Category: Science

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Real Things That Totally Look Like Glitches in the Universe

Sometimes, you see something that just doesn’t make sense. Instead of trying to rationalize the irrational, it’s often better to just accept things as they are and roll with them.

There are abnormalities in our realities that we cannot even begin to understand – like UFOs and people who still wear Ed Hardy t-shirts.

Here are 14 things in real life that seem like glitches in the universe.

1. You’ve heard of upside down cakes, now here’s…

An upside down house. At least I can finally fulfill my Alice in Wonderland fantasy.

This upside-down house. from mildlyinteresting

2. A real biological phenomenon

Take a look at this super rare albino sea turtle. Animals really are out of this world.

An albino turlte I saw on my vacation in Sri Lanka from mildlyinteresting

3. From a bygone era

Here’s a grocery store that used to be a theatre – for those of us who love sad, dystopian nostalgia.

Supermarket in Venice used to be a theatre from mildlyinteresting

4. Well, I guess everybody does it

Feel like an actual alien in this London restaurant’s space-themed bathroom, complete with a flying saucer and toilet pods.

These “toilet pods” are the restroom at a London restaurant from mildlyinteresting

5. In all shapes and sizes

This little door in the woods is perfect for any talking dormice looking for prime real estate.

This tree has a tiny door built into it. from mildlyinteresting

6. That’s a lot of power

I guess a giant outlet must be useful for something.

This power company has a giant plug and socket on it from mildlyinteresting

7. A true hybrid

Which recycling bin are you supposed to put this in?

This sparkling water is in a plastic bottle with an aluminum top from mildlyinteresting

8. I think I’ll pass

Nature, you’re beautiful – but you’re also seriously terrifying. This looks like my candy-coated nightmare.

Beautiful Elephant Hawk Moth found in my garden, UK from mildlyinteresting

9. They’re real!

Only 0.0000005% of lobsters are blue. This jewel-toned crustacean was caught in Nova Scotia and promptly put back into the ocean.

Blue lobster caught in St. George’s Bay, Nova Scotia from mildlyinteresting

10. In a world where the 50’s never ended

This looks like something out of the Bioshock universe.

Buffalo wing soda. from mildlyinteresting

11. A multi-purpose business

If only the car wash this drive-thru is in was still functioning – then we could really knock out two birds with one stone.

This fast food drive thru used to be a car wash. from mildlyinteresting

12. Could you say that again?

These signs are in a Coast Salish language, native to the indigenous folks of the Pacific Northwest.

Stop sign on the Musqueam reserve in Vancouver, BC from mildlyinteresting

13. Speed racing in Antarctica

This tunnel in Norway makes you feel like you’re driving through giant glacier.

This roundabout in the middle of a long tunnel in Norway. from mildlyinteresting

14. It’s a pretty patty!

Don’t get it twisted – this burger’s designer.

This blue hamburger from mildlyinteresting

If that last one is blue raspberry flavored, I’m totally down. Still not totally sold on the buffalo wing-flavored soda.

What do you think of these real life glitches in the universe? Are they amazing or totally off-putting?

Share with us in the comments below!

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This is Why the Flu Shot Makes Your Arm Hurt

It’s almost time to get your flu shot!

Shots aren’t a fun thing for anyone, and convincing your kids to go with you and sit willingly to be stabbed is even less fun than undergoing the stick yourself.

To add insult to injury, it’s not over and done with in a few seconds, as promised, either – for many of us, the injection site can be tender and achy for a few days afterward.

Image Credit: iStock

According to experts, though, the pain is a good thing – a sign that the vaccination is working – but what makes it hurt?

The vaccine works by injecting an antigen – in this case a dead, deactivated virus that’s similar to the flu – into your body. It “primes” your immune system cells so that they will activate if and when they encounter that foreign substance again.

You can’t get sick from the dead virus; it’s only goal is to sensitize your immune system to potential threats in the future.

Image Credit: iStock

Whenever a foreign “threat” shows up, your immune system also releases mediators like histamine, which can cause inflammation around an area of concern. The inflammation helps your body fight invaders and repairs damaged tissue, but as anyone who has ever gotten a bad bug bite or had an allergic reaction like hives knows, histamine responses can also cause soreness.

If your body responds to the shot with histamine, the site of the shot – usually your upper arm – could be sore for a couple of days.

Immunologist Richard Zimmerman told Popular Science that about 1 in 5 people have a painful reaction, and if it happens to you, some ibuprofen before the shot, and an ice pack afterward, should alleviate the discomfort.

It could also help to move your arm around after you get the shot, to diffuse the vaccine, and also to ask for the shot to be given in your non-dominant arm.

Image Credit: iStock

Definitely don’t let the pain stop you, though, because if you’ve ever gotten the flu, you know for sure you don’t want to do that again.

You’ll help contribute to herd immunity, too, which helps protect higher-risk population, so that makes you a low-key superhero, really.

Worth a few days of soreness, if you ask me!

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Research Shows That Microplastics Exist in All of Our Organs

You’ve probably heard about microplastics being present in the atmosphere, in the ocean, in our food, and even in the rain that splatters us on a cooler autumn day. It’s disturbing, and proof of how much of an effect our lifestyle has on our world, even if scientists don’t really know bad it could be for humans in the long run.

Recently, though, a study of cadavers has revealed that the tiny, microscopic plastics can also be found embedded in every last one of our organs.

Image Credit: iStock

The question of how dangerous these things could be, then, becomes even more relevant.

The study was conducted by two University of Arizona PhD students. In it, they examined 47 organ samples, including ones from lungs, livers, spleens, and kidneys that were obtained from a tissue bank that studies neurodegenerative disease.

The samples were put through a mass spectrometer, and every last one of them contained microplastics.

Dozens of different types of plastic were detected, with the most worrying types being polycarbonate (PC), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyethylene (PE), and Bisphenol A (BPA).

A 2011 study published by NCBI found that all plastic materials contain harmful chemicals, though, and can lead to poor health outcomes like cancer, birth defects, reproductive issues, and the like across the board.

Image Credit: iStock

47 organs is a small sample size, but given that every single organ contained the microplastics, and it’s the first study to provide evidence that they can build up in our bodies, it’s still important.

A 2019 WWF study found that the average human potentially eats arou

nd 2,000 microplastics every single week, and another recent study found about 1,000 tons of them rain down on national parks annually, so it’s not a surprise that they’re floating around inside our bodies.

That said, proof that they’re building up in our organs remains concerning.

Charles Rolsky, a co-author on the new study, made this statement.

“You can find plastics contaminating the environment at virtually every location on the globe, and in a few short decades, we’ve gone from seeing plastic as a wonderful benefit to considering it a threat.

There’s evidence that plastic is making its way into our bodies, but very few studies have looked for it there.

And at this point, we don’t know whether this plastic is just a nuisance or whether it represents a human health hazard.”

The truth is, we have much to learn about these plastics, and how they might affect our bodies going forward.

Image Credit: iStock

The team behind this current study has plans to continue researching potential long term health effects.

Varun Kelkar, another co-author, continued his statement:

“We never want to be alarmist, but it is concerning that these non-biodegradable materials that are present everywhere can enter and accumulate in human tissues, and we don’t know the possible health effects.

Once we get a better idea of what’s in the tissues, we can conduct epidemiological studies to assess human health outcomes. That way, we can start to understand the potential health risks, if any.”

Which is all to say, don’t panic yet, because we don’t have all of the facts.

But also, there’s nothing you can do about it anyway.

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This is What Happens When You Drink Saltwater (Pssst: Don’t!)

We’re taught not to drink the water in the ocean. It’s not the same as other water, though our parents rarely explain why beyond telling us “it will make you sick.”

We read horrifying stories about disasters at sea, where men and women are stuck without food or water, and eventually succumb to the lure of seawater, only to make things worse.

Why is drinking it so bad for us, though, and what happens to our bodies when we do?

Image Credit: iStock

You might think it’s counterintuitive, this avoiding of saltwater, since our bodies contain – and depend on – both salt and water to function.

Water is a universal solvent and is essential in helping us metabolize food, use our muscles, pump blood, and even for brain function. Salt is necessary for those same chemical reactions to take place.

That said, you likely already know that consuming too much salt is not so great for our bodies. It can lead to issues like high cholesterol levels, and our bodies need to stay under a salinity of 9 in order to function properly – that means for every 1000 grams of fluid we consume, we need 9 grams of salt.

Saltwater is a hypertonic fluid, which means it contains more salt than our blood, with a salinity of 35 – and it throws our body’s coping mechanisms completely out of whack.

Image Credit: iStock

Our cells have membranes that prevent salt from wandering into them unwanted, and although our bodies can use built-in mechanisms like these to an extent, they struggle with extremely high concentrations of salt.

When those concentrations are higher on the outsides of our cells than on the inside, water movies outside, too, trying to correct the imbalance. That leaves your cells devoid of water on the inside, and that’s never a good thing.

This process, called osmosis, can be disastrous in the case of consuming seawater. Our cells will shrink, and to correct that problem, our kidneys start to excrete the excess sodium in our urine.

The kidneys can only produce urine slightly less salty than saltwater, though, so they start making us pee more and more in order to keep up, dehydrating us in the process.

Image Credit: iStock

Basically, you’re peeing out more water than you’re taking in, which means you’ll only get more thirsty, not less, if you give into the temptation of drinking saltwater.

Not only that, but the body compensates for fluid loss in other ways, too – increasing your heart rate, constricting blood vessels in an attempt to maintain pressure and flow, nausea, weakness, and delirium that can lead to more bad decisions.

If you’re not able to consume fresh water in a short amount of time, the result will be organ failure and ultimately, death.

So, if you find yourself marooned or adrift at sea, resist the temptation and wait for rain.

Please.

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Hilarious Jokes About the Misery of This Pandemic

Hey there…

Here we go again…

Yes, it’s another installment of jokes about the pandemic. And do you want to know why? BECAUSE THIS THING IS STILL HERE SEVEN MONTHS LATER.

And it really doesn’t look like it’s going anywhere for a while, does it?

It’s sad, but true. But we have to deal with it and get through it, right?

And one of the  ways we can do that is with humor.

So, without further ado, enjoy another installment of jokes about this crazy time in world history…and remember to wear your mask when you go out in public!

1. Are you guys okay?

Now I’m depressed, too…

2. Hahahaha. Burn!

You showed them!

3. You’re doing good work.

No, make that GREAT work!

4. Doesn’t seem realistic, does it?

That’s not gonna happen!

5. Jack might have overreacted just a bit.

I mean, the whole thing with the axe? C’mon, bro…

6. No way around it.

Just wear it and keep your mouth shut. Okay?

7. The new normal.

Okay, I’ve had enough for today.

8. That did not work out very well.

What the hell is going on out there?

9. They’re working for me, too.

Been ordering all kinds of stuff!

10. This is very true.

Covid got snubbed!

11. You did your best.

And maybe Mr. Newton would be proud of you.

12. I’m pretty over it…

Not gonna lie…

Ughhhhh…

In the comments, talk to us and give us a life update.

How are you doing? How are you holding up?

Thanks! And please stay safe and healthy out there!

The post Hilarious Jokes About the Misery of This Pandemic appeared first on UberFacts.

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Three Theories on Why Humans Have Chins

There’s a good chance that you’ve never spent any time considering the bony protrusion at the bottom of your face. I mean, it’s there, you don’t really have to take care of it, if you’re between the pimples and chin hairs seasons of your life, so what’s to consider?

Now that you are thinking about it, though, let me tell you this –  we are the only animal, including our closest relatives, like chimps, and our ancestors, like Neanderthals, to have an outward sloping “chin.”

Image Credit: Pixabay

It’s weird, right?

What’s even weirder is that, though theories abound, no one really knows why.

There are more than a few scientists who find this question fascinating, and each is out to untangle the mystery – like Zaneta Thayer, at the University of Colorado.

“That is what makes the appearance of chins in anatomically modern humans so interesting.

It implies there was some sort of behavioral or dietary shift between Neanderthals and anatomically modern humans that caused the chin to form.”

There are actually three main theories as to why we might have developed chins.

The first theory is that it may have developed to make chewing our food easier.

Image Credit: Pixabay

Most people dismiss this theory, because as we’ve evolved, our food has grown softer, not harder to manage, overall. Also, if we did need more bone in order to chew our food, it would make more sense to put it on the inner wall of the jaw, near the tongue, like chimps.

The second theory scientists argue is that our chin must have evolved to assist us with language, because we do have, by quite a stretch, the most extensive speech ability of any of the primates.

But again, the theory is largely dismissed for a simple reason – we don’t require much force to speak, so there’s really no reason a chin would have developed for that reason. Also, if we did, it would be most helpful inside and closer to our tongue, same as chewing support.

So, onto theory number three – it has something to do with sexual selection.

Like, our chins are akin to big orangutan faces or immense antlers or some other feature that primates find titillating. It’s been proven that those animals with the bigger and better whatever are considered more desirable when mates are being selected, and their superior genes are passed on.

Image Credit: Pixabay

Duke University professor James Pampush argues against this one, too, because both sexes, of course, have chins.

He points out…

“If it’s an adaptation for sexual selection then we are the only mammal that has the same in both sexes.”

Pampush, and most others, have admitted that we simply don’t know why we have chins, and he says that “anyone who tells you they do know is lying.”

Most believe that it could have something to do with our faces getting smaller over time, meaning a chin would be what’s called a “non-adaptive trait,” explained biologists Stephen J Gould and Richard Lewotin back in 1979.

Non-adaptive traits are traits that are a by-product of a change happening elsewhere – that our chins could exist only as a result of another evolutionary change that has a function and purpose.

Who would have thought chins were so controversial and strange?

Something to think about the next time you’re checking out your pretty anatomically modern human face in the mirror.

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Expert Explains the Real Differences Between Generic and Name-Brand Drugs

A lot of us don’t know what the actual difference between generic and name-brand prescription medications is. While we might buy generic drugs to save a few dollars, there’s always a question creeping in the backs of our minds: do they really work as well as name-brand?

Recently Buzzfeed spoke to Dr. Joshua Brown, a pharmacist and drug safety researcher for the Department of Pharmaceutical Outcomes & Policy at the University of Florida College of Pharmacy and the Center for Drug Evaluation & Safety.

First, he explains how generic and name-brand drugs are different from one another:

A generic version of a name brand drug is a ‘copycat’ product that includes the same active ingredient, but might look different in appearance and may contain other ingredients that are different from those in the original.

Photo by Kendal on Unsplash

That makes sense: name-brand Tylenol and the Target brand of Tylenol have the same main ingredient, though they may contain other ingredients that differ. Got it.

He compares the medications to Oreos:

It is similar to when you buy ‘off-brand’ Oreos or the ‘store brand’ paper towels.

These products are meant to be more affordable, near perfect copies of the name brand.

Of course, when it comes to Oreos, there’s no substitute in my view and some growing evidence suggests this may be true for many generic products.

He also explained that we usually don’t see generic drugs out on the shelves until a full 20 years after a name-brand drug has debuted.

Typically, medications get a 20-year patent, which allows pharmaceutical companies to recoup the huge costs of developing new drugs.

Once those 20 years are up, other manufacturers can begin to make copies of these drugs.

There are also different kinds of generic drugs: “authorized generics,” where the company will opt to make their own generic version of a medication, and regular generics.

Authorized generics are usually identical to the name-brand drug.

Dr. Brown also explains that there’s also one big reason why there aren’t generic versions of every name-brand drug: litigation.

Companies who own the brand sue for patent infringement to delay generics being approved.

There are also instances where brand companies simply pay off generic companies to not make a generic version.

Also, as I mentioned before, different parts of a product can be patented, including the active ingredient, the formulation, the chemical synthesis to make the active ingredient, and so on.

Furthermore, making a certain drug may just be too complicated and generic companies might not want to take the risk.

While generic drugs have the same active ingredient as the name-brand, they don’t have to have the same amount of that ingredient.

This is called being ‘bioequivalent’ to the name brand product.

The generic product must deliver the active ingredient into the blood system between 80% and 125% of the name brand product.

A study by the FDA found that most are within +/- 5%.

Dr. Brown shares that generic drugs make up 90% of the prescriptions that patients receive, which is pretty impressive.

Ultimately, he says that if you’re deciding between name-brand and generic, there are two key reasons to go for name-brand: for drugs that have narrow therapeutic indices and could cause serious consequences if they aren’t taken correctly.

Narrow therapeutic indices are drugs that, if you change the dose — even a small amount — it can change the safety or effectiveness profile substantially.

While complex generic product is broadly defined by the FDA as drugs that have complex formulations.

Because most drugs do not fit into these two categories, they are less of a concern when it comes to choosing between the generic version or name brand.

Well, there you have it! It turns out there are some pretty key differences between generic and name-brand drugs.

Luckily, it doesn’t seem like those differences matter too much unless you are taking a few key medications.

What did you think about this information Does it change how you’ll buy your medications? Let us know in the comments!

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Here are the ‘Do’s and Don’t’s’ From the 1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic

We’ve been here before as far as pandemics go—exactly 100 years ago. But have we learned anything since then?

From 1918 to early 1920, the world was held captive by a virus known as H1N1, or the Spanish Flu. Like COVID-19, it spread across the globe within a matter of months. When it was all said and done, 500 million people—about a third of the world’s population—had been infected, and approximately 50 million people died.

COVID-19 is a different virus, but the story of its spread is quite similar; people even had the same arguments about wearing masks and social distancing that we have today. The evidence is in this “Do’s and Don’t’s” lists from the 1918 pandemic that appeared on Twitter and immediately went viral.

The most important things on the list—wearing a mask, washing your hands, and avoiding crowds—are things we’re supposed to be doing today. But even 100 years ago, we had to plead with people to heed this advice and listen to scientists.

Most people complied, but a lot didn’t; there were four waves of the disease before the pandemic ended in April 1920.

Had they done what they were supposed to do, there’s no doubt that the infection and death tolls would have been lower, and the pandemic would have ended earlier.

We’re still relatively new to COVID-19, and we can still mitigate the damage. While there’s no way of eradicating COVID-19, we can pay attention to science and keep ourselves and others safe.

You know what they say: “Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”

Are you doing all you can to keep yourself and others healthy during the COVID-19 pandemic? Let us know in the comments below!

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An Arthritis Drug Might Make Gluten Safe for Celiac Patients

You probably know someone who eats “gluten free.” It’s become something of a fad, with even people who have no medical reason to eschew gluten sure that doing so makes them “feel better.”

And you know, everyone can decide for themselves what they do and do not want to eat.

For people with celiac disease, though, ingesting gluten can have some very real, and extremely uncomfortable, gastrointestinal effects. With gluten sneaking its way into tons of products – including those that claim to be gluten free – relief could be a huge deal for so many.

A case study that was published in Annals of Internal Medicine detailed a male patient who was treated with Tofacitinib, a medication used for people with rheumatoid arthritis and alopecia. When he returned for a followup appointment, doctors found that his celiac disease had gone into remission.

Normally, celiac patients have to avoid gluten for the rest of their lives in order to stop long-term damage to the mucosa in their digestive tracts, but his man found he could eat and tolerate it with no trouble after going on the Tofacitinib.

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The patient, who was seen at the University Hospitals Leuven, Belgium, had previously been controlling his celiac disease with a gluten-free diet. Then, he began a regimen of Tofacitinib to treat his alopecia. The medication inhibits enzymes associated with worsening severity of rheumatoid arthritis, mainly, though it has previously been used to treat certain bowel diseases.

His celiac disease showed complete histologic and serologic remission, even after he returned to eating a normal diet that included regular gluten.

The results are promising, though they need to be replicated on a larger scale before gluten lovers everywhere can rejoice. The drug also has side effects that would need to be considered before doctors prescribed it to celiac patients en masse.

Still, hope is on the horizon, and sometimes, that’s all you need.

Well, that and to be able to eat garlic bread with your spaghetti.

Am I right?

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The Canadian Version of the Invisibility Cloak Is Here

Whenever the question “what superpower would you like to have?” comes up, there’s always at least one person who wants to be invisible. With a generation (plus) of kids lusting after Harry Potter’s invisibility cloak among us, I have to guess that still applies with kids today.

I mean sure, you might hear and see some things you wish you hadn’t, but Harry also got some seriously good and fun use out of his.

If you’re hoping to grab an invisibility cloak – or in this case, a shield – of your own, well, listen up.

The tech is called Quantum Stealth, and was developed by Canadian camouflage design company Hyperstealth. The material is as thin as paper, inexpensive, and requires no power source, which is pretty amazing.

It’s not as good as Harry’s magical tech, but honestly, it does a pretty good job concealing stuff.

To make it work, they utilize the same approach as lenticular lenses, which is used in those paintings that appear 3D if you look at it a certain way.

The material bends light in a way that makes only things very close, or very far away, visible -so any object or person behind it at a middle distance becomes invisible. It can bend light from mid- and near-ultraviolet to infrared, and once you add in the fact that cameras largely don’t work outside the visible light spectrum, the effects of the tech are even more remarkable on film.

Since it does distort the background, though, people would know something was being hidden, just not what.

The idea uses Snell’s law, a well-known and straightforward physics principle that basically says that every material has a specific refractive index, a quantity related to the speed of light in that material compared to the speed of light in a vacuum.

You can see it at home using a glass of water and a spoon, since the latter will appear bent to the naked eye.

Basically, when light moves between two materials, the angle at which it is moving will change depending on the refractive index – this new tech is basically constructing a blindspot.

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?Görünmezlik pelerini! ?Kanada’da bir şirkette kuantum görünmezlik adını verdiği bu teknolojiyi üretti. ?“Quantum Stealth, herhangi bir ortamda, herhangi bir mevsimde, günün veya gecenin herhangi bir saatinde, başka hiçbir kamuflajın sağlayamayacağı bir gizlilik vaat ediyormuş. ?Hyperstealth CEO'su, son dokuz yıldır bu teknoloji üzerinde çalıştıklarını ifade etmiş. ? by Hyperstealth #herkeseeğitimplatformu #herkeseeğitim #educationforeveryone #görünmezlik #görünmezlikpelerini #quantumstealth #quantum #stealth #Hyperstealth #fizik #physic #science #sciencetech #bilim #optik #optic #optical #evdekal #stayhome #learn #teknoloji #technology #life #security #güvenlik

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Hyperstealth’s Guy Cramer has been working on the tech since 2010, and recently filed 4 patents related to the project.

He’s also published a series of videos on how it works, and it’s pretty crazy to watch.

I’m not quite smart enough to understand how this works, but I’m certainly fascinated!

Do you need this for your life? Are you going to wait until something better comes along? Tell us your thoughts in the comments!

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