Why Is Chili Spicy?

For some people, spicy food is nice. It makes food more delicious. But others say that it's bad because spicy food makes their mouth feels hot. This burning feeling cause their eyes water and their nose runs. If it's happening, people usually drink much water to cure it. Does it work? Of course not. Drinking milk is much helping in this case. Why?

Chili or Chili Pepper?

In Asian Country it's called chili, but others call it chili pepper. It's the fruit from genus capsicum. There are several species of capsicum which has different amount of the spicy things.

Humans have been cultivating chili and using it for cooking since 6000 years ago, but we still studying about it and the reaction to our body. Scientist found that the chemical which cause the hot feeling is capsaicin.

When you eat spicy food, the chemical capsaicin binds to receptors that respond to pain from heat in the mouth and throat. The brain gets the message and the body reacts resulting in increasing circulation, cooling perspiration, and also causing runny nose and watery eyes.

What To Do To Cure The Burning Feeling

Many people try to cool down the burning feeling by drinking a glass of cool water. It does nothing because this capsaicin doesn't dissolved in water. So, what should you do to cure it? Of course you have to find a kind of liquid which can wash it away from your mouth. Milk can do this! Find and drink a glass off milk after eating spicy food, so the burning feeling will go away with the milk. So, what if the burning feeling occurs to your skin? Yes, you can also try to wash your hand using milk.

Written by SAA

Why Does Your Nose Run?

Image from knightwatch.typepad.com

What Is Mucus?

When your nose runs, there is sticky things that is made inside your nose. It is called mucus. Mucus is actually good. It keep germs, dirt, and bacteria from getting into your lungs by stopping them in your nose. It helps your body get rid of infections.

There Are Several Reasons For Running

Crying

When you blink, your eyelids spread the tears over the surface of the eye. Sometimes tears flow over your lower eyelid, but mostly the tears flow down a tiny tube at the edge of your lower eyelid, next to your nose. This tube carries the tears to the back of your nose, and this is why your nose runs when you cry.

Allergies

Several people who have allergies get their nose run when they are around the allergen like animal hair or pollen. Their bodies react to the allergen like they are germs.

Having Cold

 

When you have cold, your nose makes mucus to keep germs out of your lungs and body. This mucus contained something that can make you sicker than you already are. So, this is the way your body protects itself.

Eating Spicy Food

To cook spicy food, chili is needed. Yes, of course chili causes hot in your mouth, water in your eyes and mucus in your nose. So, what does chili do to make your nose running? Chili contained the chemical capsaicin and allyl isothiocyanate which can irritate mucous membranes that protects your lungs and various body openings and cavities from infectious agents such as fungi, bacteria and viruses. The more irritated it becomes, the more mucus it produces as a defense.

Written by SAA

The Amazing Human Brain

Human Brain
(Image from livescience.com)

Do you know that human has something amazing and powerful inside his body? It weighs about 1.4 kilograms in your head. It is called brain. The human brain makes up about 2% of a human's body weight. It contains about 100 billion nerve cells (gray matter) and millions of nerve fibers (white matter).

Anatomy of The Human Brain

Forebrain

It is made up of cerebrum, thalamus, hypothalamus and pineal gland among other features.

Midbrain

It is composed of a portion of the brainstem and located near center of the brain.

Hindbrain

It consists of the remaining brainstem as well as cerebellum and pons.

Human Brain Facts

Brain control everything that we do, such as enabling you to think, eat, walk, cry, even blink, breath and many others.  Brain also enable we to feel emotion like happy, sad, angry, tired, bored and so on. 

Computer acts like the brain, but our brain is faster and much more powerful than a supercomputer. No computer in this world can get close to the ability of our brain to process and react to many information from our skin, eyes, ears, nose and other sensory organs.

Our brain's activity never stop even if we are sleeping. That's why we are dreaming in most of our sleep. And of course, we need to dream. The brain processes and and reacts to billions of messages from outside of body. A single neuron generates only a tiny amount of electricity, but all neurons together can generate enough electricity to power a low-wattage bulb.

The structure of our brain changes every time we learn. Can you play a skateboard? If you can't, it seems impossible to play, and it looks so difficult to do. But if you try to practice, practice and practice again, of course you will be good in skateboarding. Why? At first, your brain sends message that you can't play skateboarding. As you practice, your brain sends "skateboarding" message along certain pathways of neurons over and over, forming new connection.

Written by SAA

Meat-Eating Plants

Dionaea muscipula

Meat-eating plants? Yes, some species of plants eat meat for their meals. What kind of plants is that? What meat?

Well, meat-eating plants or carnivorous plants are plants that get their nutrients from trapping and eating animals or protozoans, especially insects. These plants usually grow in a place where the soil is poor of nutrients such as nitrogen. Being carnivorous is the way for adaptation.

The species produces small, shiny black seeds 

Venus flytrap (Dionea muscipula) is one of the example for meat-eating plants. It eats insects or spider for its nutrients because it grows at poor nutrients soil. When an insect or spider crawling along the leaves contacts a hair, the trap closes.

Venus flytraps produce flowers in the spring 

Most meat-eating plants selectively feed on specific prey. This selection is due to the available prey and the type of trap used by the organism. With the Venus flytrap, prey is limited to beetles, spiders and other crawling arthropods.

(Image from wikipedia)

Written by SAA

Where Do Tears Come From?

Tears are produced by tear glands, which are small glands inside your upper eyelid. Tears keep the surface of your eyeball clean and moist, and help protect your eye from damage.

When you blink, your eyelids spread the tears over the surface of the eye. Sometimes tears flow over your lower eyelid, but mostly the tears flow down a tiny tube at the edge of your lower eyelid, next to your nose – if you look very carefully you can see a tiny dot that is the beginning of this tube. This tube carries the tears to the back of your nose (and this is why your nose ‘runs’ when you cry!)

Written by SAA

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