May 2013
6 posts
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Halitosis
There is a technical word for everything in medicine. A great example is halitosis. In the late 19th century, Dr. Joseph Lawrence and Jordan Wheat Lambert developed a new surgical antiseptic. Finding that the target market was too small, they distilled the new product and advertised it as a floor cleaner and also a cure for gonorrhoea. But sales were still not great and they came up with a...
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The Oldest Trick
Magic has been a great source of entertainment for the masses for thousands of years. Across the globe, under many guises, magicians have amazed audiences with seemingly impossible “miracles” using misdirection and clever trickery. The oldest recorded trick - that is to say one performed purely for entertainment and not under the guise of religion or supernatural power - dates back to...
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Thuder And Lightning
The best or worst part (depending on your preference) about a dark and stormy night are the majestic flashes of lightning and booming thunder. Most people confuse the two terms, typically using “thunder” to describe both, but technically thunder is the sound produced by lightning, which is the flash of light. Lightning occurs when dense clouds become electrically charged due to the...
April 2013
18 posts
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Lizard People
What would the world be like if the dinosaurs had not gone extinct? In 1982, palaeontologist Dale Russell proposed a thought experiment regarding the possible evolutionary path of a species called Troodons. The Troodons were small, bird-like dinosaurs from the later periods of the reign of dinosaurs. They grew up to 2.4m in length and about 50kg in weight, standing on two slender hind legs. The...
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Life Review
They say that when you face your mortality, your entire life flashes before your eyes like a sped-up autobiographical film. This tends to happen in situation where a person feels they are in danger of imminent death, such as moments before a car crash. Reports say that the event typically lasts anywhere between less than a second to few seconds, and what they perceive as major life events flash...
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Nigganight
Yesterday, two friends and I got buckets of hot wings, a case of beer and spent the whole night drinking, eating fried chicken, and just chatting. All to the backdrop of heavy downpour. Ah the simple pleasures of life.
kingdomofdiscord replied to your post: Dramatic Opening
“…And so it came to pass that the Countess, who once bathed in the rejuvenating blood of a hundred virgins, was buried alive…And her castle in which so many cruel deeds took place fell rapidly into ruin… A solitary tower is all that remains…”
I still have flashbacks of you reading that passage in the most epic voice possible.
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Dramatic Opening
Shakespeare stated that “all is well that ends well”, but the opening of a story can be just as important. For example, “once upon a time” instantly transports a child (or adult) to a magical, faraway land full of wonders and adventure. So how would one open a story of drama, mystery or even horror?
One of the most infamous examples of such an opening is the line:...
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The Wind
Sometimes when you’re lost and don’t know which direction to go, just follow the wind. It might not be the right direction but at least the breeze will keep you cool.
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Brazil Nut Effect
Have you ever bought a bag of mixed nuts and noticed that Brazil nuts tend to be on the top of the pile? If you put nuts of various sizes in a bag and shake it, you will see that the larger nuts (such as Brazil nuts) will rise to the top slowly. This is strange as common sense dictates that heavier objects sink to the bottom. The strangest thing? No one knows exactly why this happens.
However,...
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Prostitution
They say that prostitution is the world’s oldest profession. The job sure lives up to its reputation - the first recorded incidence of paying money for sex is in 2400BC, where prostitution is recorded among a list of professions in ancient Sumer. Of course, there is no proof of it being literally the “oldest” profession, because the money (or any currency) to pay for sex must...
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Yawn
Yawning is a reflex that we usually associate with tiredness or boredom. When we feel quite sleepy or feel that it is bedtime, we will involuntarily take a deep breath in and stretch our muscles. It used to be believed that yawning is the brain’s response to lack of oxygen, which seems logical as we take a deep breath in during a yawn. However, studies have shown that yawning actually...
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Good
Good food.
Good wine.
Good coffee.
Good dessert.
Good song.
Good show.
Good laugh.
Good company.
The simpler your demands, the easier life can fulfil them and give you happiness.
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Viscera: Brain
(Learn more about the organs of the human bodies in other posts in the Viscera series here: http://jinavie.tumblr.com/tagged/viscera/chrono)
(NB: I have written MANY ARK posts about the brain and all the delightful ways it screws up. Some of them are probably the most interesting posts on my blog. Please click the hyperlinks to check out the various related articles! :D Alternatively,...
Anonymous asked: why am i so sad?
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Viscera: Large Intestine
(Learn more about the organs of the human bodies in other posts in the Viscera series here: http://jinavie.tumblr.com/tagged/viscera/chrono)
The final destination of food travelling through the digestive tract is the large intestine, or colon. It is the site where digested food is transformed into faeces, ready for excretion. The large intestine is much shorter than the small intestine - roughly...
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Viscera: Small Intestine
(Learn more about the organs of the human bodies in other posts in the Viscera series here: http://jinavie.tumblr.com/tagged/viscera/chrono)
Abdominal organs are often grouped into the colloquial term gut. “Gut” also refers to a specific organ - the small intestine (or small bowel). It is an important part of the gastrointestinal (digestive) tract, connecting the stomach to the colon...
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Viscera: Stomach
(Learn more about the organs of the human bodies in other posts in the Viscera series here: http://jinavie.tumblr.com/tagged/viscera/chrono)
The stomach is an organ that is well-known, so much so that the abdomen is often colloquially referred to as “the stomach”. It is an important organ that is part of the digestive tract, responsible for breaking down food that comes in through the...
March 2013
15 posts
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Viscera: Thyroid
(Learn more about the organs of the human bodies in other posts in the Viscera series here: http://jinavie.tumblr.com/tagged/viscera/chrono)
There lies a small, butterfly-shaped organ called the thyroid gland in your neck, just in front of your windpipe above the clavicles. The thyroid may not seem important given its small size, but it has the important function of controlling the body’s...
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Viscera: Kidneys
(Learn more about the organs of the human bodies in other posts in the Viscera series here: http://jinavie.tumblr.com/tagged/viscera/chrono)
Despite being a vital organ that one cannot survive without, the kidneys are not very famous to the general populace. Not many people know what the kidneys do, let alone where exactly they lie in the body. The kidneys (of which there are two) are the major...
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An unnecessary PSA
Just a random announcement that although my Viscera series (http://jinavie.tumblr.com/tagged/viscera/chrono) is based on the 11 organs of 오장육부 (“the viscera” as defined by traditional Asian medicine), I am switching out some organs because some are more interesting than others….
The original 11 are:
Heart
Liver
Lungs
Spleen
Kidneys
Stomach
Small intestine
Large...
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Viscera: Pancreas
(Learn more about the organs of the human bodies in other posts in the Viscera series here: http://jinavie.tumblr.com/tagged/viscera/chrono)
The pancreas is probably the most central organ in the human body. It is situated just under the liver and stomach, surrounded by the duodenum (first part of small intestine) and lies in front of the aorta. It is shaped like a fish and thus is divided into...
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Viscera: Spleen
(Learn more about the organs of the human bodies in other posts in the Viscera series here: http://jinavie.tumblr.com/tagged/viscera/chrono)
The spleen is one of the lesser known organs of the human body. If you asked the lay person, they would not know what the spleen does, let alone where it is. The spleen is a solid organ that lies in the left upper corner of the abdomen, tucked under the left...
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Viscera: Lungs
(Learn more about the organs of the human bodies in other posts in the Viscera series here: http://jinavie.tumblr.com/tagged/viscera/chrono)
Everyone knows that we need oxygen to survive. The way we get oxygen from the atmosphere is through our lungs - the organ where gas exchange takes place. The pair of lungs take up a large proportion of the chest cavity and they link up with each other to...
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Viscera: Liver
(Learn more about the organs of the human bodies in other posts in the Viscera series here: http://jinavie.tumblr.com/tagged/viscera/chrono)
The liver is the second largest organ (next to the skin) in the human body, weighing about 1.4~1.6kg. It is found tucked under the right side of the ribcage, underneath the 5th to 10th rib in height and almost spanning the entire width of the trunk. When...
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Viscera: Heart
(Learn more about the organs of the human bodies in other posts in the Viscera series here: http://jinavie.tumblr.com/tagged/viscera/chrono)
Out of the numerous organs found in the human body, the heart is perhaps the most well-known. This is probably because since the dawn of time, man has put his hand on his chest and felt the rhythmic pounding of his heart - a reminder that he is alive. The...
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Hello!
Urgh been so busy I haven’t been able to blog at all! Some general life updates:
I’ve finished my specialty medicine (cardiology & oncology) rotation and have been on my GP rotation for the past week. I’ll definitely post a little about my oncology run because it was a very special experience for me and there was a lot I learnt and felt.
Life is generally good, just the...
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Natural Design
We look around the world we live in and marvel in all its complexity and grandeur. But Mother Nature focusses on one thing when it comes to design: efficiency. That is to say, that nature strives to design things that will do the job best. For example, stars and planets are always round because a sphere is the most effective way to get all the mass as close to the planet’s centre of gravity...
February 2013
20 posts
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It's My Birthday continued
And that marks the end of my 22nd birthday!!! I have to say, it was more amazing, more awesome, more LEGENDARY than I expected it to be haha. From start to finish, I don’t think there was ever a bad moment. Every moment was pure awesome and I cherished feeling special and loved. So what did I get up to? Let’s take a look.
In the morning I had oncology acutes (kind of like emergency...
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It's MY BIRTHDAY!!! :D
Not much time tonight because I have an early start tomorrow, but do you really need to know more? ;) Rejoice people! Will put up an “update on life” post sometime tomorrow. Hopefully haha.
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Cow Modelling
There is a farmer who is unhappy with the milk production from his dairy farm. To rectify this, he writes to the local university asking for advice. A theoretical physicist responds to the request and visits the farm. He then takes many measurements such as the size of the cow and proceeds to do some calculations. After finishing all of this, he tells the farmer: “I have a solution, but it...
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Ponzi Scheme
Money is a human invention that acts as a medium of exchange and a store of value. It lets us easily carry around our assets in the form of paper, or nowadays, on a card. But because of its characteristics, money allows for some very intricate, complicated con schemes. One famous example is the Ponzi scheme - a type of investment scam.
In 1920, Charles Ponzi had a great idea. Back then, people...
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Agonal Breathing
When a person is on the verge of death, they may show a very strange pattern of breathing. They will begin gasping for breath, take deep laboured breaths, begin to make strange noises and possibly have some muscle jerks (which may look like a seizure). The breathing makes it look as if the person is taking a deep breath and sighing, while gasping every now and then irregularly. This is called...
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Doppler Effect
Have you ever noticed that when a car or train speed past you, the sound it makes changes in pitch depending on where it is? For example, imagine a train loaded with a marching band. You watch the train come closer and closer to the station where you wait, while the band plays a single note. As the train approaches, the pitch of the note gets higher and higher. The train does not see you and races...
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Four Fs
Biologists state that the driving force behind evolution can simply be summarised as four forces: fight, flight, feed and mate (“fuck”). These are known as the Four Fs. Evolution is described as the process by which species adapt to an environment through modifications in the genomes of successive generations. The Four Fs describe the adaptations most commonly seen in evolution; that...
