Cool On The Exterior, Warm Within
The Ten Million Whys
Sunday, February 26, 2006 @ 11:14 AM
Why does my body jerk when I am falling asleep?
This happened quite frequently when I was 4 or 5 and I didn't understand why. I was sharing a bed with my parents then and everytime it happened, I will ask my dad, "Pls don't shake your leg!" Much to his bewilderment of coz!
Ever been just about to drift off into a blissfully deep sleep when suddenly you feel like you are falling, and your body jerks in shock?
What you have experienced is called a 'hypnic jerk'. This often occurs during very light sleep, when your body temperature drops - your heart slows down and your conscious brain gradually relinquishes control of your muscles. The general consensus is that this brain activity can make your larger muscles contract, and that, as your body twitches, another part of your brain invents a 'mini-dream' in which you are falling off a cliff, for example. So, next time you wake up with a 'sleep start', just remember it's simply your body's way of telling your muscles to chill out!
What cause a twitching eye?
Everytime this happens, I get superstitiously worried.. is it a sign of bad luck to come? haha..
You may wonder why your eye sometimes twitches (or perhaps you're more concerned about it being noticeable to others). The twitch itself occurs due to the repetitive contracting and relaxing of the muscle below the eye as it is stimulated by a repetitive electrical impulse from a nerve. But as to why the nerve should fire in this way when we are tired or stressed remains a mystery.
Why do we all have our periods at the same time in the office?
Happens all the time to my gal mates and I!
Another bizarre infectious phenomenon is 'synchronous menstruation', when women living or working together find that their periods come at the same time. Although this is still a grey area, research suggests that it is caused by pheromones and scent.
Why do we pass wind?
The embarrassing moments in our lives.. haha which shouldn't be the case since it's a bodily function?
And now for one of the less attractive bodily secretions: gas. Well, given that our bodies are like 24-hour factories, constantly processing air, liquids and foods, it's hardly surprising that we produce a by-product or two. In fact, on average, we pass wind 15 times a day, and it is normal to produce up to three and half milk bottles' worth of wind daily!
But have you ever wondered why it is that eating beans, cabbage, broccoli, curry and beer can result in smells that could only be described as rotten eggs? The culprits: smelly substances like hydrogen sulphide that are produced when food is broken down in the colon.
What on earth is belly button fluff?
My favourite past time when I was young was digging fluff out of my belly button.. till it got all red! After that, I ceased coz I was afraid that I would tear through the skin and the thought of seeing my guts grossed me out!
Ok, so why do we get those strange little bits of fluff in our navels?
Believe it or not, in 2002, a University of Sydney researcher won the 'Ig Nobel Prize' (the spoof Nobel prize for dubious contributions to scientific research) for his investigation into the cause of tummy-button fluff, in which he examined the fluff samples of 5000 people!
His conclusion was that the fluff is made up of clothing fibres and skin cells that are led to the tummy-button via body hair.
