Science Advocacy
Science Advocacy
We all know the platypus – a funny looking animal with a funny sounding name. Yes, they are one of the few mammals to lay eggs and they have that wacky-looking bill that makes them looks like a duck muskrat. From now on, I’m calling them duckrats.
But they’re venomous too! How awesome is that?!?! OK, I’m a giant nerd, but still. VENOM. In a mammal! Here are some more fun platypus facts, not all of which are about the venom:
The Internet Wants to Know:
In short: it truly depends on … You.
An artist, a science fiction writer, a heavy metal guitarist, a surgeon, a mad scientist, or your local FedEx delivery driver will have different perspectives towards alcohol indulgence. Your family physician wouldn’t recommend his patients or you drinking large amounts of alcohol, because physicians witness and treat the physical and mental illnesses related to alcohol abuse. On the other hand, there is published literature showing that alcohol has been prominent in the lives of highly creative people including artists, writers, and musicians. However, from a toxicological perspective, this issue is often raised as a question of whether there is a specific “dose” of alcohol that could clearly delineate the line between the adverse and beneficial effects on a person’s overall health and wellbeing – but there isn’t a single dose that balances those effects for every person.Continue reading…
Ridiculous question from the internet: I swallowed an ice cube, and I haven’t pooped it out?
Source of said ridiculous question: Yahoo Answers
Science’s answer: Ice melts at 32ºF, or 0ºC. Your body temperature is approximately 98.6ºF, or 37ºC. I can’t believe I’m going to say this… ok, here it goes… 98.6ºF is warmer than 32ºF, so the ice melted. There, I said it. No one should feel good about this. You actually did excrete the ice in question, but it came out as water, likely as urine, but also potentially as sweat, water vapor you exhaled and yes, maybe also as part of a “poop”.
In fairness, this is a picture of a bristle worm, a deep sea creature that is not a human parasite. However, sometimes dank memes transcend taxonomy.
But seriously researchers are developing vaccines for parasitic disease like malaria tho: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2015.09.057
