Myth: Does Reading in dim light ruin your eyesight?

One of the oldest myths in medicine that has persisted for centuries is a general belief among parents that one can develop poor vision by reading in the dark. In many parts of the world, even today, electricity is not widely available or reliable. Consequently, many people including children read under dim light. In fact, in African and Asian countries students often read late into the night with just a dim light or under a lantern. When this happens, parents always scold the child to stop reading, otherwise they insist the child will go blind.

The origin of this myth probably relates to the development of eyestrain. People who read under dim light frequently develop eyestrain and this fatigue usually makes people think that they will probably lose their vision very soon. Other features of reading under dim light includes difficulty focussing. The dim light also cases a decreased rate of eyelid blinking, which in turn causes symptoms of a dry eye. All these features induce panic among parents that this will be followed by permanent vision loss.

The most important thing for everyone is to understand that eyestrain or stress only causes local symptoms and does not affect vision in the long run. As soon as the individual stops reading in dim light, the symptoms improve, rather immediately.

The majority of eye doctors agree that reading under dim light does not affect vision or cause any internal damage. Even though the symptoms of eyestrain may appear bothersome, they do not cause any long lasting effects.

Many animals are nocturnal and use their eyes very effectively to move around. There is no evidence that using eyes in the dark or dim light causes any harm in animals either.

In fact, researchers have followed many children who once read under dim light and discovered that the majority did not have vision problems, as they grew older.

However, several recent studies reveal that people who read in dim light may be more prone to development of shortsightedness (myopia). The cause of myopia is not known and eye doctors believe that it is not primarily the dim light that is the cause of myopia but more likely intense reading. Another association with myopia is the amount of time spent indoors. Studies from Asia reveal that children who spend more time indoors not only develop early myopia but are likely to need eye glasses at an early age. The best way to prevent myopia is by spending at least one hours outdoors everyday.

For those who are worried about going blind while reading under dim light, fear NOT. The only bad thing that can happen is that you will develop is eyestrain, dry eyes and be constantly nagged by your parents.

 

Does drinking urine have health benefits?

The exact number of people in the Orient who drink urine is not known but the numbers are not minuscule. For some reason, there is a myth of gigantic proportions that urine is the “fountain of youth” and can keep a person healthy. In fact there are many people (both men and women) who secretly dap their skin with urine for treatment of acne, psoriasis, eczema and many other skin disorders.

In India and SE Asian countries, alternative healthcare practitioners routinely recommend drinking of urine to cure all types of ailments.

But the question is does it work? Does urine have medicinal powers?

Even though many celebs and senior politicians in the Orient often hype up the benefits of urine, most of these people are clueless. There is not a single randomized study, which has ever shown that urine can cure or heal any medical disorder.

The real answer is that urine is junk. It is simply water that carries filtered body waste products. It is no different to drinking water from the gutter. The kidneys remove many types of waste from the blood and why anyone would want to drink this waste product is a real mystery. The only time drinking of urine is recommended is if you are stranded in the middle of the desert without food and water.

People drink urine because of folklore tales that have hyped up urine as the ‘golden elixir’ when in fact it is just waste. It is unlikely that one can get sick from drinking urine because it is sterile but do not expect health miracles. If urine had all medicinal powers that people claim, than we would have never developed pharmaceutical industries.

So unless you are retarded and have no common sense, leave urine off your menu. However, there is no harm in having a golden shower with it if you like- some people find that erotic.

Myth: Do fingernails and hair grow after death?

There continues to be a belief among many people including some healthcare workers that after death, the fingernails, and hair grow. In fact, this has even been stated in many older medical textbooks. But is this true? Can your nails and hair continue to grow after your heart has stopped beating and you have no signs of life?

Well, when a person is dying and during the very final moments of life, the skin starts to dry out and shrinks. If you closely observe people during the last moments of death, you will note that the skin will start to become smoother and the facial wrinkles will also disappear. As the tissues underneath the skin start to dry out, the hair on the skin starts to become more obvious and appears longer. The same thing happens on the fingernails. The skin starts to retract or shrink and the nail starts to appear longer. This is an illusion that the nails and hair are growing, when in fact the skin and tissues underneath have retracted.

Another similar illusion where the body part appears longer than it really is occurs during penile lengthening. Many men feel that their penis is short and go to great lengths to elongate it. The penis is attached at its base to the pubic mound. In most people the pubic mound has a moderate amount of fat. In fact in some people the pubic mound can be so big that the penis is often buried inside. Hence, some surgeons elongate the penis by removing the fat and other tissues from the pubic mound- so it appears that the penis has increased in size. In fact, only the fat from pubic mound has been removed- again it creates an illusion of a longer penis.

In reality this is not a procedure that is recommended because if the surgeon accidentally cuts some the ligaments that hold the penis to the base of the pubis, you will forever have a limp penis.

 

Does the abominable snowman exist?

Over the past century there have been many anecdotal reports of sightings of the abominable snowman or what is also known as the yeti. Similar mystery primates have been reported from every continent including the Sasquatch of North America, the Yeren of China, the Yowie in Australia, the Orang Pendek in Sumatra, the Hibagon in Japan, the Almasty in Siberia, the ogopogo in Africa and the mapinguari in Brazil. In every single continent no one has come close to capturing or even obtaining a genuine photo of these creatures.

The Internet is awash with sightings of these creatures, unfortunately, despite exhaustive search, there is no solid evidence that such a creature exists. Most of the images of large footprints in the snow have turned out to be animal prints or nomadic hunters wearing exotic snowshoes.

The Yeti was first reported on Mount Everest in the 1920 and since then there have been numerous sightings of a tall bipedal hairy creature that resembles a large bear of gorilla. Even Sir Edmund Hillary claimed that he had found some hairs that belonged to the yeti but when analyzed, the hairs were from the backside of a human who had taken a ‘dump’ in one of the crevices on Mount Everest.

Overall, the majority of sightings of the abominable snowman have been hoaxes. Today with the availability of photoshop and refined video programs, hundreds of images and videos of the yeti have been published online. In1950, the Nepalese government offered $800 for anyone who captured the yeti – this money still has not been awarded and this is not due to lack of effort.

Today most scientists do not believe that such a creature exists except in the minds of people who are too drunk or have wild imagination.

In any case, finding the yeti is a big business in Nepal. For a week, you can go on an expedition along the vast ranges of Mount Everest, stay in nice hotels, sip fine tea and check out the landscape for a cool $5,000-$10,000 depending on the duration of your trip. There are still some people who are not deterred by the lack of evidence and continue their search in different parts of the world- of course they always come back with fancy stores about how they just missed the yeti and thus, life goes on.

Does the Vampire bat suck Blood?

One of the most fascinating creatures and one that is surrounded by myths of gigantic proportions is the Vampire Bat. Most people are scared even talking about these creatures but in reality they are docile, calm and never aggressive. Vampire bats are very small and most do not weigh more than 2 ounces. The only feature distinctive about them is their face-they can open their mouth wide open and they have razor sharp teeth-, which does look scary but only in the movies.

The vampire bat has teeth more like a needle, so that it can puncture skin- akin to a mosquito. In fact, the vampire bat never sucks blood as shown in Hollywood movies. They are very silent- just like a mosquito- find an animal like a cow or a pig, and pierce its skin. This results in blood dripping out and then the vampire bat simply licks the blood up. It does not sit on the skin and suck blood like a leech.

Vampire bats are nocturnal creatures and only drink blood. Most animals have no idea that the vampire bite has bitten them- after the bite, the vampire bat will tip toe until the blood starts to drip and then it will feast on it and fly away. Without blood, the vampire bat cannot survive.

Why the vampire bat drinks blood as parts of its diet is not known but believed to be a change in evolution, when food was scarce.

Humans have killed vampire bats by the thousands and very few are left. Most farmers complain that these bats are killing their animals but this is not true at all.

Vampire bats are social creatures and take care of each other. They share the food, which is a very unique feature among bats.

The vampire bat is found in the tropics and despite what humans believe, it is a gentle creature, which is frail and non-aggressive. It lives in caves in large colonies and almost never fights with other bats. Vampire bat colonies are usually large – a preventive mechanism to fight off other predators. If they ever feel threatened, they search for another cave to live in. most remain in one cave until they die.

The vampire bat only drinks blood. After it bites, it injects a chemical that relieves pain and also prevents blood from clotting. So the animal feels no pain and the blood starts to drip out. At most the vampire bat only drinks 1-5 ml of blood, which is less than a teaspoon. The vampire bat usually never bites any creature that is awake. Almost universally it will bite an animal that is asleep.

Vampire bats feed every 1-3 days, but without blood they quickly become weak. Using echolocation they can find their prey in pitch darkness. Vampire bats are usually born in early spring and have a life span of 6-12 years.

Besides humans, the vampire bat has many predators, which include hawks, eagles, and other nocturnal animals. The majority of vampire bats are eaten by hawks, who are considered to be one of the most intelligent bird species. 

Humans hunt vampire bats out of pure ignorance and superstitious beliefs. It is unheard of that a vampire bat has killed a human but because they consume blood there is the potential to transmit deadly infections. However, for the most part it is very unlikely that a human will encounter a vampire bat, except at the zoo. In South America, there is now an attempt to preserve the vampire bat caves as the numbers have fallen low.

How did an asteroid strike kill the Dinosaurs?

There is no question that something drastic happened nearly sixty-six million and wiped out the dinosaurs. However, now scientists are learning that it was not a sudden event that killed this giants but it was a gradual process that lasted many years.

 

Climatologists, turned scientists have analyzed the tiny droplets of sulfuric acid that formed in the atmosphere after the impact of the large asteroid. The one well know fact is that for several years after this cosmic disaster, the earth had little or no sunlight for several years. This resulted in death of plants and the food web cycle was destroyed.

New computer simulations after the asteroid impact indicate that sulfuric acid droplets persisted in the atmosphere for a very long time and the consequence was a deep freeze. It was this arctic-like cold that most likely caused death of the land living dinosaurs.

Plus, more evidence seems to suggest that an additional factor in the death may have been the turbulent mixing of the oceans as a result of the surface cooling. This may have also caused imbalance in the marine ecosystem, depriving the water-based dinosaurs of their food.

Some experts believe that the impact of the asteroid that resulted in the Chicxulub crater in Mexico may have been the turning point in the history of the earth.

For the first time, scientists have now been able to perform computer simulations that apply a climate model coupled with changes in the atmosphere, sea ice, and the oceans. These studies show that sulfur-bearing gases started to evaporate following the thunderous asteroid impact with the earth’s surface. This gas not only caused a blockage of sunlight but also made the air unbreathable. By blocking sunlight, the earth’s temperature fell from 27C to 5C. It was a deep freeze for the dinosaurs that were used to living in tropical weather.

After the asteroid impact, the annual average temperature was below the freezing point for at least 3-4 years resulting in expansion of the ice caps. Even the tropics were not spared and went cold. The prolonged cooling caused by the sulfur aerosol probably played a major role in mass extrication than the dust that was in the air at that time. Recovery of the climate took at least 3 decades based on computer simulations.

What this study shows is that climate is important for all living creatures – be it land or the sea.

Today we do not anticipate an asteroid strike on planet earth for thousands more years but what we have prepared is our own Armageddon: from man made global-warming; and one of these days the non-believers will find out the repercussions of this uncontrolled process.

Is there alien life?

For centuries mankind has been asking the question, ‘is there alien life?’  Books, movies, paintings, and numerous TV shows continue to depict evidence of aliens.

Scientists who generally are assumed to be the smartest people on earth are divided on this issue. Even astronauts who have into space are not sure about alien life. Those who believe that alien life exists state that we humans are just too arrogant to accept the fact that aliens may be sharing the universe with us.

Some scientists suggest that that the earth will one day die out and life may evolve somewhere else in space. They believe that life is constantly dying and evolving in space and the reason we do not have evidence is because the distances in space are vast.

This type of thinking is more common today than ever. There is a general belief that there are worlds out there that could give rise to life. The universe is enormous and bigger than all the number of humans who have ever lived on earth. In this wide expanse it is inconceivable that another form of life does not exist. To state that the earth is the only planet with life in this vast cosmos is highly egocentric.

However, other scientists have dismissed these hypothetical arguments about alien life as nothing more than too much ‘star trek’ mania. William Borucki, a renowned scientist with NASA, whose research team has discovered several new planets says, "Up till now, it was just an intellectual question. It isn’t anymore. There could be 10 billion civilizations or none. The evidence certainly is none." According to Borucki, "The evidence says no one’s out there."

Finding alien life will be a huge step for astronomers. We still have difficulty getting the Space shuttle up into space a few hundred miles above earth with a great deal of difficulty and so a journey millions of miles is certainly going to be an enormous task that will also be prohibitively expensive. So far our best telescopes and spacecrafts that have ventured into space have found no evidence about any form of life.

Perhaps there is alien life but whether we encounter it is very unlikely. For those who are desperately seeking aliens, perhaps youtube will help satisfy your curiosity.

Why is Pluto not longer a Planet?

Ever since Pluto was discovered, every school has taught that there are nine planets in our solar system. But recently something happened and Pluto got kicked out. It all started out in 2006 when NASA’s New Horizon Mission was launched and it made some observations and that got Pluto the boot.

Pluto is quite smaller than our moon with a diameter of 1,430 miles (2303Km). However, Pluto is a lot further than the moon- it is nearly 5.9 billion km (3.7 billion miles) from the sun. Because of its far distance it was the last planet to be discovered in 1930. There were no powerful telescopes prior to that year. Pluto was discovered by American astronomer, Clyde Tombaugh in 1930 and from that time it kept its status as the ninth planet in our solar system.

Then in 2006, the International Astronomical Union set up new criteria in order to qualify as a planet that included:

- The structure must be globular

- It must orbit the sun

- It must have sufficient gravitation pull to clear its neighboring orbit

Well in 2006, the IAU officially got kicked out of the Pluto from club ‘planet.’ And the chief reason was because Pluto did not have sufficient gravitational influence to clear its neighboring orbit.

Instead Pluto is now classified as ‘dwarf’ planet. Dwarf planets are not officially recognized as fully-fledged planet but a ‘wannabe.’ Well now as a dwarf planet, Pluto is not alone. Four other dwarf planets include makemake, Haumea, Eris and Pluto are located way beyond Neptune. The fifth dwarf plant named Eres lies in the asteroid belt between Jupiter and Mars. Astronomers suspect that there are many more dwarf planets- they just not been discovered.

We are probably the last generation to see primates

Like most wildlife, the primate population is declining very fast globally. Human kind population is on the increase and unfortunately, the wild animals have to give way. The latest data collected by many scientists who assessed the conservation status of more than 500 individual species state that primates now face an extinction crises. Today, at least 2/3rd of primate species are threatened with extinction and more likely than not, they will soon follow the same fate as other wildlife. Overall, these scientists indicate that more than ¾ of species of wildlife are declining quite fast.

There are many reasons for this but the two keys ones remain illegal hunting and massive loss of habitat. In many parts of Africa, Asia, and South America, forests have been decimated giving way to urbanization and industrial agriculture- leaving no place for these animals to survive. And sadly the other key factor which has is leading to the demise of primates is hunting by humans. These primates are often hunted for their body parts or to be kept as pets. Other threats to primate livelihood include oil and gas drilling, mining and cattle ranches.

Human domination probably accounts for the threat to every other living creature on this planet. We have not learned to share our planet with other animals and doubt if this will ever change.

So far scientists do not believe there is any other alternative that can help improve survival of primates. Deforestation has led to near extinction of the Sumatran orangutan and most of the primates will follow the same path.

In other parts of the world, civil unrest and wars have led to extreme poverty and this has driven humans to hunt primates in order to feed themselves. While humans are being taught to find alternative ways to get their nutrition, it is a little too late for most wildlife.

Destroying forests not only harms wildlife but also is essential for the survival of humans. The forests help mitigate climate changes by providing fresh oxygen, improving the quality of water and enhancing pollination, which in turn improves agriculture. The public is being urged to stop contributing to tropical deforestation and help preserve the ecosystem.

Sadly, the human cravings for food and energy are leading to massive loss of nature and wildlife. Changes in consumer behavior and efforts by individual governments over the past four decades have not helped preserve wildlife or forests. More than likely this will be the last generation of humans that will see primates and other large wildlife. Our children will only know about these majestic animals from photos or videos and like the dinosaurs, most will not have a clue what happened.