The International Space Station has a laboratory referred to as “Microflow1” which is no bigger than a toaster and analyzes blood, urine, and saliva to create an instant analysis of what is ailing an astronaut. These results and sent down to Earth in real time so that a physician can review the analysis. Microflow1 uses fiber optic technology to look for everything from high cholesterol to cancer
Alcohol shows up in the breath because it gets absorbed from the mouth, throat, stomach and intestines into the bloodstream. Alcohol is not digested upon absorption, nor chemically changed in the bloodstream. As blood circulates through the lungs, some of the alcohol moves across the membranes of the lung’s alveoli, into the air stored within the lungs. Because the alcohol concentration in the breath is related to the concentration in the blood, an approximate measurement can be identified when using a simple ratio formula of breath alcohol to blood alcohol which is 2100:1. This means that 2100 milliliters of alveolar air will contain the same amount of alcohol as 1 milliliter of blood
The term “plasma” is derived from the ancient Greek term “plassein” which means to “shape or mold something”. Plasma related to physics, specifically matter which has had its electrons separated from the rest of its atoms, forcing it to become an ion, more specifically a mixture of free floating electrons and ions, was first identified by British chemist and physicist Sir William Crookes in 1879 using cathode ray tubes. Crookes referred to this discovery initially as “radiant matter” but it became known as “plasma” in 1928 because of American chemist Irving Langmuir. Langmuir was exploring ionized gases, gases which were subjected to strong electrical fields to remove electrons from their orbital shells. Langmuir used the analogy of blood to explain this phenomena, with the ions representative of corpuscles and the remaining gas thought of as clear liquid. Blood is similar to plasma in that it is primarily comprised of 2 components which include its clear liquid and the corpuscles/cells entrapped within this fluid. This clear liquid was named “plasma” by Czech physiologist Johannes Purkinje In 1927. The definition of matter plasma and blood plasma however have absolutely nothing to do with eachother physically, aside from the fact that two different scientists had the idea to use the same term at approximately the same time. It is believed that these two scientists based their name upon the ancient Greek definition of the term “plasma”
The Ancient Druids had tools used for predicting the future with one example being the divination spoons, a small set of golden leaf shaped items which were concave with a small hole upon one of the leaflets. Blood would be blown into this hole using a small tube and the breath of a Druid so that its final patterns could be used to predict the outcome of certain events. This is important because these interpretations were completely subjective (e.g. if a Druid wanted to go to war, many people could potentially die dependent upon how they read these natural signs as prophecies). Manipulation of these results and their prophetic message would be undetectable by common people as only the Druids knew how to read the signs which they were looking for. This opens the door for corruption and/or the tampering of results and their message. The Druids remained so powerful that even Celtic monarchs revered and respected their authority. Despite this enormous influence, apart from divination spoons, definitive and conclusive evidence of Druid prophetic tools have never been found
The Turin Shroud which is believed by Christians to have been wrapped around Jesus Christ after his death and to have been left behind by Christ post-resurrection, is approximately 14’6” long by 3’6” wide and bears the mysterious image of the full front and back of a man, a person who appears to have met a violent death. The Turin Shroud negative image was stumbled upon by amateur photographer Secondo Pia in 1898 whilst taking the first archeological photographs of the shroud. Today, the Turin Shroud is kept within the royal chapel of the Turin Cathedral in Italy, under lock and key in a climate controlled, bulletproof encasing. The Catholic Church allowed scientific examination of the Turin Shroud in 1978 and in 1988, but the piece is rarely placed on display for the public, with the last showing drawing over 2,000,000 (2 million) people in 2015. Blood samples found upon the Turin Shroud found that whoever supplied it had blood type AB, a rare blood type found only in 3% of the population, however more common in the Middle East. Much of the skepticism related to the Turin Shroud stems from the fact that it was not historically documented and recorded until nearly 1400 years after the death of Christ, during the Medieval period in 1349. It is suspected that the Turin Shroud could have belonged to the last grandmaster of the Knights Templar, Jacques de Molay. After being arrested by Philip IV, the then king of France, de Molay was tortured, had a crown of thorns placed upon his head, and was then crucified in 1314. Scientists have theorized that because de Molay was wrapped in a long piece of cloth, the lactic acid built up during torture as well as de Molay’s own blood mixed with the frankincense which was used to keep the cloth white, provided an imprint after his death. The last known historical description and image of de Molay actually matches quite well with the image on the Turin Shroud, both images depicting a male with a large nose, shoulder length hair parted in the center, a crown of thorns, and a full beard
In Mongolia, horse is traditionally eaten during the winter months, and is referred to as a “cold meat”. The traditional method of slaughtering livestock is to hold it down, make a small incision in its abdomen, and finally separate the heart from the remaining circulatory system. This technique is an incredibly quick process which if done correctly is a fairly humane way to take the life of an animal. The animal may tense its limbs but it rarely if ever makes a sound during the process as it’s such a quick set of movements performed in succession. Mongolians attach a spiritual significance to blood and it is deemed wrong for any blood to touch the ground during the skinning process. Livestock blood is consumed and is considered a valuable food resource, never to be wasted
Approximately 66% of a great white sharks brain is dedicated to its sense of smell, being able to smell 1 part per 1,000,000,000 (1 billion) of blood within the water. Great white sharks have their maximum width within 33% of their total length, a width which is nearly 25% of the total length of the body. This tapered shape minimizes drag and allows a shark to move quickly and freely, an ideal which has been shaped by evolution