There were a few questions that popped up in class today, and I thought it would be worth adding a few articles to help answer.
First, would your eyes really pop out if you were to sneeze with them open? Mythbusters tackles the question! I need to do a little more searching for articles that address how people can pop out their eyes (it's related to muscle control), but here is a little article on an actress who is able to do it on demand. Don't try it at home! Bill Gates visits the Janicki Omniprocessor and drinks water that was sewage 5 minutes prior. I've been meaning to post this article for a while. Most animals are able to produce pigments for specific colors, or they attain the colors from something that they eat. The pink of flamingo feathers and bodies comes from the birds' diets; pigments in shrimp color their feathers the vivid shade. Blue is a bit of an anomaly. To read more, check out How Animals Hacked the Rainbow and Got Stumped on Blue on NPR. Evan Leeson/Bob Peterson/lowjumpingfrog/Look Into My Eyes/Flickr
In our discussions of genetics and heredity, we have been establishing that alleles are passed from parent to offspring in pairs, largely because we have two parents each. It came up, however, that there have been instances where fertility treatments have allowed for a child to have three biological parents. Seems too much like it's out of a science fiction novel? Read here to find out how it works.
In honor of my return from maternity leave, my little pirate is a link to an article from Scientific American about how crying baby mammals sound the same to mamas of various species. It seemed appropriate.
I'll see you in the morning! After much anticipation, Elliot Arel arrived on Thursday evening. Dad and I are totally in love. He is beautiful and perfect. We are now home and letting E set the pace of life with pjs, naps, and snuggles.
8 pounds, 5 ounces / 21 1/4 inches All of us have wondered "What if?" about one topic or another at some point in our lives. Randall Munroe of xkcd comics has a new book that answers many of the questions submitted to him, including what would happen if you threw a baseball at 90% of the speed of light. The book is entertaining (my husband and I listened to the first half on our drive to see Neil deGrasse Tyson), and the Science Friday interview is worth a listen.
Because the brain does not have sensory nerves and it is important for surgeons to make sure that they do not accidentally damage an area that controls speech or other critical functions, they can sometimes operate on patients while they are conscious. The patient is put to sleep for the surgeons to get into the skull, but then he or she is woken up to be able to respond to stimuli. Recently, a professional violinist underwent surgery to try to fix a slight tremor that was affecting his playing abilities. Surgeons woke him up and asked him to play while they were operating on him so that they could know if the problem was addressed. Modern medicine is pretty amazing! Here's a link to the story. |
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March 2015
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