Why Is Yawning Contagious? GUEST BLOG

Why Is Yawning Contagious? GUEST BLOG

Todays blogger is Kristen

Yawning has to do with your brain. When yawning it bypasses the known brain circuitry.
This circuitry is called the “mirror-neuron system,” because it contains special type of brain cells or neurons that becomes active when either the owner does it or when he or she senses someone else doing so. Mirror neurons typically happen when a person consciously imitates an action of someone elses. But they seem to play no role in yawn contagiousness.

Source: http://www.world-science.net/exclusives/050309_yawnfrm.htm

What is Bacopa monnieri?

One of the body building magazines mentioned this as an ingredient - what is it?

This botanical is found in the southern United States and has been tested as a memory enhancer and has been found to improve cognitive function in the older adult (J Altern Complement Med. 2008 Jul;14(6):707-13).

In body building, the impact on the thyroid was probably the sought after function. Research in India indicated that this botanical may be used as a thyroid stimulating drug which some body builders may want to use to increase energy(J Ethnopharmacol. 2002 Jul;81(2):281-5). This product should not be used to self-treat thyroid conditions. The normal thyroid secretes enough hormone and you risk hyperthyroidism if you regularly ingest this plant.

What requires more energy, brain or heart cells? GUEST BLOG

Today's guest blogger is Mandi.

The brain cells need two times more energy than any other cell in the human body. The cells that communicate with each other, neurons, have a high demand for energy because they are always in a state of activity. Even while we are sleeping, neurons are at work fixing and rebuilding components. They manufacture enzymes and neurotransmitters that have to be sent out to the nerve branches. Bioelectric signals responsible for communication throughout the nervous system demand the most energy from neurons. This action alone accounts for half of all the brain's energy. The heart, however, only requires the same amount of energy as other muscle organs.

Soruce: http://www.fi.edu/learn/brain/carbs.html

What Causes Headaches?

Headaches are fairly common and are caused by tight, contracted muscles in your shoulders, neck, scalp, and jaw. These are called tension headaches. They are often related to stress, anxiety, overworking, not getting enough sleep, and missing meals. Some headaches can be triggered by chocolate, cheese, and monosodium glutamate (MSG). People who drink caffeine can have headaches when they don't get their usual daily amount, these are referred to as "caffeine withdrawal" headaches.

Other common causes of headaches include:

Holding your head in one position for a long time, like at a computer, microscope, or typewriter
Poor sleep position
Overexerting yourself
Clenching or grinding your teeth

Source: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003024.htm

Can you tell me more about jellyfish?

Jellyfish are interesting animals but not ones that you would want to get real close to.
During their life cycle, jellyfish experience an alternation of generations in which one generation (the medussa) reproduces sexually and the next generation (the polyp) reproduces asexually. The medusa form is the dominant and most recognized form of the jellyfish.
In the first part of a jellyfish's life it is a stationary polp and is attached to a substrate. A polyp is cylindrical and stalk-like in form. At its base is a disc that adheres to the substrate and its top is a mouth opening surrounded by small tentacles. The polyp feeds by drawing food into its mouth. It grows and begins to bud new polyps from its trunk. As it does, the polyp develops into what is called a polyp hydroid colony. Members of the polyp colony are linked together by feeding tubes. The entire polyp hydroid colony, like the originating polyp, is sessile. The polyp colony can grow for several years. When polyps within the colony reach an adequate size, they are ready to begin the next stage in the jellyfish life cycle - the adult medusa.


Source: http://animals.about.com/od/cnidarians/a/lifecyclejellyf.htm

If I get stung by a jellyfish what is the best treatment?

I think we will bust a commonly held myth with the answer to your question.

Several years ago a TV show recommended urine after a jellyfish sting. In reality, urine could make the sting situation worse. Jellyfish, those bulbous Medusa-like creatures, float near many of the world's beaches. Some of the jellyfish's skin cells are stinging cells, or cnidocytes. These specialized cells have organelles called nematocysts that contain venom. Cnidocytes are spread along the entire length of the jellyfish's tentacles.

Once stung, angry, red, whiplike lash marks appear on the skin. The pain radiates from the sting site and starts to itch, burn and throb as it blisters. Scratching it, though, can make the pain worse, because rubbing activates the nematocysts, which release more venom. The best treatment is to rinse off the nematocysts with salt water. Urine may be too dilute and not contain enough salts to be effective in getting rid of the stingy darts, in fact, dilute urine may cause the nematocysts to fire causing even more pain.

Source: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=fact-or-fiction-urinating

What causes an itch?

Many itches have medical causes like dry skin, insect bites, allergic reactions and psoriasis. If itching is caused by one of these it is best to refrain from scratching the site. As you may have experienced, scratching feels good for only a second and then the area itches worse than ever. Also, the bacteria under your nails may be enough to cause an infection at the site of the itch.

It appears that cold and itch travel the same nerve pathways so you can stop an itch by blocking the pathway with cold. Ice packs and menthol may temporarily stop an itch and can be reapplied frequently.

Source:http://www.medicinenet.com/itch/article.htm

I know most starfish have 5 arms but can they have more?

Starfish come in lots of different varieties, one recent count numbered the species in this class at about 1500! So, to answer your question, some starfish have more than five arms, in fact one, the Helicoilaster has 50 arms which all radiate from the central body part.

In addition to arms in multiples of five, many echinoderms have the remarkable ablitity to regenerate lost arms. In some cases, lost arms have been observed to regenerate a second complete sea star.

Source:http://science.jrank.org/pages/6450/Starfish.html

Do Blind People Have Images in Their Dreams?

Several scientific sleep laboratory studies have shown that dreamers who were born blind and those who became blind in infancy do not have visual imagery in their dreams, whereas those blinded in adolescence or young adulthood often retain visual mental imagery in their waking life and in their dreams.

These controlled experiments confirm what has been reported in a number of earlier self-report studies reviewed by Kirtley (1975), who concluded that individuals blinded before the age of about 5 report no visual imagery in dreams as adults, whereas those blinded after about the age of 7 are likely to retain visual imagery in dreaming.

Source: http://psychology.ucsc.edu/dreams/Library/kerr_2004.html

Do Fish Have Saliva?

A fish does eat with its mouth and has many organs that are similar to a human so your question is logical.

The buccal cavity of the mouth secretes mucus to aid in the swallowing of food, but there are no salivary glands. This mucus is a only a lubricant, it contains no digestive enzymes like mammalian saliva. So no food is chemically altered in the mouth.

Source: http://www.earthlife.net/fish/digestion.html

What Can You Tell Me About The Electic Eel?

The eel is really not an eel - it is closer to a carp and yes, it does generate electricity!

These awesome freshwater predators get their name from the huge electrical charge they can generate to stun prey and avoid predators. Their bodies contain electric organs with about 6,000 specialized cells called electrocytes that store power like tiny batteries. When threatened or attacking prey, these cells will discharge simultaneously, sending out a burst of at least 600 volts, five times the power of a standard U.S. wall socket.

If you want to see these fish in their natural habitat you need to travel to South America. There they grow to be over 8 feet (2.5 meters) in length and 44 pounds (20 kilograms) in weight.

Source:http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/fish/electric-eel.html

Huge U.S.-Saudi arms deal

The United States has announced one of the largest weapons sales in its history, worth nearly $60 billion, to Saudi Arabia.

Announcing the deal, Assistant Secretary for Political-Military Affairs Andrew Shapiro said the U.S. planned to sell the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia a “significant defence package that will promote regional security and enhance the defensive capabilities of an important Gulf partner with whom we have had a longstanding and close security relationship.”

The most significant components of the package include 84 F-15 aircraft, 70 upgrades of existing Saudi F-15s to a more advanced configuration, 70 AH-64D Apache Longbow helicopters, 72 UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters, 36 AH-6i light attack helicopters, and 12 MD-530F light training helicopters.

The proposed packages also include aircraft munitions, support, and training services are sufficient, officials said.

In approving the sale the Obama administration argued that it would advance U.S. national security, send a “strong message” to the region that the U.S. was committed to support the security of its allies in the Arabian Gulf and enhance “Saudi Arabia's ability to deter and defend against threats to its borders and to its oil infrastructure, which is critical to our economic interests.”

U.S. officials also emphasised that in authorising the weapons sale they had taken into account how it was “appropriate” from a regional political-military perspective and determined that it “would not negatively impact Israel's security interests or Israel's qualitative military edge.” Further, Assistant Secretary of Defence for International Security Affairs Alexander Vershbow said the sale would improve U.S.-Saudi interoperability and as a result the U.S. Department of Defence would be able to free up U.S. forces in the region and maximise the effectiveness of the U.S.' global force posture. When asked whether the sale implied the use of air power against Iran, Mr. Shapiro said: “It is not solely about Iran.”

The longbow

The Longbow

THE LONGBOW, defined as one over 4ft. in length, was probably first used by the Germans or Scandinavians in about 500AD. In about 1000AD it was being used in Wales but it is not known if it was developed there independently or if it was borrowed from other parts of Europe. Around 1300, during a skirmish with the Welsh, an English knight received a wound from an arrow that had penetrated his chain mail, passed through his thigh, the chain mail on the other side of his leg, a wooden saddle and wounded the horse. The English decided this was a weapon with real potential as lowly infantry could handle a weapon that could defeat the finest armor. 
Early tests showed that the longbow could fire an arrow with such force that it could penetrate a four inch oak door with a handspan of the arrow’s shaft exposed on the other side.

The first time it played a major role was at the Battle of Falkirk in 1298 when Edward I defeated William Wallace, largely due to a devastating hail of arrows from Welsh archers against the Scots.

English archers proved decisive against the French during the 100 Years War (1337-1453) at the battles of Crecy, Poitiers and Agincourt. Each of these major victories were won against far larger French armies.

The best longbows were made of yew. The staves were cut in winter when no sap was running, from the junction of the inner heartwood and the outer sapwood. The staves were seasoned and worked on gradually over a period of three to four years. Today only six longbows survive, none from the "golden age" and sources do not agree on the dimensions. Most give the length as about 70in. with a drawing pull of 75-100lbs. The arrows were between 27-36in. long. A trained archer could shoot 12 arrows a minute, but some sources say that the most skilled archers could fire twice this number. The arrow could wound at 250 yards, kill at 100 yards and penetrate armor at 60 yards.

At the battle of Agincourt in 1415, 1,000 arrows were fired every second. After the battle, observers wrote that the white feathers from the flights were so thick on the ground, it looked like snow.

The surviving examples of longbows look unfinished and it is probable that most of the bows had this appearance: the junction of the inner and outer woods would rarely be straight but this was not important. Interestingly English yew was not considered suitable to make bows and the staves were imported, largely from Italy and Spain. To ensure a regular supply, each ton of certain imports, including wine, had to be accompanied by 10 yew staves.

The French did not at first credit the major victories of the English to the longbow but to the other tactics, especially the use of the English knights fighting on foot. The French did start to train some infantry in the use of the longbow in the late 1300s but the king was most concerned about peasants having such powerful weapons and the idea was dropped.

The training adopted by the English was rigorous. All sports were banned on Sundays and men between 12 and 65 were expected to practice their archery. Every man with an income of over £2 a year was required to own a bow.

The longbow was the most powerful weapon in Europe from about 1300 to 1588. In that year, the Spanish Armada, aware of the English skill with the longbow, armed their troops with bows. The English however experimented by having 10,000 harquebusiers (early firearms) which proved superior. However, the longbow still had its supporters. After the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, a senior British officer seriously suggested the readoption of the longbow by the infantry.

Best video games of 2010

1°

Battlefield Bad Company 2 Ultimate Edition

This is probably the most controversial of all the games on the list, not because it is a bad game, but many will think that there are better games out there. To be fair, the single-player campaign is fun but forgettable, and the first-person shooter style is not exactly unique. But the reason that this game made the list is for one simple fact, the multiplayer, which takes a proven formula and makes it even better.

                                                                Where other first-person shooters are all about the agro and adrenaline online, BFBC2 is all about teamwork. There is still a healthy dose of agro (especially in the more traditional deathmatches) and you can try to do everything solo, but the game is made to be played as a team, which is a refreshing change from the other online war games that dominate the charts. As a technical feat, the ability to destroy structures and use vehicles is also impressive. It is also nice to see a game that you can pick up anytime, and while you will have some rough games while you are learning what to do, even a beginner can have success online. So if you are looking for an online shooter that won’t make you scream obscenities every few minutes, then BFBC2 is the game for you. Medal of Honor uses the same engine online, but a flawed single player game will mean there are more people that remain loyal and play BFBC2long after they trade MoH in.

                                                 

2° Call of duty black ops 

Call of Duty is arguably the best title that will frustrate you like no other. It has its issues, but the annoyances of lag quickly give way to the thrill of a solid killstreak. The leveling should keep you entertained for awhile to come, and the online community will make sure that you can always find a game, and no two games are identical. Love it or hate it, the game is a must-have for shooter fans.

For every person that loves this series, there is another that bitterly hates it—and yet both will probably still be playing it online until the next Call of Duty title drops next year – when they will probably love the new game and yet hate it compared to this game. To be fair, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare set the bar so high, that many first-person shooters will be held to it for years to come. And while Black Ops may not be the same breakthrough game that its predecessor was, it is still a great game, and the most popular online shooter available on consoles.

                                              3°God of War 3

The God of War series had many people collecting their change for years to save up for a PS3 just to play this game, and it’s one of the best the PS3 has to offer. If it were released this year, the God of War Collection, which features both of the ps2 God of War games with shiny new HD graphics, might have bumped GoW3 simply because this is the continuation of the story, and you need to have played the first two in order to appreciate the plot.

But assuming you played the originals, the third game meets, and in some ways exceeds, all expectations. Besides offering fluid and well-honed controls, GoW3 is perhaps the best-looking game on the PS3. That is saying an awful lot, but the imaginative settings, the incredible details, and the scope make this an easy pick for one of the best games of 2010.

4°Halo: Reach                          

If this game were a TV show from the 80s, it would be TheIncredible Hulk – specifically because of the scene at the end of each episode when Bruce Banner walked down a lonely highway with melancholy music playing until the credits rolled. Halo: Reach is the melancholy goodbye to the series from developer Bungie, which has drawn the Halo story to a close and moved on to other projects.

Although Halo: Reach is a prequel to the original trilogy, it is also the culmination of the work Bungie spent developing the series for over a decade. The gameplay is tight, and the multiplayer will have people coming back for years to come. It’s a must-have for Halo fans, and a solid end to the series from Bungie (although the franchise will continue under

                           

                                            5°Mass Effect                                        The only bad thing about Mass Effect 2 is that you should play through the original Mass Effect first. It isn’t necessary, and the first game isn’t bad by any means, but Mass Effect 2will likely go down as one of the best games of this generation of consoles, and far overshadow its predecessor. The other thing that might turn people off from this game is the RPG style and its length. It can easily take upwards of 40 hours to make it through, and that is not including all the side quests and additional expansions that have been released.Of course, that criticism is true of every game – if you don’t like the style you won’t like the game – but with Mass Effect 2, it is a real shame if people overlook the title because of past experiences with the genre. Although the game is currently only available for the Xbox 360, a PS3 version is due out in January and available for pre-order.

                                                                      6°Super Mario Galaxy 2

If you own a Wii, buy this game. It really is that simple.Super Mario Galaxy 2 is not only one of the best Wii games made (and might be the best Wii game made), but it is arguably one of the best Nintendo games ever made, which is saying an awful lot about a company that has dominated the gaming market for 25 years.

You might think that Mario has hit his peak, and the best years of the plumber are behind him. Sure, the graphics are not as strong as some of those on the Wii’s competitors, but the game is simply fun, and wildly imaginative. Suitable for gamers of all ages, Super Mario Galaxy 2 game might be the only Wii title on the list, but it might also be the best game of the year.

                                                      7° Red Dead Redemptio                                            

When the majority of the game-of-the-year awards begin to drop, expect this title to proudly sit on top of the majority of those lists. It already cleaned up at the SpikeTV Video Game Awards last week, and nobody was surprised to see the developers walk away with an armful of statues. Red Dead Redemption just clicks. From the stories, to the several expansion packs that continue to keep the title relevant, RDRis one of, if not the very best, game of the year.

Putting players in the role of John Marston, a former outlaw who is forced to hunt down his murderous ex-partner, RDRdefies expectations at every turn. Marston may appear to be the typical spaghetti western hero, but he soon shows a depth of character that few video game characters can match. He is a fighter, a hero, sometimes a villain, and a family man, and the world he occupies is just as deep and well developed. When you add the online play, and expansions like the exceptional “Undead Nightmare,” as well as multiplayer.  RDR is a game that belongs in every collection, and will be played for a long time to come.

                                                    8°

NBA2K11

While it would be easy to just claim that this game is on the list because a sports game needed to be represented,NBA2K11 earned its place. Featuring Michael Jordan and his career as a game mode adds something to the title, but even his Airness would have become just a gimmick if the gameplay weren’t up to the task. Thankfully it is, andNBA2K11 is one of the most intuitive and well-rounded sports games ever made.

When you add in the seriously deep features and options,NBA2K11 is not just a good game for sports fans, it has that rare ability to win over people who are not fans of the genre. You don’t need to know the names Kobe Bryant or Lebron James to pick a team and learn enough to have fun. It’s worth a look for all gamers, and a guaranteed hit for sporting fans.

                             

                              

                                         9°Sid Meier’s Civilization V

If you have ever dreamed of taking a long dead-civilization like the Aztecs or the ancient Egyptians, then rewriting history and watching them spread out across the globe, Civilization V is the game for you. Civ V is one of those games that even casual gamers can suddenly find themselves lost for hours in. Even though this title is the fifth in the franchise, it is easy to pick the game up and enjoy, but it can take a long, long time to master. That is what makes this game a must have for most people, as it is something that will appeal to everyone.

Unlike real-time strategy games like StarCraft II, Civ V is a turn-based strategy game, which might make it a little more forgiving for players looking to jump online and try their hands against other players. The learning curve will still be steep, but unlike other games, at least you won’t jump online and be swarmed and killed within five minutes (looking at you StarCraft II, looking right at you). This game is deep enough that it might take months to see everything it has to offer.

                                                                  

                                                                                  10° StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty

People tend to either love StarCraft games, or hate them, there is very little middle ground. People who hate them tend to do so passionately, as do the people that love the games – just look at the South Koreans, who have built an industry around the game that includes nationally recognized leagues, televised tournaments, and even their own match fixing scandls. It is a big deal.

The newest entry in the series was over 10 years in the making, and while some fans initially criticized aspects that they did not like, most of those same fans are still playing online, and will continue to do so for years, literally. If you are new to the series, the cut scenes and storyline are enough to keep you interested, through the lengthy single-player campaign, and if you have the patience to survive the learning curve online, you can find something new withStarCraft II for years to come, making it one of the top PC games for the year.