tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-58593150607919845482024-03-06T02:46:56.482+10:30Nerd NationA hopefully informative blog with interesting information about science and nature. :)MichelleTheNerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18073028578664363334noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5859315060791984548.post-37953279309060445432013-11-03T17:02:00.004+10:302013-11-03T17:02:55.123+10:30Stressed? Me too.... I haven't posted in a while, life has gotten away with me, but this is something that was introduced to me recently and I think its worth watching. <div>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" mozallowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" src="http://embed.ted.com/talks/kelly_mcgonigal_how_to_make_stress_your_friend.html" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="560"></iframe></div>
MichelleTheNerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18073028578664363334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5859315060791984548.post-2085117303478713362011-03-09T17:32:00.003+10:302011-03-09T17:42:12.820+10:30One of my favourite poems is said to have been written on an anonymous tombstone.<br /><br /><em><strong><em><strong><em><strong><em><strong>When picture look alive with movements free,<br />When ships like fishes swim beneath the sea,<br />When men, outstripping birds, can scour the sky,<br />Then half the world deep drenched in blood shall be.</strong></em></strong></em></strong></em></strong></em><br /><br />Interestingly, when I googled it as someone had erroneously (I think) said it was Nostradamas, I found it tagged onto the bottom of a mother shipton prophecy.... now I have no idea where it is from. This is the prophecy one website claims;<br /><br /><a href="http://www.merkurpublishing.com/prophecies_shipton.htm">http://www.merkurpublishing.com/prophecies_shipton.htm</a>:<br />A house of glass shall come to pass<br />In merry England, but alas!<br />War will follow with the work<br />In the land of the bloody Turk,<br />And State and State in fierce strife,<br />Shall struggle for each other’s life.<br />Carriages without horses shall go<br />And accidents fill the world with woe.<br />And the center of a bishop’s see,<br />In London, Primrose Hill, shall be.<br />Around the world thought shall fly<br />In the twinkle of an eye.<br />Through the hills men shall ride<br />And neither horse nor ass bestride!<br />Under water men shall walk,<br />Iron in the water shall float<br />As easily as a wooden boat.<br />Gold shall be found and shown<br />In a land that’s now unknown.<br />Fire and water shall wonder do<br />And England shall admit a Jew.<br />Three times three shall lovely France<br />Be led to dance a bloody dance<br />Before the people shall be free;<br />Three tyrant rulers shall she see<br />Each spring from a different dynasty.<br />And when the last great fight is won<br />England and France shall be as one.<br />And now a word in uncouth rhyme<br />Of what shall be in later time.<br />In those wonderful far-off days<br />Women shall get a strange new craze<br />To dress like men and breeches wear<br />And cut off their beautiful locks of hair,<br />And ride astride with brazen brow,<br />As witches do on broomsticks now.<br />Then love shall die and marriage cease<br />And babies and sucklings so decrease<br />That wives shall fondle cats and dogs<br />And men live much the same as hogs.<br />In eighteen hundred and ninety-six<br />Build your house of rotten sticks<br />For then shall mighty wars be planned<br />And fire and sword sweep over the land,<br />And those who live the century through<br />In fear and trembling this will do.<br />Fly to the mountains and the glens,<br />To bogs and forests and wild dens,<br />For tempests will rage and oceans will roar,<br />And Gabriel stand on sea and shore<br />And as he toots his wondrous horn<br />Old worlds will die and new be born.<br />In the air men shall be seen,<br />In white, in black and also green,<br />Now strange, but yet they shall be true<br />The world upside down shall be,<br />And gold shall be found at the roots of a tree.<br />When picture look alive and movements free,<br />When ships like fishes swim below the sea,<br />When men, outstripping bird, can scour the sky,<br />Then half the world deep drenched in blood shall die.<br /><br /><br />However.... there is controversy of the Shipton prophecies and their truth, as one author of a book of her prophecies admitted to making up a doomsday claim often seen in this poem, the last two lines:<br />Published in 1448, republished in 1641. -I took this one from ye-olde-wikipedia :)<br /><br />Carriages without horses shall go,<br />And accidents fill the world with woe.<br />Around the world thoughts shall fly<br />In the twinkling of an eye.<br />The world upside down shall be<br />And gold be found at the root of a tree.<br />Through hills man shall ride,<br />And no horse be at his side.<br />Under water men shall walk,<br />Shall ride, shall sleep, shall talk.<br />In the air men shall be seen,<br />In white, in black, in green;<br />Iron in the water shall float,<br />As easily as a wooden boat.<br />Gold shall be found and shown<br />In a land that's now not known.<br />Fire and water shall wonders do,<br />England shall at last admit a foe.<br /><em>The world to an end shall come,</em><br /><em>In eighteen hundred and eighty one."</em><br /><em></em><br />So who to believe? Who knows... but they are awesome if they were prophecies... makes you wonder...MichelleTheNerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18073028578664363334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5859315060791984548.post-41284519721257954662011-03-09T17:19:00.002+10:302011-03-09T17:24:40.988+10:30<strong>"Will you teach your children what we have taught our children? That the Earth is our mother. What befalls the Earth, befalls all the sons of the Earth?</strong><br /><strong></strong><br /><strong>This we know; the Earth does not belong to any man; man belongs to the earth. All things are connected like the blood that unites us all. All things are connected. </strong><br /><strong></strong><br /><strong>Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself."</strong><br /><br />Not sure where this comes from, but i wrote it down in my yr 12 diary, after finding it in the front of a biology textbook. I like it. :)MichelleTheNerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18073028578664363334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5859315060791984548.post-60010458231331772442010-02-12T16:23:00.003+10:302010-02-12T16:25:22.230+10:30Compltely unscientific...<div align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"><strong>Found this on someones facebook.</strong></span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;"><strong>I think this just about sums it up for Love</strong></span>.</div><div align="center"> </div><div align="center"> </div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5437231369621118290" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjExwA3MSd-uAcBHD9GOcKjh-xy5_ZBMlh6OIo_rX_44ID_mtyn8iNvwN6-ddkR0RkizD0FK-5px-a7gAYaHaxv7MYY36JxliDy9peKQfj9B4HDJCrFJQm7ZFuEJZhYMDgNYhxuyBzuneo/s320/weirdness.jpg" border="0" /><br /><a id="myphotolink" href="http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=3926886&id=613865795"></a>MichelleTheNerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18073028578664363334noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5859315060791984548.post-78564890424675246432010-02-07T00:11:00.003+10:302010-02-07T00:16:59.976+10:30awesomenessI was going to write a blog today but then spent from 11am to post 12 pm (still going actually) playing an awesome game of CIVILISATION IV with Henry. As the Celts and China, we've kicked the arse of many nations in a Pangea. I have destroyed Korea's Wang Kon and nearly took down De Gaulle until he started a sneaky vassalage to Elizabeth in England.... so... i better get back and continue to build my nation. I need to get access to oil so i can destroy my enemies.<br />Yay.<br />Civ IV<br />So awesome.<br /><br />Michelle out.MichelleTheNerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18073028578664363334noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5859315060791984548.post-14827375089470993342010-01-07T16:30:00.009+10:302010-01-07T17:04:00.529+10:30Nessie or Nelly?<div><div><div><div>I begin my blog with a song.<br /><br /><strong><em>"Nelly the elephant packed her trunk, and said goodbye to the circus, Then off she went with a trumpety trump, Trump, trump trump."</em></strong><br /></div><div>Well not really... I was reading up on the Loch Ness monster. Fascinating and it would be awesome were if some of the stuff were true. most of my research was done on one site- <a href="http://www.nessie.co.uk/">http://www.nessie.co.uk/</a>. Great but a bit biased as its geared towards proving the Loch Ness Monster is real. Its a good site none-the-less.<br /></div><div>From what I read, the legend of a Loch Ness monster or Kelpie has been around for hundreds of years. Sightings start in the late 1800's. In the 1930's a sighting and photograph take the world media by storm and ever since then its been popular. There has been faked evidence (my favourite is the big game hunter, <em>Marmeduke Wetherall-</em> what a name-, who used a stuffed hippo foot to make fake footprints!). The descriptions seems to mainly be of a creature/disturbance in the water which resembles an upturned boat, and/or long sinuous heads. Many sighting have been by locals who know the loch well and wouldn't mis it up with birdlife or otters.<br /></div><div> </div><div>There are very large eels living in the Loch which would account for some claims, which can apparantly leave the water too- so may account for some of the lan sighting that have occured from afar. Otherwise the belief by fanatics and Cryptozoologists is tha the Loch Ness holds a Plesiosaur:</div><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5423879071148047666" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDZdSBAJ3F1aGzNTNPTRs5c1DzohR2CqRYlYT5fQoIFk3Und7Jp-fBt_iQirWrra9K9fCG1jCEWdL59huPqG6mWIizZgo5YFcVUlKBZ5hRVfWIk9rCXE2mtb9DntI-a8zrV2TwKu5cZu4/s320/plesiosaur.jpg" border="0" /><br />Who knows- people have to make their own mind up. Regardles of what Nessie may or may not be, sightings have declined recently and fans of Nessie deny claims that its possible if it were real, that it has died. </div><div></div><div> </div><div>I recently read something that piqued my fancy though and gives an explaination fo what Nessie is and why the sightings may be declining (other than less Media Hype!) Looking at the Nessie pics- the older ones seems to have long necks giving the classic Nessie shots, grainy balck and white shots. Here a a few of the classics.taken from google image and nessie.co.uk:</div><div> </div><div> </div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMP2MyghsRGdQkCH2kUn5ebM9HLgq_4JlWjLkSIyth_g3AVlaeM7rjeto72hyphenhyphenvwHy0Pz1ahuazR2k8pdkSAT_FZFtDz0io4leWNpjaHHIYQQDJ-hRSzhwdP7CrLVjfxlkgr6s8LZj7MdQ/s1600-h/loch_ness_monster_580x.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5423880331053312050" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 283px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMP2MyghsRGdQkCH2kUn5ebM9HLgq_4JlWjLkSIyth_g3AVlaeM7rjeto72hyphenhyphenvwHy0Pz1ahuazR2k8pdkSAT_FZFtDz0io4leWNpjaHHIYQQDJ-hRSzhwdP7CrLVjfxlkgr6s8LZj7MdQ/s320/loch_ness_monster_580x.jpg" border="0" /></a></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwlusfA77XdNCdg0pGSCwueTP84g0JxTp8u2DF4dFfJvecO3p5wfzSy2qVp52s5Upo-aEdjqGOBEz1ztKhkACQfjYBYO9XLJ5WcVxLJ_KvX1vvVAuvXVICSSM0yhT3AHV5wCcmKdukOYc/s1600-h/nessie.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5423880332930325234" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 253px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwlusfA77XdNCdg0pGSCwueTP84g0JxTp8u2DF4dFfJvecO3p5wfzSy2qVp52s5Upo-aEdjqGOBEz1ztKhkACQfjYBYO9XLJ5WcVxLJ_KvX1vvVAuvXVICSSM0yhT3AHV5wCcmKdukOYc/s320/nessie.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><div></div><div>So what was also popular in the 1930's other than Nessie sightings- apparantly according to the National Geographic article i have linked to, travelling circuses. Could it be that elephants having a bath in the Loch mean that Nessie is actually Nelly?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYPffbvveONMkeq_QVoiaFsV74hVSVWmhjs0Cb3vZOiI0ZozzaCpVZsdfbD2ExTCYtT8dkl88RDAHZwlrh7azyDO6fUw9x-TvmpPLsa20bX26tcECAVKL5rjkiyK2TRdHy0_8DyB0iXTQ/s1600-h/loch+nelly.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5423881175606529858" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 178px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYPffbvveONMkeq_QVoiaFsV74hVSVWmhjs0Cb3vZOiI0ZozzaCpVZsdfbD2ExTCYtT8dkl88RDAHZwlrh7azyDO6fUw9x-TvmpPLsa20bX26tcECAVKL5rjkiyK2TRdHy0_8DyB0iXTQ/s320/loch+nelly.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /></div><div><a href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/03/0309_0603009_loch_ness.html">http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/03/0309_0603009_loch_ness.html</a></div><div></div><br /><div>So who knows- but here's a pic posted on nessie.co.uk- asking people to ask themselves if its real or fake- i say it's real- but maybe we need to <strong>nose-about</strong> the issue a bit more.</div><br /><div></div><p align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYDzdK88n8O-FY1F62ckNbc4Jg3mb3J7asKnOTtxX2FlwfTlMLoIArvvaGBr3mzB5yjaJaXqU0L-9WA9szrW-PTuxXN1pl1mSkbUCmDx1kbdGtJQuYgk2_TelYIRx-ie5-ae2JcP_K_qc/s1600-h/nelly+or+nessy.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5423881690582175698" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 150px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYDzdK88n8O-FY1F62ckNbc4Jg3mb3J7asKnOTtxX2FlwfTlMLoIArvvaGBr3mzB5yjaJaXqU0L-9WA9szrW-PTuxXN1pl1mSkbUCmDx1kbdGtJQuYgk2_TelYIRx-ie5-ae2JcP_K_qc/s320/nelly+or+nessy.jpg" border="0" /></a></p><br /><div></div></div></div></div>MichelleTheNerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18073028578664363334noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5859315060791984548.post-18133267884596069712009-12-26T11:23:00.003+10:302009-12-26T11:48:28.328+10:30Atheism anyone?<span style="color:#cccccc;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Well, this guy is hilirious. Seriously in his own world and giving evidence as to why religious people are a bit illogical.</span><br /></span><object height="340" width="560"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/xi8q9jeyfeo&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><br /><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/xi8q9jeyfeo&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object><br /><br /><span style="color:#cccccc;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Let me give my own evidence on the logic of God:</span><br /><br /></span><br /><span style="color:#9999ff;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><em><span style="font-family:arial;"><em>"The Babel fish is small yellow and leech-like, and probably the oddest thing in the Universe. It feeds on brainwave energy received not from its own carrier, but from those around it. It absorbs all unconscious mental frequencies from this brainwave energy to nourish itself with. It then excretes into the mind of its carrier a telepathic matrix formed by combining the unconscious thought frequencies with nerve signals picked up from the speech centres of the brain which has supplied them. The practical upshot of this is that if you stick a Babel fish in your ear you can instantly understand anything said to you in any form of language. The speech patterns you actually hear decode the brainwave matrix which has been fed into your mind by your Babel fish. Now it is such a bizarrely improbable coincidence that anything so mindbogglingly useful could have evolved purely by chance that some thinkers have chosen to see it as a final and clinching proof of the non-existence of God. The argument goes something like this: "I refuse to prove that I exist," says God, "for proof denies faith, and without faith I am nothing." "But," says Man, "the Babel fish is a dead giveaway isn't it? It could not have evolved by chance. It proves that you exist, and so therefore, by your own arguments, you don't. QED." "Oh dear," says God, "I hadn't thought of that," and promptly disappears in a puff of logic. "Oh, that was easy," says Man, and for an encore goes on to prove that black is whte and gets himself killed on the next zebra crossing. Most leading theologians claim that this argument is a load of dingo's kidneys, but that did not stop Oolon Colluphid making a small fortune when he used it as the central theme of his best selling book 'Well That About Wraps It Up For God'. Meanwhile, the poor Babel fish, by effectively removing all barriers to communication between different race and cultures, has caused more and bloodier wars than anything else in the history of creation.</em></span> "</em></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><em>Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, 1979, Chapter 6</em></span><br /><em><span style="font-family:Arial;"></span></em></span><br /><span style="color:#cccccc;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">I really like Douglas Adams arguments against religions. In response to people who would claim that we are so perfectly designed to work in our world and that our world meeting all our needs, that a God must have played some role in creation (or intelligent design), he would put forward this analogy:</span><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;">A puddle, were it sentient and using the same argument, would claim it was so perfectly fitted to the hole it occupies that the hole MUST have been designed just for it. However, ofcourse the puddle is the shape it is purely because of the shape of the hole it occupies. Just as humans and all plant and animal life has evolved (Yes, EVOLVED) to fit and work with the environment we are in.</span><br /></span><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;color:#cccccc;">Evolution, gotta love it.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;color:#cccccc;">Its Super-Cool.</span></p>MichelleTheNerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18073028578664363334noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5859315060791984548.post-71293966339245461452009-12-25T07:02:00.003+10:302009-12-25T07:06:33.548+10:30<div align="center"><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:180%;"><strong><span style="font-family:georgia;">Merry Christmas </span><span style="font-family:georgia;">Everyone!</span></strong></span></div><div align="center"> </div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfKwlyD2QveR0hwwLVJeBfIKEKRnAcVq0kVVCmCSVU1-T8nWRob5kOnvC4-8-mJHoDNGY4pG2xCAzHYzof0FMrDE7WepCQLxE4yA3U1QAyMZE79Kh4GVuQGCtc-KPBQEgAGTpNju6I_f4/s1600-h/t370.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5418903730419041634" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 243px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfKwlyD2QveR0hwwLVJeBfIKEKRnAcVq0kVVCmCSVU1-T8nWRob5kOnvC4-8-mJHoDNGY4pG2xCAzHYzof0FMrDE7WepCQLxE4yA3U1QAyMZE79Kh4GVuQGCtc-KPBQEgAGTpNju6I_f4/s320/t370.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div align="center"><em><span style="font-size:85%;">Taken from </span></em><a href="http://www.skepticalscience.com/Christmas-cartoon-on-melting-North-Pole.html"><em><span style="font-size:85%;">http://www.skepticalscience.com/Christmas-cartoon-on-melting-North-Pole.html</span></em></a><em><span style="font-size:85%;"> posted by John Cook. :)</span></em><br /></div>MichelleTheNerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18073028578664363334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5859315060791984548.post-4135472747405192312009-12-14T13:23:00.005+10:302009-12-14T13:30:51.561+10:30<div align="center"> </div><div align="center"><span style="font-size:130%;">A timely reminder that evolution favours the stongest traits... No time for the forgetful or water shy in this scenario...</span></div><br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvwX48eyv1BxRElIhbHVVe5CbEPBPD0FVoKTrOFwI_Tp_rPDFqSLQsUcZfKDTQb4MFJo6nz5s5uC4gXqfZpEKuskEFeNaMb0PmoEghucM50phc_BRc-zXJBklkpy0IH7qkXvl-yqhCEcw/s1600-h/dino.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5414920414425339426" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 294px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvwX48eyv1BxRElIhbHVVe5CbEPBPD0FVoKTrOFwI_Tp_rPDFqSLQsUcZfKDTQb4MFJo6nz5s5uC4gXqfZpEKuskEFeNaMb0PmoEghucM50phc_BRc-zXJBklkpy0IH7qkXvl-yqhCEcw/s320/dino.jpg" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:78%;"> Found this online somewhere a while ago- not sure where, but its signed in the bottom corner- so I thinks i'm good for coyright laws...</span></div>MichelleTheNerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18073028578664363334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5859315060791984548.post-36317289602738367012009-12-10T10:10:00.001+10:302009-12-10T10:10:57.699+10:30VIDEO: Strange spiral UFO?<a href="http://player.video.news.com.au/news/?CYlN_utIbLzLfO1fxU4qzFqDaPFZWh_U">VIDEO: Strange spiral UFO?</a><br /><br />Aliens among us?<br />Maybe not...<br /><br />http://www.news.com.au/world/norway-wormhole-is-first-contact-claim-ufo-watchers/story-e6frfkyi-1225808892785?from=igoogle+gadget+compact+news_rssMichelleTheNerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18073028578664363334noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5859315060791984548.post-1010111641027817632009-12-02T17:11:00.010+10:302009-12-02T17:30:01.705+10:30<div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><span style="font-family:arial;">Hi Everyone, </span></div><div><span style="font-family:arial;">Sorry for the very poor attempt at regular blogging. Work was busy, then my computer broke, then our internet was down for almost a day (heaven help us!!!). I will try better in the future! However a thing that piqued my interest (and that of those in my office) was the result of a visiting researcher at work. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />The posts a bit long but once I wrote it I didn’t want to give up. I’ll try to give brief posts in the future!!<br />Anyhow, the visiting researcher told us to watch a video. I'm fairly sure it’s not real. But it made me think about the topic it is mocking/highlighting. The videos quite creepy but comical really... It made me angry though if it was real and people believed this guy!!!<br /><br />Check it out:<br /><br /><object id="veohFlashPlayer" height="341" width="410" name="veohFlashPlayer"><param name="movie" value="http://www.veoh.com/static/swf/webplayer/WebPlayer.swf?version=AFrontend.5.4.7.1002&permalinkId=v291178kyczZK9j&player=videodetailsembedded&videoAutoPlay=0&id=anonymous"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><br /><br /><br /><br /><embed src="http://www.veoh.com/static/swf/webplayer/WebPlayer.swf?version=AFrontend.5.4.7.1002&permalinkId=v291178kyczZK9j&player=videodetailsembedded&videoAutoPlay=0&id=anonymous" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="410" height="341" id="veohFlashPlayerEmbed" name="veohFlashPlayerEmbed"></embed></object><br /><span style="font-size:78%;">Watch <a href="http://www.veoh.com/browse/videos/category/comedy/watch/v291178kyczZK9j">The Placenta Salesman</a> in <a href="http://www.veoh.com/browse/videos/category/comedy">Comedy</a> View More <a href="http://www.veoh.com/">Free Videos Online at Veoh.com</a></span><br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><strong>The Human Placenta</strong><br />The placenta is the organ which develops following conception to exchange blood and nutrients for a foetus. In my line of work (as a research assistant in a lab concerned with the foetal origins of adult heath) we end up discussing the placenta a lot. It a fascinating and complex piece of physiology, which is essentially a matrix of maternal and foetal vessels within a supporting structure cell layers. The cell layers separate the maternal and foetal circulations and allow diffusion of nutrients and oxygen from the mother to the foetus. </span></div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicx0TrXdG61vsl2PmpDBE4_y3IxGMlSvRQ-AxJ7VizTqcYM3YKeyt-Gf-miNwmz_E-NaQnre3qPYZzz18Onr7P3ykBVYtt6-GrqjeHx15jI2NKJlW68PVTCSpXLfLTc3UKsEqR4_Xo2cA/s1600-h/placenta2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5410529172876004258" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 247px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 303px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicx0TrXdG61vsl2PmpDBE4_y3IxGMlSvRQ-AxJ7VizTqcYM3YKeyt-Gf-miNwmz_E-NaQnre3qPYZzz18Onr7P3ykBVYtt6-GrqjeHx15jI2NKJlW68PVTCSpXLfLTc3UKsEqR4_Xo2cA/s320/placenta2.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><span style="font-family:Arial;"></span></div><div></div><span style="font-family:arial;"><div></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5410529007647985954" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 258px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeniZgoSTc05GctLktuzgRxg37CiOpJncqZjn7eq0gKSTDDBaS4AUTfFHQd8Y28D5x5gKd13jpVtVz3FSpP977skjFrMRZUc6JdmKLeXBKihiPylNjNl1lB5hC5jRBvk81HV4A7Cp7egA/s320/placenta.jpg" border="0" /></span></div><div><span style="font-family:arial;"></span> </div><div><span style="font-family:arial;"></span> </div><div><span style="font-family:arial;">These picture show how the placenta would attach to the fetus and, shows a close up of the placenta tissue structure. (photos taken from Cornell University's </span><a href="http://www.biog1105-1106.org/"><span style="font-family:arial;">http://www.biog1105-1106.org/</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></div><div><span style="font-family:arial;">and </span><a href="http://www.fotosearch.com/"><span style="font-family:arial;">http://www.fotosearch.com/</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;">) </span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxfcypqRF9qogB0xco2kseKK_NS4yQ03daChCmrH95dfVX_X1WCNrix2fxj3i0epKU0okbQigUhSi34hg_n4xy1cZ0hZjGpXTASdvkFkeJLKP4Ie6a3cAMFJYyWoyf_rEExHKmBNFvv3M/s1600-h/human_placenta_both_sides.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5410528637491054434" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 212px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxfcypqRF9qogB0xco2kseKK_NS4yQ03daChCmrH95dfVX_X1WCNrix2fxj3i0epKU0okbQigUhSi34hg_n4xy1cZ0hZjGpXTASdvkFkeJLKP4Ie6a3cAMFJYyWoyf_rEExHKmBNFvv3M/s320/human_placenta_both_sides.jpg" border="0" /></a>Here is a real Placenta shown from both the side that attaches to the uterus wall (the red side) and the side that has the umbilical cord which attaches to the baby. </span></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><span style="font-family:Arial;"></span></div><br /><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;"></span></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;"><strong></strong></span> </div><div><span style="font-family:arial;"><strong></strong></span> </div><div><span style="font-family:arial;"><strong>Placentophagia </strong></span></div><div><span style="font-family:arial;"><strong></strong><br />The placenta is integral to many cultural birth practices, including ceremonial burial or, the topic i'm interested in today, consumption. This practice of eating the placenta is called Placentophagia. Many mammals eat the placenta following birth, however it is not an instinctive practice for humans. It has become common practice in some cultures. From a brief search online it seems that it is quite common in Asian culture, but rare in Western culture, although growing in popularity in some circles. The placenta is used in traditional Chinese medicine and often eaten by mothers raw or used cooked, dried and then powdered in various traditional remedies.<br /><br />I have read a lot of online ‘articles’ relating to the ‘benefits of placentophagy’. While they have some good conceptual ideas and claim that studies show benefits, such as relief of post partum depression and increased energy, they provide no actual evidence of this. For an example, check out </span><a href="http://www.purebirth-australia.com/lotusbirth/placentophagia.html"><span style="font-family:arial;">http://www.purebirth-australia.com/lotusbirth/placentophagia.html</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;">.<br /><br />So I did my own research into whether or not it would be beneficial.<br /><br /><strong>Placentophagia in Animals<br /></strong><br />I couldn't find much on the whether the practice in animals is health related. In my personal opinion I think the practice of plancentophagy in animals is purely realted to blood loss and depletion of energy (as the vascular placenta will replace much protein and iron). For humans, we are, in most cases, attended by others and have access to food and drink quite easily following birth. We will not suffer health deterioration from not being able to hunt or gather our food as is the case with mammals in the wild. We are not at risk of predation when weak following birth- in fact we usually go out of our way to make sure the birth is in a place of comfort, be it home, hospital water etc. Therefore the risk of death of the mother or the young due to an inability to get food leading to malnourishment is negligible (especially with modern medicine helping out following severe blood loss or complications). I have found only a few articles on the possible benefits in rats/rabbits consuming placentas (raw of course), and all related to the analgesic (pain relief) effects to be gained from the hormones that bind to specific pain receptors. This would an advantage if you had to be on the move or caring for young quickly.<br />But that doesn’t explain it for humans...<br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family:arial;"><strong>Placentophagia in Humans</strong><br /><br />While I wouldn’t do it myself, I am in no way opposed to the practice of people consuming <strong>THEIR OWN</strong> (<em>or perhaps a friends as part of a ceremony</em>) placenta. The most common advice is to cook, dry and then powder it and insert it into capsules. I think this would be relatively safe practice if done properly (professionals come and do it for mothers in many cases). In my opinion though, regardless of testimonies praising the medicinal properties of the placenta, I think the placebo effect is acting more strongly than anything else.<br /><br />To be perfectly honest- there is no scientific literature** (based on a search of Medline, Embase, and Ovid journals) relating to the physiology (or the nutrition vs toxicity) of consuming the human placenta. I found a few articles relating to the practice in humans, written by shocked old men in the early seventies (<em>after reading an account of a homebirth with the placenta eaten afterwards in a Rolling Stone magazine- Hilarious!)</em>. They then described it as a ‘tribal practice’ but give no details or benefits etc- simply discuss its occurrence.<br /><br />However the <strong>**’s</strong> above are important- the lack of evidence is because it is primarily practived by people in Asia and as a part of traditional Eastern medicines, as far as I can tell, there won’t be many people interested in it here- and thus less articles. As I can’t read any Asian languages I am unable to search Asian journals. However I think that if they discovered a world breakthrough in post partum depression (a touted effect of eating placenta) they would announce it in as many journals across the globe as they can- which is what happens with most important science articles. So my opinion still stands, but with this lengthy disclaimer.<br /><br /><strong><em>Back to the placebo effect</em></strong>: The only benefit of eating one’s own placenta that I was tempted to believe without any evidence to the contrary was stated benefit to post partum hormonal balance. However I do wonder if consuming more ‘<em>We’re pregnant’</em> hormones interrupt the ‘<em>Ooh we just gave birth and need to prepare our body to look after the baby externally’</em> hormones.... <strong>PLUS</strong> Most people like to cook it- which is good- gets rid of any germs depending on how long its kept after birth (that’s right they freeze them and defrost ‘em later!) which means that any hormones, as far as I understand it are denatured. Thus no hormones would have any effect!!!!<br />Hence my conclusion that its placebo effect for that particular benefit. Which is fine- a placebo is as helpful as any other treatment.<br /><br />The only real article I found was in German (but recent and from a very respectable institution). The author, M. Menges wrote: </span></div><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><div>“<em>Over the last 30 years it could be observed that a very small minority of modern humans consumes the human placenta that belongs to the afterbirth. ... However, humans of traditional human cultures consume the afterbirth only in rare cases. In detail, the present essay discusses the hypothesis that human placentophagia has a phylogenetic basis and the hypothesis that human placentophagia is physiologically reasonable. It is concluded that the behavior of the human placentophagia neither possesses a phylogenetic basis nor can be regarded as physiologically reasonable.</em>” </span><a title="Anthropologischer Anzeiger; Bericht über die biologisch-anthropologische Literatur." href="javascript:AL_get(this,%20"><span style="font-family:arial;">Anthropol Anz.</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;"> 2007 Mar;65(1):97-108.<br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family:arial;">That’s good enough for me. </span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;"><strong>Placenta Products:</strong><br />I don’t think you can put a product such as placenta on your face and expect miracles. I don’t think many cosmetics work in any sort of restorative way. Do a google search though and there a thousands of products with placenta in them. Mostly sheep or other animals I assume. Placenta collection for mass products would be a bit more than creepy.<br /><br />The Juices and Tablets- A) Gross- a juice- are they kidding!!! B) aforementioned denaturing of any actual hormones or proteins would occur so it would be doing very little in my opinion.<br /><br />The cosmetics: I think its to do with hormones, or maybe stem cells?? Well would you rub meat paste, with preservatives in it, on your face and expect results? I think they think stem cells be able to replace or restore damaged skin. I don’t think there are many stem cells floating around in the placenta though. You’d be better off using bone marrow products- they are full of stem cells... except that you need the cells to A) be yours or your body will kill them, B) the same species to differentiate (grow/develop) into the needed cells- if somehow they managed to overcome the ‘not from your body’ problem... oh and C) someway to get your skin or hair or whatever to absorb it...<br /><br />Not likely. I’ll stick to good old fashioned chemicals which give me the illusion of better skin! </span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>MichelleTheNerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18073028578664363334noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5859315060791984548.post-1294690285616971602009-11-11T09:25:00.003+10:302009-11-11T09:38:49.355+10:30New hope for small penises :)<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_nX5pcpe1RhxGRf3ylElzNucM8VHURKOqMw7oslmRt0zMd6ieyx-V1RjiKUMO5PRkBtG2J-2JAUDGrzTIAcXwSY6lPInDzDJh_ePR4vk0nyKIAmSF2-q_YAM8hEsFp5_AZK1ROg6efFQ/s1600-h/phallicrock.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5402615630157534098" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 214px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_nX5pcpe1RhxGRf3ylElzNucM8VHURKOqMw7oslmRt0zMd6ieyx-V1RjiKUMO5PRkBtG2J-2JAUDGrzTIAcXwSY6lPInDzDJh_ePR4vk0nyKIAmSF2-q_YAM8hEsFp5_AZK1ROg6efFQ/s320/phallicrock.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div>Who would have thought... but instead of the first major succesful advances in creating and growing organs/tissue being in something with a wide applicability- perhaps growing heart cells to replace damaged tissue following myocardial infarction (heart attacks) or you know the ever present need to grow neurons for the brain- instead penises get the guernsey!<br /><br />That was a bit tongue in cheek- there have been many advances made in other areas- but i thought this one was interesting... heralds well for the future of growing organs! Check out the ninemsn article:<br /><br /><a href="http://news.ninemsn.com.au/health/969620/us-scientists-create-artificial-rabbit-penises">http://news.ninemsn.com.au/health/969620/us-scientists-create-artificial-rabbit-penises</a>...<br /><br />PS getting the hang of this blogging thing- need to keep them brief I think!</div><div> </div><div>Picture borrowed from someone elses blog: <a href="http://to55er.wordpress.com/2009/03/19/">http://to55er.wordpress.com/2009/03/19/</a></div>MichelleTheNerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18073028578664363334noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5859315060791984548.post-76958668334809584502009-10-20T12:22:00.002+10:302009-10-20T12:28:42.572+10:30Epic fantasy taking to the small screen...Sorry there are a lack of posts. I am working on a couple but tend to want to do researcha and have been hectic at work of late, so no time for that!<br /><br />Just a little info, passed on from my good friend Robot Fingers, about an awesome fantasy novel being made into a series. For all the nerds out there:<br /><br />G.R.R. Martin's Game of Thrones is being made into a pilot for a TV series by HBO. It looks to be good and the cast has been chosen. Can't wait to see it!<br /><a href="http://www.thrfeed.com/2009/10/game-of-thrones-cast-with-photos-.html">http://www.thrfeed.com/2009/10/game-of-thrones-cast-with-photos-.html</a><br /><br />But will be interested because the whole Lannister family is blonde but for somereason they have cast brunettes. If I see a repeat of Colin Farrell as 'Alexander' -bleach blonder hair and dark eyebrows I will be very dissapointed. It's not that hard to do both!<br /><br />Ok, tiny rant over,<br />Michelle :)MichelleTheNerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18073028578664363334noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5859315060791984548.post-70131160739261869592009-10-08T15:42:00.005+10:302009-10-08T16:45:47.644+10:30Whaling about...<div align="left"><span style="font-family:arial;">Okay, I suppose I should get started- it is actually really difficult to just start writing a blog. I was looking for a good place to start and that got me thinking about evolution and where ‘we’ started. I love learning about evolution and the history of our species in particular. The evidence for evolution is so overwhelming I can’t believe I can still find things written by critics, implying that evolution is non-existent.<br /><br />However, the clues are all around us!<br /><br /><em>“It is important to note that suddenly, and against all probability, a Sperm Whale had been called into existence, several miles above the surface of an alien planet and since this is not a naturally tenable position for a whale, this innocent creature had very little time to come to terms with its identity.”<br />The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams.<br /></em><br />Much as this whale spontaneously comes into existence in space, in the Hitchhikers guide to the Galaxy, whales on Earth did not. In fact, they carry their own proof of evolution in the form of a vestigial pelvis and leg like structures. I believe the structures exist in some species of whale and some dolphins. The fact that the remnants of a lower limb structure exist provides strong evidence towards the fact that these sea dwelling mammal’s predecessors walked on land before adapting to a marine life.<br /></div></span><div align="left"> </div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;">The first two images below are taken from </span><a href="http://www.edwardtbabinski.us/whales/evolution_of_whales/"><span style="font-family:arial;">http://www.edwardtbabinski.us/whales/evolution_of_whales/</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;">, as an example of the vestigial pelvic structure. <img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5390107289944262994" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 285px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirF5WI0m5dSwPO4pVvSFNbsoUf0-5es3FlJJna_LvbPzW2oezgOLSxuLwG3m6tj_VXKWfJ2qxoRj20TdRXNnQIFe39whWIITtgsOQ_xABfK1OssW_gCDNrB-lwE95tH4IkK6cQpFXQs7Q/s320/hind-limbs.gif" border="0" /><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5390105271762844514" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 398px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 118px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxHyzre4bOG5BmKqo42j17DITPaF0mu-lmdjW2x6FNQCIfgzKwl64_nTqAU0UOvfG_fnR335DXzXm-1M9OIRKfZ9POYWc-1uJZtWgzX_gKD73CGuARlBkp8h4lbEDQrTPb9IakGnOkVR4/s320/sperm_whale_limb_rudiment.gif" border="0" /><br /></div><div align="center">The following picture is no necessarily scientifically accurate- it comes from <a href="http://www.envisioningscience.com/whale_skeleton.html">http://www.envisioningscience.com/whale_skeleton.html</a> , which may well be a graphic design company, however i like how it shows the pelvis as it would appear in the body of a whale.<br /></div><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5390106562804313458" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbpqZhLpTlO2OJrmVjA1ty9Zx_7-7nUmMhVajTxuh18VM_IevC5SOGsqeWYY_wVJnamDXqKxnCAj6iPBEJRi0zfRsXWj9ztEQQ6XyMvLAuY_zoV9-lz5CSE7kzPQ1Zjn34hRNPjI3dx7k/s320/whale_skeleton.gif" border="0" /><strong>If your interested:</strong><br /><br />I like this article- it’s a nice interest piece on the evolution of whales from land animals, it’s a bit old, but so are the fossils!<br /></span><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/1974869.stm"><span style="font-family:arial;">http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/1974869.stm</span></a></p><span style="font-family:arial;">This is a good website in my non-academic (in this area) opinion. It seems to have a bit of information on the fossil periods that show whale evolution: </span><a href="http://www.talkorigins.org/features/whales/"><span style="font-family:arial;">http://www.talkorigins.org/features/whales/</span></a><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">If you search online academic journals for information you'll find a wealth of papers on whales fossils and current anatomy. I didn't do much research for this post- I'm still warming upto this blogging business. But the real information is out there if you want it.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;">:) Michelle </span>MichelleTheNerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18073028578664363334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5859315060791984548.post-71906428697816051012009-10-05T13:20:00.000+10:302009-10-05T13:35:37.477+10:30Welcome to Nerd Nation<span style="font-family:arial;">I have created this blog to alleviate the boredom that has set in since I graduated and I no longer have to learn crazy-cool things about the anatomy and physiology. I love to learn new and interesting information particularly about biology and physiology. I figure that when weird questions pop into my head- if I actually take the time to find out the answer- other people might actually be interested to know the answers too! Its not everyones cup of tea, but if you like weird facts and learn the reason behind random things from nature then hopefully you'll find my blog interesting.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">And because 'a vague disclaimer is nobody's friend', I must stress that if you want to use information from this blog for any sort of assignments (perhaps google has directed you here)... do your own research in case I have not been as thorough in my research as anyone should be if they are doing it for more than mere interest. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">I welcome comments on anything I write if someone has more information or something to correct me on (except spelling and punctuation, which I'm shocking at most of the time, and don't actually care about anymore) or if people have things that they would like to know please ask so it will give me motivation to write this blog... </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Thanks,</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Michelle</span>MichelleTheNerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18073028578664363334noreply@blogger.com0