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Saturday, January 29, 2011

Amazing Brain Facts

Amazing Brain Facts

The brain is a monstrous, beautiful mess. Its billions of nerve cells - called neurons - lie in a tangled web that displays cognitive powers far exceeding any of the silicon machines we have built to mimic it. - William F. Allman in Apprentices of Wonder. Inside the Neural Network Revolution, 1989.

The brain is the most amazing and complex organ in this universe and its research continues to throw up new facts that surprise’s us. The brain is capable of being modified or improved even as we age. It is never used to its full capacity.
1. The human brain has about 100,000,000,000 or 100 billion neurons. From the age of 35 years about 7000 neurons are lost daily.
2. During early pregnancy the neurons in the fetus can multiply at a rate 250,000 neurons/minute.
3. Brain is composed of 75 to 80% water. Dehydration can affect proper functioning of brain.
4. Brain consists of 60% White matter and 40% Grey matter. White is the supporting matter and Grey is the thinking matter of the brain. If the brain was a computer the grey matter would be the computer itself and the white matter its cables.

5. Adult brain weighs about 3 pounds or 1300 to 1400 Grams. This is about 2% of the body weight if you weigh 150 pounds or 70 kgs. Sperm whale’s brain weighs 7800 gms.

6. Although the brain only accounts for 2 percent of our body weight but it consumes 20% of the oxygen that we breathe and roughly 20 percent of our daily calories.

7. 15-20% of all blood pumped out of the heart goes directly to the brain.

8. All the thinking in the brain is about electricity and chemicals. The brain is more active and thinks more at night than during the day.

9. The brain itself is incapable of feeling pain. Once the skull is opened it is possible to operate on the brain with the patient awake.

10. You can’t feel your own tickle either. The brain is smart enough to neutralize the sensation. The cerebellum sends a signal to rest of the brain of your intentions and as a result the sensation is ignored.

Chocoholic Jokes

Chocoholic Jokes
REASONS WHY CHOCOLATE IS BETTER THAN SEX 

You’re never too old to enjoy chocolate.
It’s safe to have chocolate while you’re driving. 
You never feel guilty after chocolate.
You can make chocolate last as long as you want. 
You can ask a stranger for chocolate without getting your face slapped.
With chocolate – satisfaction’s guaranteed.


REASONS WHY CHOCOLATE IS BETTER THAN MEN 

No one’s ever been jilted by a chocolate gateau.
After telling your chocolate bar all your worries you can simply eat it.
You can share chocolates with your best friend.
A bar of chocolate doesn’t bore you by constantly talking about football.
Your mother will never disapprove of your choice of chocolate. 



REASONS WHY CHOCOLATE IS BETTER THAN WOMEN 

Chocolate never keeps you waiting.
Chocolate doesn’t get jealous when you look at another chocolate bar.
You never have to buy a box of chocolates for a box of chocolates.
Chocolate doesn’t talk incessantly while you’re watching the football.
It doesn’t expect you to remember the anniversary of the first time you met.
Chocolate never tries to chat up your best friend.
Chocolate isn’t looking for a long term commitment.



Sorry for eating the peanuts

A man visits his aunt in the nursing home. It turns out that she is taking a nap, so he just sits down in a chair in her room, flips through a few magazines, and munches on some peanuts sitting in a bowl on the table.
Eventually, the aunt wakes up, and her nephew realizes he's absentmindedly finished the entire bowl. 'I'm so sorry, auntie, I've eaten all of your peanuts!"That's okay, dearie," the aunt replied. "After I've sucked the chocolate off, I don't really care for them anyway."

All About Your Eyes

Few people could argue that without our 5 senses life would be pretty dull. All our senses are extremely important but I think if you asked most people which sense would they least like to lose they would probably say their vision. As with most of our abilities, our vision is something that many of us take for granted. If you stop and think for a moment, you will realize that just about everything we do in our day to day life involves our vision. During this article I am going to try and see if I can get you to start thinking a little bit more about your eyes. Listed below is my top 10 list of weird and wonderful things you didn’t know about your eyes
10. Everyone needs reading glasses as they get older

Top 10 Things You Didnt Know About Your Eyes
Top 10 Things You Didnt Know About Your Eyes
I know this might sound crazy but this is one of strange facts about your eyes. Your tears are made up of 3 different components and they are water, mucus and fat. If these 3 components are not in exactly the right quantities, your eyes can become dry as a consequence. Your brain responds to this dryness by producing extra water and hence your eyes water.

SOBRIQUETS

PRIMARY NAMES SOBRIQUETS
Aberdeen, ScotlandThe Granite City
AfricaThe Dark Continent
Amristsar, IndiaThe City of the Golden Temple
Atlantic OceanThe Herring Pond
AustraliaThe Land of the Golden Fleece,
The Land of the Kangaroo
Bab-el-mandabThe Gate of Tears
BanrainIsland of Pearls
Bangalore, IndiaThe Garden City of India
BelgiumThe Cockpit of Europe
Belgtade, YugoslaviaWhite City
Bombay, IndiaThe Gateway of India
Broadway, New YorkThe Great White Way
Burma (Mayanmar)The Land of the Golden Pagoda
Calcutta, IndiaThe City of Palaces
CanadaThe Land of Lilies, The Land of Maple
Chicago, USAWindy City
Cochin, IndiaThe Venice of the East, The Queen of the Arabian Sea
CubaThe Pearl of the Antilles
EgyptThe Gift of the Nile
FinlandThe Land of Thousand Lakes
GibraltarThe key of the Mediterranean
Guinea CoastWhite Man's Grave
River Hwang Ho, chinaThe Sorrow of China
IrelandThe Emerald Island
JaipurThe Rose Pink City
SOBRIQUETS

Famous People with disabilities

ABBOTT Bud, 1900-1974, (epilepsy),
American Comedian of Abbott & Costello comedy team. Starred in over 35 films with partner Lou Costello from 1940-1965. Famous for the baseball classic comedy routine "Who’s on First?"
{16,27,32}

ABBOTT Jim, 1967-present, (no right hand),
Major league baseball pitcher. He played Little League and later with his high school team. He attended the University of Michigan and then pursued his baseball career. Won the Golden Spikes Award as the finest amateur baseball player in the US. Played on the 1988 U.S. Olympic Baseball team and pitched a gold medal for the US team. He played baseball for the California Angels and was traded to the New York Yankees.
{43}

ABERCROMBIE Neil, 1938-present, (epilepsy),
United States Representative from Hawaii (1986-1987). Served on the Honolulu City Council (1988-1990). Sought the Democratic Nomination for US Senate in 1970. First elected to the House on November 6, 1990. Last elected to House on November 8, 1994.
{27}

ALDRIDGE Lionel, 1941-present, (mental disorder),
A defensive end for Vince Loumbardi’s legendary Green Bay Packers of the 1960’s. He played in two Super Bowls. In the 1970’s he was diagnosed with schizophrenia and was homeless for 2 1/2 years. Now gives inspirational talks about his battle against paranoid schizophrenia.
{58}

ALDRIN Edwin Eugene Jr [Buzz], 1930-present, (bipolar disorder),
United States Astronaut-second person to set foot on the moon. He and Neil Armstrong landed there in the Apollo Lunar Module on July 20, 1969. He was also the pilot of the Gemini 12 space flight in 1966.
{85}

ALEXANDER Grover Cleveland, 1887-1950, (epilepsy),
Professional baseball player (Old Pete) (Alex the Great). He was a pitcher who won 28 games in his rookie season. He was deaf in one ear. He was also an alcoholic and epileptic. Over his lifetime he won 373 games. He was a 30 game winner three years running. He pitched 90 shutouts/struck out 2198 batters-completed 436 games and earned a 1.22 ERA and .642 winning percentage.
{27,57}

ALEXANDER the Great,356-323BC, (physical impairment) (epilepsy),
King of the Macedonians and was one of the greatest generals in history.
{85}

ALFRED the Great,849-901?, (epilepsy)
West Saxon King and Scholar. Old English literary prose. King of the West Saxons in Southwestern England. He saved his kingdom-Wessex from the Danish Vikings and laid the basis for unification of England under the West Saxon Monarchy. He was such an outstanding leader in war and peace that he is the only English king known as the Great
{27,70,85}
ALI Mohammad, 1942-present, (neuromuscular)
American heavyweight boxing champion. Ali was born Cassius Marcellus Clay but in 1964 he adopted the Black Muslim Religion and changed his name. As an adult was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.,
{36,85}

ALONSO Alicia, 1921-present, (visual impairment),
At 16 she married Fernando Alonso and moved to New York City from Cuba. Due to detached retinas she lost her sight. She still continued to dance in ballet. In 1948 she and her husband returned to Cuba. She opened Cuba’s first major ballet company.
{43}

AMBROSI Gustinus , 1893-1975, (hearing impairment),
Working primarily in bronze and marble he created sculptures in the classical tradition. He was also the master of the portrait bust. As sculptor, poet, graphic artist and philosopher Ambrosi symbolized to many a Renaissance man who had surmounted his fate. Shortly before this seventh birthday he was stricken with meningitis resulting in deafness. In 1912 he received both the National Prize for Sculpture and the Felix Von Weingartner Medallion.
{30}
ANDERSON Hans Christian, 1805-1875, (learning disability),
Denmark's most famous author(writer). His fairy tales are among the most widely read works in world literature.
{85}
ANDERSON Harry, 1952-present, (attention deficit disorder),
Actor who played Judge Stone on Night Court has attention deficit disorder and has managed to con and charm his way through school. He had an extraordinary memory and could remember anything at 16. He was Valedictorian but, he could barely read to rehearse his lines. He is also a magician and writer.
{4}

ARAFAT Yasir [Mohammed Abdel-Raouf Arafat-al-Qudwa-al- Hussseini], 1929-present, (neuromuscular),
Politician and Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in 1969. He acquired the nickname Yasir which means easy going as a teenager. In 1994 Arafat shared the Nobel Peace Prize for peace efforts with Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres. In 1996 he was elected president. Diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease later in life.
{85}
ARISTOLE,384-322 BC, (epilepsy),
Greek philosopher/scientist. Aristotle was a student of Plato. In 343 BC he began tutoring the young Alexander the Great. In 334 BC he lectured at a public gymnasium called the Lyceum. He is considered one of the two great philosophers of antiquity along with Plato. He wrote on many subjects from biology to astronomy to rhetoric and literary criticism.
{26}
ARMES Jay J., 1938-present, (physical impairment),
Born [Julian Armas] but changed his name to Jay J. Armes. He was born in Ysleta Texas. In 1949 at the age of 12 he was involved in an accident that resulted in both of his hands being amputated and hooks were placed as artificial hands. Some people say he’s the best private eye in the world.
{33,43}

ARNOLD Hillis, 1910-present, (hearing impairment),
American sculptor and teacher who lost his hearing at six months of age due to spinal meningitis. He taught sculpture and ceramics for 32 years at Monticello College in Godfrey IL now Lewis and Clark Community College. He is an advocate of symbolism and his art reveals a debt to expressionism.
{43}

ASHLEY Jack, 1922-present, (hearing impairment)
Politician. Jack is probably the only totally deaf member of any legislature in the world. His story is an inspiring record of coping with restricted education and vocational opportunities and with the impact of total deafness. His career was threatened in 1968 when he became totally deaf after a supposedly minor operation for the repair of the perforation of his left ear. His autobiography (Journey into Silence) 1973 describes his feelings on returning to Parliament following this disaster.
{43}

Murphy's Laws

Murphy's Laws

Everyone has heard of Murphy's first law: "If anything can go wrong, invariably it will." But hardly anybody has even a foggy idea of who Murphy was.
The search for Murphy's notebooks led to a garage in Toledo, Ohio; an inventor's junk loft in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania; and the home of a retired female blackmailer in Sarasota, Florida. It was learned that Murphy had no first name, that he never could hold a job, and that his writings were returned by the post office for insufficient postage.
It seems everything Murphy wrote about had some explanation for why things go wrong. Consider a few more Murphy classics:
  • Nothing is ever as simple as it first seems.
  • Everything you decide to do costs more than first estimated.
  • Every activity takes more time than you have.
  • It's easier to make a commitment or to get involved in something than to get out of it.
  • Whatever you set out to do, something else must be done first.
  • If you improve or tinker with something long enough, eventually it will break.
  • By making something absolutely clear, somebody will be confused.
  • You can fool some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time, and that's sufficient.

Women and the Nobel Prize

Which highly distinquished Jewish, English-speaking, woman-author was born in South Africa, was fiercely political in her writings and whose most widely read novels included, 'The Conservationist' and 'Burger's Daughter'?
    Nadine Gordimer. She was born in 1923 and grew up in the difficult conditions of apartheid, which she resented immensely. However, even though she would not identify with the White minority, she had difficulty identifying with the Black majority, whom she supported. In her writings she was totally committed to exploring and exposing the social inequities of apartheid for all of the people of South Africa. Her earlier novels included, 'Which New Era Would That Be?'and 'Is There Nowhere Else Where We Can Meet?' She was named Nobel Laureate in Literature in 1991.
Which famous, highly honored German-American woman, with extensive training in mathematics and physics, demonstrated that the atomic nucleus has a structure containing successive proton-neutron shells held together by highly complex forces?
    Maria Goeppert Mayer. Maria Goeppert was born in 1906 in Kattowitz, Germany (now Poland) and was educated at the University of Gottingen, Germany. She married an American physicist, Joseph E. Mayer, in 1931 and they immigrated to the United States. She shared the Nobel Prize in Physics with Hans D. Jensen. She became the second woman to be named Nobel Laureate in Physics and the third to be named a Nobel Laureate in the science categories.
Which famous, very highly honored woman won the Nobel Prize twice, but in two different categories?
    Marie Sklodowska Curie. Marie Sklodowska was born in Warsaw, Poland in 1867. She studied mathematics, physics and chemistry in Paris, France. She married Pierre Curie and as a team they studied radio-active substances and discovered radium and polonium. For those discoveries she and her husband shared the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1903. In 1906 her husband, who was ill from over exposure to radiation, died in an accident. Marie Curie continued her studies and isolated the radium element and described its unusual characteristics. For that work she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1911.
Which famous, highly honored woman was a prominent suffragist, social reformer and founder of the Hull House in Chicago, Illinois?
    Jane Addams. Jane Addams was born in 1860 in Cedarville, Illinois. She was educated in The Rockville Female Seminary, one of the earlier all women colleges. She suffered several episodes of severe clinical depression that interrupted her social work. After a two year trip to Europe, she and a close friend became mutually interested in social reform and the advancement of women's rights, including the right to vote. She was the founder of the famous Hull House in Chicago. In 1931 she was named Nobel Laureate in Peace.
Which famous noble woman was the founder of a new field of science called, 'Protein Crystallography' and with her family, worked for more than 30 years in programs for World Peace?
    Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin. Dorothy Crowfoot was born in Cairo, Egypt in 1910, the first of four daughters of John and Grace Crowfoot. She and her entire family were strong protagonists for world peace. Her marriage to Mr. Hodgkin was totally unsuccessful and thus her interests in science dominated the rest of her career. Using X-ray diffraction on crystals of biological substances, she developed the process of 'Protein Crystallography'. Using this new procedure she worked with cholesterol, penicillin, Vitamin B-12 and insulin. She was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1964. Due to the 'Cold War' she was not able to obtain a U.S. Visa until 1990 at which time she was 80 years of age. Althouigh, severely crippled with {arthritis;} she toured many U.S. scientific institutions as a lecturer on the examination of insulin using Protein Crystallography. She died of a stroke in 1994.
Which famous woman, in concert with her team at Burroughs-Wellcome Pharaceutical Company, synthesized 6-mercaptopurine and 6-thioguanine (2 anti-leukemia {drugs);} allopurinol (for the treatment of {gout);} and acyclovir (for the treatment of herpes virus diseases)?
    Gertrude Elion. She was born in 1918, entered Hunter College at age 15 and graduated Summa Cum Laude, In 1944 she joined Bulloughs-Wellcome(Now Glaxo) and quickly synthesized the two anti-leukemia drugs. She then discovered 'Imuran' which blocked the body's rejection of foreign tissues. Imuran plus other drugs enabled the successful transplant of kidneys from unrelated donors, without rejection. During her lifetime she received 25 doctorate degrees from different Universities. In 1988 Gertrude Elion shared the Nobel Prize for Medicine or Physiology with George Hitchings, her colleague of 40 years, and with Sir James Black.
What is the name of the world famous, Albanian-born, Catholic nun, who trained in Dublin, Ireland and Darjeelig, India and founded the 'Missionaries of Charity' organization?
    Mother Teresa. Mother Teresa was born in 1910 and christened Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhin. She joined the Order of the Sisters of our Lady of Loretto in Ireland at 18 years of age. In 1937, while in India, she took her religious vows. She then dedicated her life to caring for the unwanted people of her community, those who were sick, crippled or dying. In 1952 she opened the Nirmal Hriday (Pure Heart) Home for the dying. She extended her efforts to five continents.She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979. On September 5, 1997 she died at age 87 years.
Which highly motivated woman dedicated her time, efforts and career to banning and clearing anti-personnel land mines?
    Jody Williams. Jody Williams was working at a temporary job in Washington, DC. in 1981 when she was handed a leaflet that described the major problem of undetonated or defused world-wide anti-personnel land mines. This changed her from a lower level office worker to a global human rights activist. Working with Veterans Organizations and many others she recognized that 'When the war is over, the dying from land mines doesn't stop'. The huge number of land mines left behind by the military forces were killing and maiming thousands of civilians returning to their homelands. Together with Shawn Roberts she co-authored the book. 'After the Guns Fall Silent: The Enduring Legacy of Landmines'. In 1992 she led an international movement that created 'The International Campaign to Ban Landmines'. She personally travelled to war torn countries and risked her own life in mine fields. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997.
Which famous, highly honored woman, whose first language was Chinese, wrote 'East Wind, West Wind' as her first novel in 1925, which started her on a very successful writing career?
    Pearl Buck. Pearl Comfort Sydenstricker was born in West Virginia in 1892 the 4th of seven daughters of two Presbyterian missionaries. After her birth the family returned to Chinkiang, China. Pearl returned to the United States in 1910 and graduated Phi Betta Kappa from Randolph-Macon Woman's College, Lynchburg, Virginia. She returned to China and in 1917 she married John Lossing Buck. Her only child, a daughter, was severely disbled by a genetic disorder and the marriage ended in divorce. Once again she returned to the U.S. to study at Cornell University. She wrote more than 100 books or articles but probably her most well-known book is 'The Good Earth'. She was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1938. She had married Richard Day and they adopted six children. They lived at his Country Farm home and she continued writing until her death in 1973.
Which German-Swedish woman initially wrote romantic poems but then her writings changed to a Jewish theme, inspired by the tragedies of Jewish history?
    Nelly L. Sachs. Nelly Leonine Sachs was born in Berlin, Germany in 1891. With the rising threat of Nazism she moved to Sweden in 1940, One of her great collections was entitled: 'O The Chimneys', which included the play, 'Eli'. She shared the 1966 Nobel Prize in Literature with Israel writer Shmuel Yosef Agnon.
Which famous Italian-American woman was affiliated with the Institute of Cell Biology, Rome, Italy and made a major contribution to the understanding of the action of human growth hormone on peripheral nervous tissue?
    Rita Levi-Montalcini. Rita Levi-Montalcini was born in Turin, Italy in 1901. She was educated in the University of Turin Medical School. She majored in biology and studied the actions of human growth hormone. In 1986 she shared the Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology with her student, Stanley Cohen. She moved to the United states in 1947 and became a citizen of the U.S. in 1956.
Which Northern Irish-British woman was co-founder of an organization now known as, 'The Community Peace People'?
    Betty Williams. Betty Williams was born in 1948 in Northern Ireland, U.K. Mrs. Betty Williams, Cravan McKeown and Miss Mairead Corrigan were the founders of the 'Northern Ireland Peace Movement' (renamed The Community of Peace People) She was awarded the the 1976 Nobel Peace Prize. Ironically, in 1977 she was fined {$} 55.00 for disorderly conduct at the Heathrow Airport, London, England.
Which famous woman, in partnership with Dr. Solomon Berson, developed a new analytical methodology called, 'Radioimmunoassay' and among other discoveries showed that in some adult diabetic patients, insulin was being blocked by the person's own immune system?
    Rosalyn Sussman Yallow. Rosalyn Sussman was born in the Bronx, NY in 1921 of poor uneducated Jewish parents. She graduated from Hunter College with honors in physics and chemistry. Being Jewish and a woman she was unable to obtain admission to a medical school or get a scholarship from Purdue University. She took a job as teaching assistant in physics at the University of Illinois. In 1943 she married A. Aaron Yallow, a fellow physics student. From 1946 to 1950 she taught physics at Hunter College. Her unusual abilities were soon recognized and she went from an assistant in radioactive services to Head of the RIA laboratory to Research Professor at Mt. Sinai Hospital. She was the first woman to be awarded the prestigious Albert Lasker Prize. She became a Nobel Laureate in Medicine or Physiology in 1977.
What Nobel Prize category was the last to include a woman recipient?
    Economics & Economic Science. Mathematics and Psychology are not Nobel Prize categories. The category of Economics was added in 1968 and there were no women Nobel Prize recipients in Economics until Elinor Ostrom won in 2009.
How many women have been named as a Nobel Laureate from the beginning in 1901 through the year 1999?
    29. The Nobel Prize has been awarded to two (2) women in {Physics;} three (3) women in {Chemistry;} nine (9) women in {Literature;} six (6) women in Medicine or Physiology and ten (10) women in Peace. That adds up to {30;} but, Marie Curie is in two categories, Therefore, only 29 different women have received the Nobel Prize and many of those were shared with a man.

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1906

Camillo Golgi
Santiago Ramón y Cajal

Camillo Golgi

Santiago Ramón y Cajal

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1906 was awarded jointly to Camillo Golgi and Santiago Ramón y Cajal "in recognition of their work on the structure of the nervous system"