How stuff works

[Pondadat]

Does drinking ice water burn calories?


For anyone trying to lose weight, this question is an exciting one! If you simply want to know if your body burns calories warming up the water, the answer is yes. But if you want to know if drinking a lot of ice water can help you lose weight, or keep weight off, this "yes" needs to be qualified with some calculations.

First of all, calories are case-sensitive. There are calories and then there are Calories. Calories with a big "c" are the ones used to describe the amount of energy contained in foods. A calorie with a little "c" is defined as the amount of energy it takes to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water 1 degree Celsius. What most people think of as a Calorie is actually a kilo-calorie: It takes one Calorie to raise the temperature of 1 kilogram of water 1 degree Celsius. So when you drink a 140-Calorie can of cola, you are ingesting 140,000 calories. There is no cause for alarm, because the conversion applies across the board. When you burn 100 Calories jogging a mile, you are burning 100,000 calories.

So, considering that the definition of a calorie is based on raising the temperature of water, it is safe to say that your body burns calories when it has to raise the temperature of ice water to your body temperature. And unless your urine is coming out ice cold, your body must be raising the temperature of the water. So calories are being burned.

Let's figure out exactly what you're burning when you drink a 16-ounce (0.5 liter) glass of ice water:

The temperature of ice water can be estimated at zero degrees Celsius.
Body temperature can be estimated at 37 degrees Celsius.
It takes 1 calorie to raise 1 gram of water 1 degree Celsius.
There are 473.18 grams in 16 fluid ounces of water.
So in the case of a 16-ounce glass of ice water, your body must raise the temperature of 473.18 grams of water from zero to 37 degrees C. In doing so, your body burns 17,508 calories. But that's calories with a little "c." Your body only burns 17.5 Calories, and in the grand scheme of a 2,000-Calorie diet, that 17.5 isn't very significant.

But let's say you adhere to the "eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day" nutritional recommendation. In 64 ounces of water, there are 1,892.72 grams. So to warm up all that water in the course of a day, your body burns 70,030 calories, or 70 Calories. And over time, that 70 Calories a day adds up. So, while you definitely shouldn't depend on ice water consumption to replace exercise or a healthy diet, drinking cold water instead of warm water does, in fact, burn some extra Calories!

[Zoley!]

thats something i didnt know ;)

[Pondadat]

GUM FACTS


The ancient Greeks chewed mastiche in A.D. 50.
In A.D. 200 the Mayans of South America chewed chicle while the North American Indians chewed spruce resin.
John Curtis made the first commercial spruce gum in 1848.
In the 1850’s paraffin, or wax, gum was popular. Picture cards came with it.
General Santa Anna (of Alamo fame) sold chicle to Thomas Adams in 1869. Adams used it to make the first commercial chicle gum.
In 1870 Adams introduced Black Jack, the first manufactured flavored gum, and one that is still sold today.
William Wrigley, Jr. entered the gum field in 1891 with the Lotta and Vassar brands. Wrigley’s Spearmint and Juicy Fruit followed in 1893.
The early 1900s saw both Chiclets (made by Henry Fleer), and gumballs arrive.
Blibber-Blubber, a failed attempt at bubble gum, was invented but too sticky to sell in 1906.
Walter Diemer, an accountant for Fleer, invented modern bubble gum, in 1928. Pink was the only coloring nearby when he made the first batch and so the trend was set. The gum was named Dubble Bubble.
In the 1930’s baseball cards were included with gum; before that they came in packs of cigarettes.
Sugarless gum debuted in the 1950’s.

Common ingredients in gum are: sugar, gum base, corn syrup, softeners (like vegetable oil), flavoring, and coloring.
Gum base is mostly synthetic (plastics and rubber), but it may also contain a natural product called latex.
Natural latex is the sap from the trees of the rain forests. It is taken from the trees in much the same way as maple syrup.
Some kinds of latex used in gum bases are: Chicle from the sapodilla tree, jeultong and sorva from trees of the same names.
Gum manufacturers keep their recipes secret. Exact ingredients and differences between gums are a mystery.

Natural and synthetic gum bases are melted together into a syrup.
Sugar, corn syrup and softeners are added and the syrup thickens.
When the gum is the right consistency, about like bread dough, flavorings and colors are added.
The gum is cooled and then kneaded by machine until it has a smooth, consistent texture.
The gum is formed into the appropriate shape:
For sticks the gum is rolled into large thin sheets then cut to size.
Some gum is squeezed into a rope shape and then cut into chunks.
Specialty gums may be molded and/or cut into shapes.
Light coatings of powdered sugar keep the gum from sticking to machinery or packaging.
Gum needs to be “conditioned” in a room where the temperature and humidity are closely controlled. This takes about two days and helps give the gum the right texture and keeps it fresh longer.
Finally the gum is packaged and shipped.

U.S. per capita consumption of gum was 215 sticks in 1978, 168 sticks in 1986, and 183 sticks in 1992. (Source: Forbes, November 8, 1993 page 208)
The largest bubble ever blown was 23 inches in diameter. The record was set July 19, 1994 by Susan Montgomery Williams of Fresno, CA. (Guinness Book of World Records 1995)
Topps produced the largest piece of gum in 1974. It was the equivalent of 10,000 pieces of gum and was presented to baseball great Willie Mays.
Swallowed gum won’t clog up your intestines, but it will be with you for a few days. Gum base can’t be digested so it will pass through your system in one piece.
To remove gum from hair try rubbing it with peanut butter; to remove gum from fabric apply an ice cube to harden it then carefully chip it off.
It is illegal to manufacture, import, or sell gum in Singapore.
Turkey is the country with the most gum manufacturing companies; the United States is second.
“Dentyne” is a combination of the words dental and hygiene.
Bazooka Joe comics appeared in 1954; there are now 500-700 different comics.



Arabic elki
Chinese heung how chu
German kaugummi
Greek tsikles
Japanese gamu
Norwegian tyggegummi
Portuguese pastilka elastica
Russian zhevatelnaya rezinka
Spanish goma de mascar
Swedish tuggumi
Swiss chaetschgummi


SOURCES:



"The Chewing Gum Book" by Robert Young, 1989 Dillon Press
"Since 1928 it's been boom and bust with bubble gum" by Robert Hendrickson, Smithsonian Magazine, July 1990
"Topps History" by the Topps Chewing Gum Company Inc.
"The History of Leaf" by Leaf Inc.

[Pondadat]

A Light Beer History
People have been brewing beer for thousands of years. Beer especially became a staple in the Middle Ages, when people began to live in cities where close quarters and poor sanitation made clean water difficult to find. The alcohol in beer made it safer to drink than water.
In the 1400s in Germany, a type of beer was made that was fermented in the winter with a different type of yeast. This beer was called a lager, and, in part due to Prohibition, a variation of this type of beer is dominant in the United States today.

For 13 years, starting in 1920, a constitutional amendment banned the production of alcoholic beverages in the United States. Before Prohibition, America had thousands of breweries producing many different types of beer. But Prohibition forced most breweries out of business. By the time the laws were repealed in 1933, only the largest breweries had survived. These breweries sought to brew a beer with universal appeal so that it could be sold everywhere in the country. And then came World War II. With food in short supply and many of the men overseas, breweries started brewing a lighter style of beer that is very common today. Since the late 1980s/early 1990s, small regional breweries have made a comeback, popping up all over the United States and variety has increased

What's in Beer
As we said earlier, there are four main ingredients in beer: barley, water, hops and yeast. Each has many complexities. We'll start with malted barley.
Malted Barley
Barley is the seed of a grain that looks a lot like wheat. Before barley can be used to make beer, it must be malted, which involves a natural conversion process.

First, the barley must be allowed to germinate, or start to sprout. This is done by soaking the barley in water for several days, and then draining the barley and holding it at about 60 degrees Fahrenheit (15.5 C) for five days. This allows the husk to open and barley to start to sprout -- at this point it is called green malt. Like all seeds, the barley contains nutrients that can sustain the growing seed until it can produce its own nutrients using photosynthesis. During the germination process, enzymes released by the plant convert these nutrients (which are starches) into sugars that can feed the plant while it grows. The key to the malting process is to stop the germination of the barley at a point when the sugar-producing enzymes are present but most of the starch is still unconverted. Eventually, these enzymes will produce the sugars that will feed the yeast to make the alcohol in the beer.

[Pondadat]

Why can you hear the ocean when holding a seashell to your ear?



Do you remember trying this as a kid -- Holding one of the seashells you grabbed as a souvenir up to your ear? It seems like no matter how far away from the ocean you are, you can still hold a seashell up to your ear and hear the roar of the waves rolling onto the shore. The best shells for producing this sound are the large, spiral conch shells.
Some people have suggested that the sound you hear from the seashell is the echoing of your blood rushing through the blood vessels of your ear. That is not the case. If that were true, then the sound would intensify after exercising, since your blood races faster after exercising. However, the sound is the same even after exercising.

Others say that the whooshing sound inside the shell is generated by air flowing through the shell - air flowing through the shell and out creates a noise. You'll notice that the sound is louder when you lift the shell slightly away from your ear than it is when the shell is right against your head. However, this theory doesn't hold true in a soundproof room. In a soundproof room, there is still air, but when you hold the seashell to your ear, there's no sound.

The most likely explanation for the wave-like noise is ambient noise from around you. The seashell that you are holding just slightly above your ear captures this noise, which resonates inside the shell. The size and shape of the shell therefore has some effect on the sound you hear. Different shells sound different because different shells accentuate different frequencies. You don't even need the seashell to hear the noise. You can produce the same "ocean" sound using an empty cup or even by cupping your hand over your ear. Go ahead and try it and vary the distance at which you place the cup near your ear. The level of the sound will vary depending on the angle and distance the cup is from your ear.

Noise from outside the shell also can change the intensity of the sound you hear inside the shell. You can look at the shell as a resonating chamber. When sound from outside enters the shell, it bounces around, thus creating an audible noise. So, the louder the environment you are in, the louder the ocean-like sound will be.

[Zoley!]

Ponda your names fits you :p you one nosey b' :icon_mrgr good stuff!

[Pondadat]

Computer viruses are mysterious and grab our attention. On the one hand, viruses show us how vulnerable we are. A properly engineered virus can have an amazing effect on the worldwide Internet. On the other hand, they show how sophisticated and interconnected human beings have become.
For example, the thing making big news right now is the Mydoom worm, which experts estimate infected approximately a quarter-million computers in a single day (Times Online). Back in March 1999, the Melissa virus was so powerful that it forced Microsoft and a number of other very large companies to completely turn off their e-mail systems until the virus could be contained. The ILOVEYOU virus in 2000 had a similarly devastating effect. That's pretty impressive when you consider that the Melissa and ILOVEYOU viruses are incredibly simple.

In this article, we will discuss viruses -- both "traditional" viruses and the newer e-mail viruses -- so that you can learn how they work and also understand how to protect yourself. Viruses in general are on the wane, but occasionally a person finds a new way to create one, and that's when they make the news.

Types of Infection
When you listen to the news, you hear about many different forms of electronic infection. The most common are:
Viruses - A virus is a small piece of software that piggybacks on real programs. For example, a virus might attach itself to a program such as a spreadsheet program. Each time the spreadsheet program runs, the virus runs, too, and it has the chance to reproduce (by attaching to other programs) or wreak havoc.

E-mail viruses - An e-mail virus moves around in e-mail messages, and usually replicates itself by automatically mailing itself to dozens of people in the victim's e-mail address book.

Worms - A worm is a small piece of software that uses computer networks and security holes to replicate itself. A copy of the worm scans the network for another machine that has a specific security hole. It copies itself to the new machine using the security hole, and then starts replicating from there, as well.

Trojan horses - A Trojan horse is simply a computer program. The program claims to do one thing (it may claim to be a game) but instead does damage when you run it (it may erase your hard disk). Trojan horses have no way to replicate automatically.

[Pondadat]

What's a "Virus"?
Computer viruses are called viruses because they share some of the traits of biological viruses. A computer virus passes from computer to computer like a biological virus passes from person to person.
There are similarities at a deeper level, as well. A biological virus is not a living thing. A virus is a fragment of DNA inside a protective jacket. Unlike a cell, a virus has no way to do anything or to reproduce by itself -- it is not alive. Instead, a biological virus must inject its DNA into a cell. The viral DNA then uses the cell's existing machinery to reproduce itself. In some cases, the cell fills with new viral particles until it bursts, releasing the virus. In other cases, the new virus particles bud off the cell one at a time, and the cell remains alive.

A computer virus shares some of these traits. A computer virus must piggyback on top of some other program or document in order to get executed. Once it is running, it is then able to infect other programs or documents. Obviously, the analogy between computer and biological viruses stretches things a bit, but there are enough similarities that the name sticks.

[Zoley!]

now I know how they work. :eusa_thin

[Pondadat]

How Autopsies Work

by Robert Valdes



When someone dies under mysterious circumstances, what happens next? Most states in the United States have laws that require certain types of deaths be investigated:

injury
delayed complications of injuries
poisoning
infectious complications
foul play
people who die with no attending physician
If the death meets any of the above criteria, it must be reported to the local medical examiner or coroner for investigation and a legal determination of the cause of death. The main tool of this investigation is the autopsy.

The process of examining the dead to discover how they died is the subject of many TV shows and movies, but the facts aren't always so clear-cut. In an interview with Atlanta's Fulton County Deputy Chief Medical Examiner Eric Kiesel, HowStuffWorks cut through the mystery of this often misunderstood process and learned the details of the preparation, procedure, and tools needed to perform an autopsy.

An autopsy is the medical examination of a dead body to determine the cause of death. Autopsies are performed when someone dies suddenly and unexpectedly while in apparently good health. Autopsies may also be performed at the request of the family of the deceased.

There are two types of autopsies:

Forensic
Clinical
The Price of Knowing
A privately hired autopsy can cost anywhere between $1,500 and $3,200.

The forensic autopsy or medical-legal autopsy is the kind you most often see on TV and in movies. According to Dr. Kiesel, "The forensic autopsy spends almost as much time on the external surfaces of the body as it does on the internal surfaces, 'cause that's where evidence is." Forensic autopsies try to find answers to the cause of death as part of an overall police investigation.
The clinical autopsy is usually performed in hospitals by pathologists or the attending physician to determine a cause of death for research and study purposes. Dr. Kiesel explains:

They're really interested in the disease processes that are going on, and they're interested ... in making that clinical-pathological correlation. A person came in with these symptoms, here's the treatment they got and here are my findings. They try to put the whole package together to help inform people of what happened or may have happened.
In the eyes of the law, all deaths fall into one of five categories of causes. In the next section, we'll look at the five manners of death.

Reality TV?

On TV shows like CSI or The X-Files, medical examiners seem to be a major component in the investigation and can use DNA evidence for just about everything. Dr. Kiesel commented on some of the more common TV-driven misconceptions:
We don’t go out and do the entire investigation. We are not the police... We’ve got our part, the police have their part. The autopsy doesn’t always tell you all of the answers. Somebody’s who committed suicide -- the autopsy’s going to tell you why they died, what killed them -- but it won’t necessarily tell you why they did it. So, all of the answers aren’t going to be there...
We can’t do DNA on every case and match up every little thing. Even though it happens on TV, it’s not within our capabilities. Very often it’s not within the lab’s capabilities. Sometimes there are financial constraints on what we can do.

<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v676/Ponda/autopsy-12.jpg">

[Pondadat]

Taking care of your nails. Here are some tips;

http://askcosmetics.com/nailcare.htm