistake in letting them escape to the major water-ways.

The problem that we are facing today, is that the fish were originally only in the rivers leading up to the Great Lakes, but now they are actually being found in the Great Lakes and this has to be stopped IMMEDIATELY!! Why? Because the Great Lakes are one of the major sources in America for various types of fish. Besides the annoyance of these fish simply in our waters, they could singlehandedly destroy the lifestyle of many as well as a major source of food. In these times, with our economy basically crumbling, the last thing we need is something like this. Something has to be done, and fast!

The Scoop on Poop!

Okay, well we do live in a world that is largely "poop" phobic, or better put, germ phobic. We have those people OBSESSED with washing their hands, or maybe bathing with those little Purell bottles, other people who refuse to shake hands with others (RUDE?!) etc. But do they realize that they encounter wastes (and germs) all the time?! Two examples that shock some, while pleasantly put a smile on my face are BAD BREATH and ALCOHOL!

First of all....many people don't realize that A LOT of bad breath is caused by bacteria in the mouth. Well, that might be known....but what people don't realize...is WHAT causes the smell associated with bad breath. Here it is put simply.....EVERYBODY IN THE WORLD HAS NATURAL BACTERIA IN THEIR MOUTH (same with the rest of the body). The difference with bad breath.....is that if you don't brush your teeth as you should....the bits and pieces of  FOOD in your mouth provide FOOD for the BACTERIA! Therefore they are able to eat and reproduce like crazy (PARTYYYYYYYY!!!!!!) and after ingesting (eating the food) and digesting the food (breaking it down) they DO release wastes JUST LIKE EVERYONE IN THIS WORLD! In the process of DIGESTING the food that YOU fed them by  not brushing your teeth, they are releasing SULFUR as a bi-product....the very same (repulsive) smell released  when anyone "cuts the cheese". So that's kind of gross, right?! What you are smelling when you smell bad breath due to bacteria build up, is the same exact chemical that is released from the anus of anyone releasing gas. Gross!

Secondly....many people do know that alcohol is made by the process of fermentation (alcohol fermation...remember??!). But what many DON'T realize with the whole yeast/fermentation of alcohol thing....is that what is released from the living organisms to produce alcohol is a waste product! Well, at least it's not a smelly sulfur gas as with teeth brushing.....but in order to get drunk, you have to drink the WASTE PRODUCTS of another living organism!

Now only imagine if our poop was that valuable!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!