Brainy ScOOps

Playing Video Games is Good for You?

noreply@blogger.com (Niza and Shiella A.) — Sat, 26 May 2007 16:13:00 +0000

University of Rochester released a new study suggesting that playing action video games can indeed sharpen your vision. This however, does not apply to all types of video games. Shooting games, for example, which are fast and more action packed have been proven to produce this positive result. Slow games like puzzles show no sight improvement.

Here are the technnicalities - The human brain ultimately adapts while playing video games as the brain's human visual system pathways are pushed to the limits. Playing with video games changes the way brains process visual information. It trains an individual to see tiny, closely packed letters more clearly.

In future, this method could become a vital form of rehabilitation therapy to help visually impaired patients.

Now that you're armed with this knowledge, you'll have another excuse not to put down that playstation! :D

Shiella A.

Heat it Up!

noreply@blogger.com (Niza and Shiella A.) — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 16:13:00 +0000

It's hot, hot, HOT!

Our weather here in Singapore is still hot and humid despite the occasional rains. Yet, it has not deterred me from writing something about it. So here are some hot stuff...

The hottest place on Earth is El Azizia in Libya. A record temperature of 57.8°C was measured on September 13, 1922! This extreme temperature is due to Libya's land structure. Libya is almost totally made up of the hot and dry Sahara desert. The 'ghibli' (a very hot, dry and sand laden wind) can increase the temperature from 40-50°C - all in a matter of hours!

Different strokes of lightning produce different colours of light. Of course this cannot be seen with our naked eye. That's why scientists use an instrument called the spectrometer to measure the range of colours so that they can estimate the lightning's temperature from the colours produced. The temperature of any lightning strokes varies from 8300 - 33000°C. A lightning flash that is exceedingly bright white in colour has a temperature of about 16000 - 33000°C!

Tornado and lightning

DID YOU KNOW?

Singapore has one of the highest rates of lightning activity in the world.
Bet ya didn’t know!

Some of you may already know that the hottest planet in the Solar System is Venus. It is the second closest planet to the Sun. Although Mercury is the closest to the Sun, it does not have an atmosphere to trap the Sun's heat. Venus, however, has an atmosphere largely composed of carbon dioxide gas and a thick cloud envelop, both of which trap the heat from the Sun. This makes Venus so hot it can reach a temperature of 480°C!

Venus's thick clouds reflect almost 70% of the sunlight that reaches it, back into space. This makes it the brightest planet in the Solar System.

Now we know why they say women are from Venus. We are just brighter and hotter! ;)

Lame Jane!
Which day of the week is the hottest?

Ans: FRY-DAY!
Hahahah! How lame is that?

Shiella A.

Maggot Juice For Healing...Yucks!

noreply@blogger.com (Niza and Shiella A.) — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 08:35:00 +0000

Maggot Juice Heal Wounds?

Doesn’t that remind you of Fear Factor? Erk!!! Researchers at the University of Bradford in UK are fiddling with the thought of constructing bandages or wound-dressings with active maggot components. Believe it or not, live maggots are applied to chronic wounds due to their ability to eat up dead tissue without damaging healthy ones. They found that fluid made from maggot has enzymes that can make repairing of tissue faster. Researchers first created layers of cells that imitate wounds on human skin. The result – wounds exposed to maggot “juice” extracts healed the fastest! Should this test be successful on humans, don’t be surprised if you see 'Maggot Band-Aids' on sale at your local pharmacy!

Source: Explosion, A-star.

Shiella A.