Archive for the ‘points of intrest’ Category

Choosing a Halloween Costume: The Hidden Consequences

Friday, September 2nd, 2011

When you’re looking for a Halloween costume, it’s important that you consider any consequences that might come from wearing it. Most people don’t think about how they’ll be perceived, and they don’t think about how comfortable they’ll actually be. Instead, they just pick something they like the look of, or that they think will be funny. It’s often best to put more thought into your costume.

Getting the Right Costume

Whether you’re buying an infant Halloween costume, a child or for yourself, it’s important that you get something safe. Many costumes, especially those for children, come with paper or plastic types of masks. These can be hard to see out of, and can really limit how much peripheral vision a person has. When you can’t see well, you’re more likely to get injured, so consider that before you buy a costume for yourself or for your kids. You can get many nice costumes that aren’t as vision-restrictive and that will be more comfortable and safer to wear.

What Are You Saying About Yourself?

It’s easy to say that you don’t care what others think, but most people actually do care what people are saying about them. Find a costume that’s appropriate for your age and lifestyle, so that you don’t get “branded” by your friends, colleagues, or the entire neighborhood. Skimpy, overly sexual costumes are often a poor choice, as are costumes that dredge up bad memories – such as terrorists, etc.

If you take your time and act thoughtfully when buying a Halloween costume, you’ll be much more likely to purchase something that you like and that others will also like. You’ll be comfortable and safe, and you’ll have a great time on Halloween no matter whether you’re going to an office party or trick-or-treating with your friends and kids.

What is the Sixth Sense?

Wednesday, May 11th, 2011

Biologically speaking, humans have five senses that they use to perceive and navigate the world around them. These are sight, hearing, smell, touch, and taste and each has valuable things to tell us about concrete reality. The sixth sense, however, is unique. It’s a slippery thing that we have trouble defining. Sometimes we even have trouble deciding whether it actually exists or is just a made up concept that describes a series of very real phenomena. What we do know is that while the five traditional senses seem to be grounded in a very physical way of experiencing the world, the sixth sense is all about the power of the mind.

 

Perception and Intuition

Officially, the sixth sense is described as another way of perceiving the world. In fact, it’s almost an absence of perception. It’s a perception that is “seemingly independent of the five senses”. In other words, it’s the kind of knowledge that you didn’t even know that you had and you certainly don’t know where you got it. It’s also called intuition and some go even further and call it a kind of ESP or extra sensory perception. In any case, it often seems kind of magical to us.

 

Scientific Answers

Scientists who have studied that question of a sixth sense focus on the origination of this strange knowledge. Most theorists believe that the effect we call our sixth sense often comes from the same place as our other knowledge of the world, the original five senses. They believe that we don’t always have conscious knowledge of all the information we are consistently collecting from the environment using our senses. When we use our brain’s processing power to put together this behind the scenes information we may draw conclusions that come as a complete surprise to our conscious mind. We tell ourselves that the resulting information came from our sixth sense.

 

Searching for an Undiscovered Planet

Sunday, April 10th, 2011

Everyone knows that Pluto is no longer a planet. Since 2008 Pluto’s official classification has been plutoid. It’s a move that was and continues to be hotly debated among scientists as well as the general public. You can even find poetry devoted to commemorating Pluto’s loss of status. Now, however, the hunt is on to fill the void that deplanetizing Pluto has caused and some astronomers won’t be satisfied until they dethrone Jupiter. From Pluto, to Planet X to Tyche, it seems that researchers are determined to rewrite and reclassify the solar system and its contents in order to suit their wildest theories. Everyone wants to be the one to discover a new planet.

 

The Story of Planet X

Astronomers have been speculating that there was another, bigger, planet out there affecting our solar system since 1840. In that case, it turned out that they were right—they found Neptune. Neptune’s discovery didn’t answer all of their questions, however, and in 1894 scientists coined the term Planet X to describe the proposed planet. This planet was theorized to explain irregularities in Neptune and Uranus’s orbits, but further evidence for its existence was never found and the last scientist studying it died in 1993. Since then, there has been little interest in the potential of Planet X.

 

New Planet on the Block

In 1999, new theories began pop up, speculating as to the existence of a planet called Tyche. Tyche could be as big as four times the size of Jupiter, say scientists. It may be located about 375 times further away from the sun than Pluto where it is believed that the planet’s orbit disrupts the oort cloud and triggers comets. Theorists suggest that evidence of Tyche’s existence has already been discovered, thanks to NASA’s Wise telescope. They hope to have confirmation of their theories within the next two years.

The Mysteries of Underwater Civilizations

Tuesday, March 15th, 2011

Scientists and storytellers have been captivated by the imaginative potential of underwater civilization for centuries. In the ancient world we have stories of Atlantis, Lyonesse, and Ys to pique our interest. The very archeologist who proved the existence of Troy by discovering its ruins searched throughout his life for evidence of Atlantis’s existence. With it, he believed he would discover the very cradle of civilization. Today, we know that while the ocean is the last frontier of discovery in our world it is highly unlikely that we will ever find a civilization—or even the remains of one—on the sea floor. Still, the fascination remains to tempt us and we hold on to every glimmer of hope we have gathered through the years.

 

Atlantis Debunked?

The history of the search for Atlantis is peppered with discoveries that first appear to be man made, but inevitably turn out to be natural formations of the sea. Expeditions that set out to find signs of undersea ruins tend to come back with tales of runes and strange temple ruin. The problem is that often these sightings are unrepeatable or worse, they do not hold up upon a second and more skeptical viewing. It cannot be denied that there are many unsolved mysteries on the ocean floor however.

 

Modern Mysteries

Within recent memory, for example, scientists have discovered that contrary to expectation, deep-sea vents can and do support life. The discovery of even so small an organism as a thermophile has shown us that we do not yet know everything we thought we did about the world under the water. Deep-sea explorers and salvation experts could and would tell you he same thing. The ocean floor is a world all its own and it is one that we can only just barely comprehend. Who is to say that one day we shall not discover evidence of a lost continent or a lost city one day?

 

 

Is Obama an Alien?

Wednesday, March 9th, 2011

The question of aliens seems to come up sooner or later whenever someone’s fame rises above a certain level. Supermarket gossip magazines are still proclaiming that Elvis is an alien–it’s not enough for him to simply be alive anymore. It’s no harder to find an article asking if Obama is from another planet. Some writers mean this question literally and some mean it humorously, but most mean to ask something much more serious. They’re not interested in whether the president is a green or a grey or even whether he has claws. Instead, they’re asking about his character, his background, and his politics. They’re asking where he comes from. (more…)

10 Worst Doomsday Catastrophes That Never Happened

Tuesday, March 8th, 2011

Our world is filled with complications and potential catastrophes. We consider ourselves to be the most advanced species—and certainly the most successful—on the planet. The truth is, we’ve had any of a number of near misses and we will again. We are as lucky as we are successful and here is a list of ten massively near misses to prove it: (more…)

Asteroid Heading to Earth 2039

Tuesday, March 8th, 2011

Researchers Andrea Milani, Steven R. Chesley, and Giovanni B. Valsecchi have predicted the potentially catastrophic arrival of an asteroid, now designated 1999 AN10, on Earth. It is something that we have feared since we first realized the potential for collision in space. An asteroid of sufficient magnitude to collide with the Earth and leave its mark on the surface would have a terrifying effect on the planet. This is the most popular scientific scenario we have to explain the extinction of dinosaurs and in 2039, it could mean our own extinction. (more…)

Ancient Flying Machines

Monday, March 7th, 2011

When the subject of ancient flying machines comes up, you probably find your thoughts turning to the first successful flights of the Wright brothers. They’re not exactly ancient by our standards, but they do form a historical marker from which we date all of our modern air history. Perhaps you go further back, however, to the ancient flying machines of Leonardo Da Vinci’s design or to the first hot air balloons. Would it surprise you to learn that you still hadn’t reached the earliest human references to flight? (more…)

You Really Don’t Want to Know; Embedded Objects part ll

Sunday, March 6th, 2011

What’s that your country cousin’s grandma always said? “Sure, you laughing’ now, but you be crying’ in a minute!”

 

He Never saw it Coming

A 13 year old walks into a bar…  No really.  While running through the field with his friends at a seemingly deserted construction site the 13 year old was surprised by a 12 inch rebar sticking up out of the ground.  What surprised him about it was that one end of it was in the ground and the other had pierced his face via the eye his eye socket and was now imbedded in his head.  Don’t call the cavalry; call the fire department.  And don’t forget to tell them to bring their Saws All.  Fortunately the rebar missed anything vital.  It passed next to his eye and stopped just short of damaging his gray matter.  However, that said, imagine what could be found on a rusty, old, disgusting, dirty rebar that’s been sitting around for goodness knows how long.  Infection was, at that point in time, the biggest worry.  With a little surgery on the muscles damaged next to the eye everything turned out pretty well.

 

Shot through the Heart, and you’re to Blame

They gave love a bad name, all right.  She plunged a butcher knife into his chest because after she asked him “does this make me look fat”…  He answered her.  Here’s the bad news: it was so close to his heart that you could actually see the handle of the knife moving as his heart beat.  Here’s the good news: it was close to his heart—not through it.  The blade never even nicked it.  Yes the police were extremely interested.

The moral of the story being; if something bad can happen, it will impale you.

You Don’t Want to Know; Embedded Objects

Saturday, March 5th, 2011

Accidents happen every day. The really interesting accidents are the ones that when they walk in the door of the ER, everybody looks and says “how the hell did you do that?”

 

I Was Strolling Through the Park One Day

There’s nothing worse than walking along, minding your own business; when all of a sudden, out of nowhere an arrow finds its way into your skull. (That was his story.) I hate when that happens.  But happen it did.  The young man walked into the ER with an arrow (not one of Cupid’s, either) sticking out of his face; more accurately, his cheek.  He not only walked into the ER, he walked in unassisted.

 

Pass Me That Nail Gun Would You

There are actually two of these:

  • A guy came into my ER in a wheelchair, being pushed by his buddy (at least I think he was still his buddy) grasping his leg and cringing in pain.  Seems they were working on his buddy’s garage when, while passing the nail gun back and forth, a shot was fired.  No they weren’t in a bad part of town, it was the nail gun.  My new friend now had a 3 inch nail sticking out of his knee, right through his jeans.  Can you say ouch?  He certainly did.  And a few other things as well.
  • Another young man decided that he was going to self pierce one of his nipples; with a nail gun.  In theory, the nail would make the hole through which he would then insert a stud.  Seriously, it’s almost too good to be true.  Again he walked in alone and I have to wonder if one could even get in such a position where it would be possible to do that to one’s own chest.

And they say that we as humans are the intelligent ones.  Be afraid…  Be very afraid.