Lava Lamps
Monday June 12, 2006
Lava lamps are made with actual lava.
The lava is harvested in its cooled form on the big island of Hawaii. In a laboratory on the island, the lava is converted from a solid into a complex fluid (think ketchup) through a process of reverse helical condensation. At this point it is called “cold molten” lava, because it has the properties of hot molten lava, but at room temperature. The lava in this form is extremely unstable and is put into a formaldehyde bath for shipment to a lava lamp bottling facility in China. At the bottling plant, the formaldehyde is drained and the lava is dyed its final color. This lava is then bottled with negatively ionized water and sealed.
The negatively ionized water has the effect of hardening the cold molten lava so that it must be heated to make it flow. In the original lava lamps, formaldehyde was used throughout the entire production and the lava flowed even when the lamp was off. Formaldehyde was replaced with water in the late 1970’s due to increasing restrictions on formaldehyde in consumer products.
Your Blood is Blue
Sunday June 11, 2006
The blood flowing through your arteries & veins is blue. Only when combined with air does it turn red.
This is why your veins look blue under your skin. It is also the origin of the term “blue balls”. The over abundance of blood in the genital area for a prolonged period of time causes pain, hence blue balls.
You Breathe Through Your Pores
Friday June 9, 2006
If you were to seal every pore on your body, you would suffocate within 7 minutes.
Conversly, If you seal your mouth and nose, you will pass out, but not suffocate.
Pores are responsible for 80% of oxygen intake in primates. You don’t drown when you swim because pores can still extract oxygen from water; albeit at a reduced efficiency (10% vs 35% in air). However, when your pores are submerged, you become reliant upon your lungs because your pores do not provide enough oxygen on their own. You drown from the combination of reduced pore efficiency and total lack of oxygen intake from the lungs.
Babies can drown in a half inch of water because their pores are not fully developed and are only responsible for 45% of their oxygen intake.