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#1246 | |
Ain't no relax!
Join Date: Sep 2005
Casino cash: $998919
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On rare occasions, colonoscopy patients sometimes have their large intestines explode, which I have to imagine would be quite messy.
Follow your doctor's advice guys, else your butthole could violently explode... When people explode during colonoscopies Few people, if any, look forward to colonoscopies. They're annoying to prepare for. (Liquid diet? No thank you.) They're invasive. (It's a camera. In your butt.) They're scary. (Even if it's just a routine screening, there's always a chance your doctor will find something up there that requires medical attention.) They may even be over-prescribed. And, as we learned at last week's Ig Nobel Awards Ceremony, sometimes colonoscopy patients go boom. Because we know you're curious, here's how that happens. "Colonic gas explosions," as their name implies, occur inside a patient's colon. This stretch of guts is commonly known as the large intestine and makes up the last five feet or so of your intestinal canal, beginning at the bottom end of your small intestine and ending at your anus. Unlike your small intestine, which is largely responsible for digesting food and absorbing nutrients, one of the large intestine's most important roles is storing and eliminating fecal matter. It's also where farts are born. (And if the Internet has taught us anything, it's that farts can be flammable. Also, this.) Housed in your large intestine are hundreds of species of beneficial bacteria that help digest those bits of food your small intestine misses. In the process, these bacteria generate a variety of gases, including carbon dioxide, oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen and methane, to name a few. Some of these gasses are odorless. Others, (particularly ones containing sulfur), are not. Two of them — hydrogen and methane — also happen to be combustable. Given that the average person's bacteria produce between 1 and 4 pints of gas per day, a five-foot stretch of colon can pack some formidable explosive potential. Fortunately, it takes a pretty special set of conditions to detonate an intestinal bomb, so only rarely does this potential actually get unleashed. According to a team of researchers led by Emmanuel Ben-Soussan (who last week was awarded an Ig Nobel prize in medicine for advising doctors on how to avoid gut-combustion), an explosion of colonic gasses requires three things: 1. The presence of combustible gases (hydrogen and/or methane) 2. The presence of combustive gas (oxygen) 3. Application of a heat source Your bacteria provide the first two; electrocautery — a technique that uses heat to remove potentially cancerous intestinal growths known as polyps — provides the third. The perfect colonic storm would comprise a high concentration of hydrogen and/or methane (greater than 4% or 5%, respectively), plenty of oxygen and a piping-hot electrocautery tool. Concentrations of hydrogen and methane in the colon can vary considerably (0.06%—47% and 0%—26%, respectively, according to this study). Taking these thresholds into consideration, it is estimated that almost half of colonoscopy patients with unprepared large intestines harbor potentially explosive concentrations of hydrogen and methane in their bowels. And yet, a survey of the medical literature conducted by Ben-Soussan's team turned up just 20 cases of colonic gas explosion between 1952 and October 2006, only one of which was fatal. Why such a small number? Because if you read the last paragraph closely, you'll notice that the cited hydrogen and methane concentrations are high in unprepared (i.e. uncleaned) large intestines; and adequate bowel cleansing, as you might expect, is pretty common practice in colonoscopies. (Still, not all colon-cleansing solutions are created equal. Mannitol, once widely employed in the preparation of the large intestine for colonoscopies, has been shown to increase hydrogen and methane excretion. Its use, unsurprisingly, has been largely discontinued.) As Ben-Boussan and colleagues point out: "following bowel preparation with a combination of clear liquids, cathartics, and enema, mean concentration of hydrogen... and methane" generally fall well below their minimal explosive concentrations: Quote:
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#1247 | |
MVP
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: West of the Equator
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Quote:
Whether taking a multi-vitamin is necessary or not for healthy people is debatable, but there are known problems with a lack of certain vitamins. It's especially notable in the elderly and the young due to diets and food intake. We know the consequences of Vitamins A, C, D and E deficiencies. A normal multi-vitamin (sans ridiculous doses) costs about four cents per day. That's not unreasonable for someone that eats very little (elderly) or has a poor diet. |
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#1248 | |
MVP
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: West of the Equator
Casino cash: $599901
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Quote:
Last edited by Stewie; 01-14-2014 at 03:38 PM.. |
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#1249 | ||
Ain't no relax!
Join Date: Sep 2005
Casino cash: $998919
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Quote:
I've read the Vitamin E/Alzheimers link as well, and it's not as simple as what you allude to. In that study, the link they found was from very high doses of VitE. Much more than what you'd find in a retail supplement. It was borderline dangerous intakes of VitE, which medicine has already shown, can have damaging effects. The scientists doing the VitE/Alzheimers experiment even cautioned against the interpretation of the results: Quote:
Vitamin deficiencies should be addressed using food. Not pills. That was an important point of the supplement article. Pills are a terrible intake method, and it's proven not to work in the overwhelming majority of cases. That doesn't mean they're completely worthless. Just that they're worthless for the majority of people that take them.
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#1250 | |
MVP
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: West of the Equator
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Quote:
Instead of focusing on a 4 cent vitamin, why don't these people focus on the multi-billion dollar statin business. They've never proven any benefit and they've been on the market for decades. |
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#1251 | |
Ain't no relax!
Join Date: Sep 2005
Casino cash: $998919
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Quote:
I completely agree with the statin business. Been going through that exact thing with my mom.
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![]() Last edited by Fish; 01-14-2014 at 04:21 PM.. |
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#1252 |
Time Keeps On Slipping
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Overland Park
Casino cash: $5219900
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"Turn the channel to 26!" |
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#1253 |
"You like to drink?"
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: "I like to drink."
Casino cash: $1946869
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YouTube Doubler is a great tool for us to learn about science, folks...
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#1254 |
The White Skip Bayless
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Olathe
Casino cash: $9467174
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Not so much Science, but more Cool and Fascinating Biology
World's most beautiful beach glows like millions of stars at night ![]() Flickr user hala065 brings us these otherworldly images of a beach in the Maldives that glows with millions of pinpoints of glowing blue. The light from these bioluminescent phytoplankton looks like a fantastic starry sky somewhere deep in the universe. It's mesmerizing. ![]() First spotted by Colossal, these phenomenal photographs show how the glowing phytoplankton light the entire beach where the waves hit the sand and agitate the little creatures. They also light up under pressure, like when people walk across the sand. ![]() ![]()
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wow░░░░▌▒▒█░░░░░░░░▄▀▒▒▒▐ ░░░░░░░▐▄▀▒▒▀▀▀▀▄▄▄▀▒▒▒▒▒▐ ░░░░░▄▄▀▒░▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒█▒▒▄█▒▐ ░░░▄▀▒▒▒░░░▒▒▒░░░▒▒▒▀██▀▒▌ ░░▐▒▒▒▄▄▒▒▒▒░░░▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▀▄▒▒▌ ░░▌░░▌█▀▒▒▒▒▒▄▀█▄▒▒▒▒▒▒▒█▒▐ ░▐░░░▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▌██▀▒▒░░░▒▒▒▀▄▌ ░▌░▒▄██▄▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒░░░░░░▒▒▒▒▌ ▀▒▀▐▄█▄█▌▄░▀▒▒░░░░░░░░░░▒▒▒▐ such post - On watching the Royals. |
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#1255 |
GBM 8-12-15
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: Dayton, Oh.
Casino cash: $10052154
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Uh, biology is science.
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#1256 |
The White Skip Bayless
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Olathe
Casino cash: $9467174
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Lol. Thats not quite how I meant to say it
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wow░░░░▌▒▒█░░░░░░░░▄▀▒▒▒▐ ░░░░░░░▐▄▀▒▒▀▀▀▀▄▄▄▀▒▒▒▒▒▐ ░░░░░▄▄▀▒░▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒█▒▒▄█▒▐ ░░░▄▀▒▒▒░░░▒▒▒░░░▒▒▒▀██▀▒▌ ░░▐▒▒▒▄▄▒▒▒▒░░░▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▀▄▒▒▌ ░░▌░░▌█▀▒▒▒▒▒▄▀█▄▒▒▒▒▒▒▒█▒▐ ░▐░░░▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▌██▀▒▒░░░▒▒▒▀▄▌ ░▌░▒▄██▄▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒░░░░░░▒▒▒▒▌ ▀▒▀▐▄█▄█▌▄░▀▒▒░░░░░░░░░░▒▒▒▐ such post - On watching the Royals. |
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#1257 |
Ain't no relax!
Join Date: Sep 2005
Casino cash: $998919
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Seriously?
How Far Can the Human Eye See? ![]() The Earth's surface curves out of sight at a distance of 3.1 miles, or 5 kilometers. But our visual acuity extends far beyond the horizon. If Earth were flat, or if you were standing atop a mountain surveying a larger-than-usual patch of the planet, you could perceive bright lights hundreds of miles distant. On a dark night, you could even see a candle flame flickering up to 30 mi. (48 km) away. How far the human eye can see depends on how many particles of light, or photons, a distant object emits. The farthest object visible with the naked eye is the Andromeda galaxy, located an astonishing 2.6 million light-years from Earth. The galaxy's 1 trillion stars collectively emit enough light for a few thousand photons to hit each square centimeter of Earth every second; on a dark night, that's plenty to excite our retinas. Back in 1941, the vision scientist Selig Hecht and his colleagues at Columbia University made what is still considered a reliable measurement of the "absolute threshold" of vision — the minimum number of photons that must strike our retinas in order to elicit an awareness of visual perception. The experiment probed the threshold under ideal conditions: study participants' eyes were given time to adapt to total darkness, the flash of light acting as a stimulus had a (blue-green) wavelength of 510 nanometers, to which our eyes are most sensitive, and this light was aimed at the periphery of the retina, which is richest in light-detecting rod cells. The scientists found that for study participants to perceive such a flash of light more than half the time, the subjects required between 54 and 148 photons to hit their eyeballs. Based on measurements of retinal absorption, the scientists calculated that a factor of 10 fewer photons were actually being absorbed by the participant's rod cells. Thus, the absorption of 5 to 14 photons, or, equivalently, the activation of just 5 to 14 rod cells, tells your brain you're seeing something. [Why Do We See in 3-D?] "This is indeed a small number of chemical events," Hecht and his colleagues concluded in their seminal paper on the subject. Considering the absolute threshold, the brightness of a candle flame, and the way a glowing object dims according to the square of the distance away from it, vision scientists conclude that one could make out the faint glimmer of a candle flame up to 30 miles away. But how far away can we perceive that an object is more than just a twinkle of light? For something to appear spatially extended rather than point-like, light from it must stimulate at least two adjacent cone cells — the elements in our eyes that produce color vision. Under ideal conditions, an object must subtend an angle of at least 1 arcminute, or one sixtieth of a degree, in order to excite adjacent cones. (This angular measure stays the same regardless of whether an object is nearby or far away; distant objects must be much larger to subtend the same angle as near objects). The full moon is 30 arcminutes across, whereas Venus is barely resolvable as an extended object at around 1 arcminute across. Human-scale objects are resolvable as extended objects from a distance of just under 2 miles (3 km). For example, at that distance, we would just be able to make out two distinct headlights on a car.
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#1258 |
"Think BOOM!"
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: 33.675° N 106.475° W
Casino cash: $9139900
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Nasa says Mars mystery rock that ‘appeared’ from nowhere is ‘like nothing we’ve seen before’
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/sc...e-9070323.html A mysterious rock which appeared in front of the Opportunity rover is "like nothing we've ever seen before", according to Mars exploration scientists at Nasa. Experts said they were "completely confused" by both the origins and makeup of the object, which is currently being investigated by Opportunity's various measuring instruments. Astronomers noticed the new rock had "appeared" without any explanation on an outcrop which had been empty just days earlier. The rover has been stuck photographing the same region of Mars for more than a month due to bad weather, with scientists at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California monitoring the images it sends. Nasa issued a Mars status report entitled "encountering a surprise", and lead Mars Exploration rover scientist Steve Squyres told a JPL event it seems the planet literally "keeps throwing new things at us". He said the images, from 12 Martian days apart, were from no more than a couple of weeks ago. "We saw this rock just sitting here. It looks white around the edge in the middle and there’s a low spot in the centre that's dark red - it looks like a jelly doughnut. "And it appeared, just plain appeared at that spot - and we haven't ever driven over that spot." ![]()
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#1259 | |
Veteran
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: DE
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#1260 |
"Think BOOM!"
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: 33.675° N 106.475° W
Casino cash: $9139900
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That's pretty neat. You can see the outline of it in the picture on the left, I think.
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I think the young people enjoy it when I "get down," verbally, don't you? |
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