Hello Buddies, welcome again to another episode in the series of “What I learnt for the week”
Over the period of last week (11th-15th June), I made some amazing discoveries, of which I would select some random 5 to represent lessons learnt for each day of the week. This episode promises to be educative and exciting.
Monday: Smart Touch-Sensitive Prosthetics
Just like my usual custom is; and without an exception to this episode; I normally begin with lesson on emerging technology.
We may have seen people with decapitated limbs before. The truth is; some creatures like the Axolotl, some starfish, and even spiders can regrow back their limbs if they are cut, but the case is not so with humans yet. So the option left is to adopt the use of prosthesis. But just like you may know, these are not without limitations, as it is still differentiated from the organic limbs (which includes the touch reception).
But hey! Technology is getting closer to simulating the effect of the organic limb in prosthetics, with the creation of the touch-sensitive prosthetics that also has an incorporation of Artificial Intelligence. All thanks to the combined team of researchers from the University of North Carolina; Chapel Hill, and North Carolina state university. They have come up with the idea of incorporating bio-sensors and AI into prosthetics.
Dynamics of the smart prosthetics
First of all, it is worthy to note that the prosthetics is made with biosynthetic material to simulate the nature of the biological limb. The prosthetics is interconnected to the neural system (thanks to the technology of Brain-Computer Interface). So the wearer can just think of an action, and the limb would perform. For example: The wearer may want to take a spoon from the plate of food, all he needs to do is think of it, and the prosthetics would be set in motion, and create the desired action.
Also, the AI incorporated into the limb is to create a Machine Learning scenario in the limb, so it would be able to recognize some various activity patterns over time. Just like tutoring the limb to adapt to changes in the muscular movements. For example: When your other good hand moves a lot, there is a tendency that your muscles would ache and all whatnot. Now, the purpose of the machine learning is to replicate the same effect; but in your brain.
Okay let’s see a YouTube video of how this looks like before I continue.
Here comes the big one: The organic limb has touch receptors right? That is why you can feel it when someone taps your arm. The prosthetics is fitted with electromyography sensors and bio-sensors. The work of these sensors is to detect touch signals and other electronic impulses and transmit them to the brain for interpretation. These sensors can also pick up signals relating to changes in temperatures. Isn’t it awesome that the prosthetics can be made to feel heat and cold? That’s the power of emerging technology.
With this technology, rays of hope have shimmered on the path of people with decapitated limbs (I hope you wouldn’t feel jealous of this prosthetics and willingly chop off your arms to get the limb, lol).
I’m sure I’ve piqued your interest, to get more info, click here.
Tuesday: Myrmecophobia [Fear of Ants]
The other time, we looked at the fear of spider (Arachnophobia), and some people were like "What da heck! Do people fear these creatures?" Okay, it might surprise you that some people also fear ants. And this type of phobia is called myrmecophobia.
[Image Source: Pixabay. CC0 licensed]
This term is gotten from "Myrmex" (Greek term relating to ants), and of course "phobia" which means "fear of". It is so amazing that almost all the phobias I've come across have their base-name from Greek; are you thinking what I'm thinking? This fear of ants has been seen to be more common in the younger folks, but this does not rule off the fact that it can happen to any age. And in some cases, it can degenerate into another form of fear; which is the fear of insects in general (Entomophobia).
Causes of Fear of Ants
A friend of mine once shared a particular experience with me: He was sleeping, and unexpectedly, a host of soldier ants found their way on top of the bed, crept into his cloth, and gave him some nasty bites. He was immediately awoken by the pain; and not knowing what it was at the instance; he quickly made a quick run out of the bed, smashing the table and sustaining some injuries. With this kind of experience, it wouldn't be unnatural for him to pick up the fear of ants.
Also, there is a particular ant known as "electric ant", if you've been bitten by this ant, you would agree with me that it doesn't have humour at all. When I was bitten by electric ant, it felt like hell, and the area around the place was swollen. Imagine if you've been repeatedly bitten by electric ant, you could pick up an irrational and gross fear for ants.
In some cases, one can pick up this phobia; especially kids; if one of the care-givers has this fear (that's sympathetic phobia). Ants have also been portrayed in some video documentaries as some naughty creatures, and this could create the fear in kids and they can grow with it.
Symptoms of Myrmecophobia
The symptoms manifest at the sight of ants, but in some cases, even the thought of ant can trigger the symptoms, and they include:
- Palpitation and increased heart rate
- Flight or fight reaction towards ants (maybe turning you into a serial ant killer)
- Gross avoidance of ants and/or related insects
To test if you're myrmecophobic, watch this YouTube video to the end. Note: Watch at your own risk.
Wanna know more about myrmecophobia, click here.
Wednesday: Laugh Syncope (Laugh-and-faint syndrome)
Laughter is very good right? At least; to some extent; it can help to relieve stress and tension. But have you heard of the syndrome that causes people to pass out from laugher? This is called Laugh Syncope. This could sound funny, but after reading through, you would discover that this is not a laughing matter.
[Image Source: Maxpixel. CC0 licensed]
According to this report, example was made of a patient that was watching one of the episodes of Seinfeld, and while laughing so hard, the patient went into feats and passed out. That was the first officially recorded case of this syndrome, and it occurred in 1997. No wonder the syndrome was nicknamed "Seinfeld Syncope" (because the first recorded case witnessed it while watching the television programme).
Subsequently, other cases of laugh syncope have been recorded and more often than not, it comes with an increased blood pressure. One of my friends; at some point; had experienced something closer to this. We were discussing, and I was telling her a story of something humorous that happened. And before I knew wassup, she started laughing profusely. I humorously asked her "Hey! Are you laughing dying?". This made her to laugh even more and tears started rolling down from her eyes. I had to refrain from speaking when she started jerking, while laughing. This might sound like fairly tale, but it does happen.
What causes this? Though the exact cause has remained relatively unknown, but some other factors are remotely queried. Like a sudden surge in the intrathoracic pressure of people that have some forms of cardiac ailments can trigger this. And while laughing hard, the pressure tends to increase, throwing them into fainting condition.
Also, increase in physical exertion and work can increase the rate at which the heart pumps blood, and also places more strain on the cardiac system, which can surge up while laughing. In this report, it was recorded that a worker saw a fellow worker falling down and hitting his head on a sink; it made him to laugh so hard that he fainted for a while. On further investigations, it was discovered that he had increased blood pressure and increased heart beat.
Mehn, after reading all these reports, I now look at "laughter" in a different way. Maybe we should apply caution with that. So you see, this is not a laughing matter; it is a serious syndrome.
Wanna know more, click here.
Thursday: Synaesthesia
Have you ever heard of a neurological condition that causes someone to have a distortion or misrepresentation of senses? For instance: A person could see noises or hear shapes/figures. This condition is known as Synaesthesia.
[Image Source: Wikimedia Commons. Author: Grutness. Public Domain Licensed]
Our sense organs have various functions right? - The eye is for sight, ear for hearing, tongue for taste, nose for smelling, and our skin is for touch. The signals perceived by these sense organs are sent to the brain for interpretation, but what if the brain associates the sense perceived by one sense organ to another organ? For example; you could sense the taste of "banana" anytime you come across the word "radio". Sounds weird right?
One of the cases of people with Synaesthesia is the Artist; Vincent Van Gogh. His case was rather unique, that he associated colours with tones of songs. No wonder he employed so much realism in his artwork and paintings. As a matter of precision, he literally "hears" colours. That's a type of Synaesthesia.
Another case of Synaesthesia is that of the popular musician; Pharrel Williams (He is; no doubts; one of the most popular Synaesthestes). He has a form of sound-to-colour Synaesthesia (or Chromesthesia) that makes him relate sounds of music to colours.
Another fascinating case is rather a mathematical Synaesthesia exhibited by Daniel Tammet (a popular Autistic Savant that can perform mind-blowing mathematical calculation in split seconds). It was discovered that he sees numbers as colours. This makes him to multiply huge numbers (by adding up the colours in his brain) in split seconds, with high precision index.
I wouldn’t have you ignorant of the fact that Synaesthesia can be congenital and can also be acquired. In the case of acquired Synaesthesia, a trauma to the brain can trigger this. Just like the case I mentioned in one of the previous episodes of WILFTW, where someone picked up Autistic abilities after being hit on the head with a baseball bat. The same can also apply to Synaesthesia.
Wanna know more, click here.
Friday: Sailing Stones
Do stones move about? The obvious answer you would give to this question is a "no", but just hang on. A particular scenario was recorded in a place in California known as Death Valley. It was observed that massive stones were seen to move along the planes and also left some significant trails as they moved. How on earth is that even possible? And note; these movements are devoid of human input.
First of all, we would rule out the possibility of the stones being moved by animals, because the stones in question are often massive and would trail a long distance. Just like it is seen in this YouTube video.
Before now, people have attached some forms of mysterious superstitions to this phenomena, and some have said that some forms of occultic powers are behind the movement of the stone (and of course, this does not cover the area of observable science). I've also heard a funny folklore that stated that these stone are used in witchcraft covens as drumsets. Who believes such shit? Well, some actually do.
But scientists have finally figured out the possible cause of this. It was figured out that, while the night got colder, droplets of dews would freeze over the rock, and more dews would be frozen just below the rock, which would cause the rocks to be mobile over a little force of wind and/or other natural forces. And as they slide over, the friction they create would cause the trailing marks to appear. Okay; @ruth-girl, do you have any other explanation to give us about this phenomena? We could use your expertise here.
Wanna know more, click here.
Okay buddies, this is the summary of the lessons I learnt for the week, and until I come your way again, don't stop learning. @samminator says so. Special thanks to @mobbs.
Thanks for reading
References for further reading:
- Touch-sensitive Prosthesis
- Computer-model-prosthesis
- fearof.net/myrmecophobia
- overcoming-myrmecophobia
- Ncbi/laugh-syncope
- Amjmed/Seinfeld syncope
- sciencealert.com/synaesthesia
- sciencedirect/synaesthesia
- livescience.com/sailing-stone
All Images are CC0/Public Domain Licensed and are linked to their sources
gif by @foundation