If volume and weight are both calculated as 1 unit, when a cube is made 1 x 1 x 1 when accounting for its length, width, and height, and 1 when accounting for its weight, the entire cube is in equal proportion; a concept referred to as a “unit cube” called as such because each of its dimensions (e.g. height, width, length etc.) are 1 unit in length. This changes however when doubling the cube in size and weight. When doubling the cube to 2 x 2 x 2 when accounting for its length, width, and height, the weight does not move in lockstep, because it becomes 8x (2 x 2 = 4 x 2 = 8). This fundamental mathematical principle referred to as the Square Cube Law, explains why as animals become bigger on land, life becomes exceedingly difficult because of the need to maintain and support the large weight associated with such large stature. As animals become more massive, the effect of gravity places an increasing role in their lives. The shape and form of the body is forced to change. Bones become more massive to scaffold their large bodies. This is why the largest animals on the planet are found within the Earth’s oceans as being within water is a way to circumvent this outcome and helps explain why as animals become larger upon land, life becomes exceedingly difficult because of the need to maintain an appropriate structure and weight associated with such large sizes. This principle also explains why the concept of a giant (e.g. mythology etc.) is physically problematic as if a human being were scaled up proportionally to twice their normal height, their volume and weight would increase 8x, whilst the strength of their bones and muscles would not scale at this same rate. The result would be a life form whose own mass would overwhelm its skeletal structure, making movement, balance, and even basic survival virtually impossible without some form of environmental and/or structural intervention and compensation
Category: Endocrinology
The Reason Europeans Began Consuming Coffee During the 16th Century
Coffee was initially referred to as a drink only consumed by the devil and frowned upon until Pope Clement VIII tried it and changed his opinion which changed Rome, Italy’s stance. Coffee was seen as the devil’s drink because it was the drink of the Muslim and therefore by default the infidels with whom Christians had been at war for centuries. Pope Clement VIII famously stated that coffee was so delicious that Christians should cheat the devil by baptizing the beverage
The Caribbean Village of Biological Males Born Without Male Genitalia
There is a village in the Dominican Republic called Salinas, in which 1 in 90 of the people born are born as males, with testicles, but without a penis, because of misconstrued instructions at birth. In males, the gene on the Y chromosome, specifically the Sex Determining Region Y (SRY), instructs the gonads to become testicles. This leads to the creation of dihydrotestosterone which is a stronger version of testosterone. Dihydrotestosterone transforms the tubercle which all males and females have, into a penis. Females do not make dihydrotestosterone, therefore their gonads become ovaries, and the tubercle becomes a clitoris. Infants perceived as female at birth, due to a lack of dihydrotestosterone during fetal development, later develop a penis during puberty when testosterone triggers penile growth, as it does in typical male development. Those who lack the ability to create dihydrotestosterone, as is the case with those born as males but raised as females in the Caribbean village of Salinas, Dominican Republic where it is common, are technically male, but without a penis, a condition referred to as “5 alpha reductase deficiency”. This condition is quite well accepted in this part of the world and even has a term which is “guevedoce(s)”, (pronounced “guava-doh-chey”) which means “penis/testicles at 12” in Spanish. This condition whilst common in this region of the Caribbean, it is very rare in other parts of the world
The Fallacy of French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte Being Short in Stature
Napoleon Bonaparte was not actually short in stature, in fact he was of average height. This misconception stems from paperwork being written about Bonaparte which states that he was 5’2″, written as 5 pieds 2 pouces within France during the early 19th century, but it was from a French town which used an antiquated unit of measurement referred to as the “French foot”, which classified the imperial measurement of 1′ as 13″ instead of the 12″ which is what 1′ is stated to be within the imperial measurement system. When accounting for this error in transcription, it would appear that Bonaparte was actually 5’7″ which during the last half of the 18th and beginning half of the 19th century when Bonaparte was alive, was considered average, or even slightly above average in regard to the stature of height. The fallacy of Bonaparte being short was exaggerated by English propaganda, particularly satirical cartoons which portrayed Bonaparte as small and temperamental, affixing this image to Bonaparte for centuries and into the modern day
The Correlation Between Cats and the Bubonic Plague of Europe
During the Middle Ages and up until the Salem Witch Trials, cats were killed alongside their owners who were believed to be practicing the dark arts of magic, sorcery, and witchcraft. Typically cats were burned alive in ceremonial bonfires. Ironically, had this not occurred, the Bubonic Plague probably wouldn’t have been as prolific as it was as the fleas found upon the rats who carried the disease, would have been killed alongside their host by the very cats which were killed in droves by human beings. Cats are partially resistant to the Bubonic Plague but with few to keep the rat population in check, the plague was able to wash over Europe and kill 25,000,000 (25 million) people which was 25% of the European population
The Argument Against Private Corporation Umbilical Cord Blood Storage
Canadian Blood and Tissue Bank Insception Life Blood claims that 80 life threatening diseases (e.g. various cancers, metabolic diseases, immune diseases etc.) can be treated with umbilical cord blood, and that these diseases have been treated with success for over 2 decades, with over 45,000 pediatric transfusions worldwide. The majority of these transfusions however were accomplished due to public cord blood banks. Physicians can tap into worldwide public registries with nearly 1,000,000 (1 million) donors to find a match for a patient and this service is free. In the setting of leukemia or a genetic defect, physicians would want to use cord blood which is not biologically related to the patient to avoid having the problem continue. The American Academy of Pediatrics states, “private storage of cord blood as biological insurance should be discouraged”. There is a caveat to this however, in the case of a child having a genetic defect, it is recommended that the family save the cord blood of the next child, if another child is born. It is believed that private cord blood corporations leverage fear, uncertainty, and timed pressure to cajole families into deciding to privately store cord blood. Insception Life Blood has stored cord blood from 70,000 infants yet only 14 were released for transplant, a value of 1 in 5000
The Accidental Discovery of Tea and the Agricultural Advents Developed by Chinese Emperor Jiang Shinian
Tea was discovered entirely by accident. The first emperor of ancient China, Emperor Jiang Shinian (Shen Nung or Shennong) was boiling water in his palace courtyard when a tea leaf fell from above, and into the boiling pot. Due to the pleasant scent, Jiang ingested the water as it cooled and by coincidence discovered the activity of tea consumption. The name Jiang Shinian directly translates to mean “Devine Husbandman” within Mandarin, as it is believed Jiang developed multiple Chinese agricultural advents (e.g. crop cultivation for medicinal herbs, soil managment strategies, irrigation etc.). It should be noted, this account of the discovery of tea is believed to most likely be fictitious and mythological in origin by Chinese historians during the modern day
How the Rabies Virus Pathogen Infects and Propagates Within Mammalian Hosts
The rabies virus causes hostility within its host because aggressive behavior (e.g. biting etc.) is crucial for the transmission of the pathogen due to the fact that the virus is primarily secreted within the saliva of its hosts, although it can be present within and therefore transmitted via other tissues as well (e.g. infected brain tissue coming into contact with the open wound of a host etc.). The rabies virus primarily affects the central nervous system of its host, involving both the brain and spinal cord, causing inflammation of the brain referred to as “encephalitis”, and triggering various other neurological symptoms which help aide propogation (e.g. aggression, confusion, hallucinations etc.). The rabies virus travels along nerves from the wound site of the infection to the brain, where it then replicates and causes inflammation. Once the rabies virus reaches the brain, it can spread rapidly throughout the body via the central nervous system, leading to severe neurological symptoms and death in 100% of cases if left untreated
The Importance of Gastrointestinal Microbes for Weight Loss
There are 100,000,000,000,000 (100 trillion) microbes within the gastrointestinal system and scientists have learned that by transplanting microbes from one animal to another, weight gain and weight loss can be turned on and off at will. Scientists now understand that the greater diversity a person has in terms of the types of microbial life which live within their body, the less likely they are to gain weight or maintain a higher than ideal body weight, with the exact opposite effect occurring in those who have lower than average values in reference to the number of microbes living within the body. Diets rich in fiber are typically associated with higher values of microbes, so increasing fiber intake, can significantly reduce overall body weight and promote the existence and health of many different kinds of microbes. Increasing fiber content for only a few days, has a measurable and marked effect upon microbrial gastrointestinal health
The Development of Japanese Tea Gardens and Tea Houses
The Japanese tea garden is the antithesis of the Buddhist Zen garden and originated in the 9th century after tea was imported into Japan from China. Buddhist monks would drink Chinese tea to keep themselves awake during long meditation sessions. Over the subsequent centuries, tea drinking became an elaborate practice which was highly ritualized with samurai, geishas, and monks all serving tea using these same concepts. Japanese tea gardens developed during the 16th century with direct influence from the concepts of tea ceremonies, designed and constructed to surround tea houses