What made me happy today? The key.
It's a 7 minute video about one of the greatest contributing factors to happiness. Watch it, and say thank you afterwards :-)
(apologies about the short post, I just took the tape of my hand and now it hurts :-( )
Showing posts with label science. Show all posts
Showing posts with label science. Show all posts
Thursday, September 26, 2013
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Good guy Tesla
What made me happy today? Good guy Tesla!
Nikola Tesla. Inventor, engineer, (mad) scientist and way ahead of his time. In my opinion one of the lesser acknowledged great minds of his time. And I'm not alone in that sentiment. Check out this comic by the Oatmeal.
So when you switch on your lights this evening, don't forget to say thank you to Mr. Tesla :-)
Nikola Tesla. Inventor, engineer, (mad) scientist and way ahead of his time. In my opinion one of the lesser acknowledged great minds of his time. And I'm not alone in that sentiment. Check out this comic by the Oatmeal.
So when you switch on your lights this evening, don't forget to say thank you to Mr. Tesla :-)
Thursday, June 20, 2013
Folding math-style!
What made me happy today? Learning how to fold a t-shirt.
With math! This video teaches you how to fold a shirt in less than 2 seconds.
No, it's not a typo. Less than 2 seconds. Granted, it takes some practice to get the hang of it but once you do it really works!
So thank you math and science! I'm never spending way too much time folding shirt again :-)
With math! This video teaches you how to fold a shirt in less than 2 seconds.
No, it's not a typo. Less than 2 seconds. Granted, it takes some practice to get the hang of it but once you do it really works!
So thank you math and science! I'm never spending way too much time folding shirt again :-)
Sunday, February 10, 2013
Mythbusters
What made me happy today? Mythbusters!
Science combined with explosions, destruction, crashes, guns, high speeds, some controversy and just the sheer epic awesomeness of the show? What's not to like?
I mean, they do the stuff you've always wondered about. You could of course try it yourself, but you'd probably get seriously injured or killed. They are the experts and know what they're doing. Well, most of the time anyway. Sometimes it goes wrong. And then it's still funny to watch :-)
The Mythbusters also have a great dynamic between them. And you have the recurring themes: Jamie's moustache, Adam hurts himself, Tori tries a silly stunt which leads to a spectacular crash without him getting hurt that bad; Grant builds a robor ot remote controlled thing; Kari doesn't like bugs / dead pigs and vomits; the whole team has that 'I can't believe this is my job' or 'I have no idea what we're doing' moment; Buster has a rough day on the job.
Ah Buster. Where would Mythbusters be without Buster? Besides, it's fun to watch Buster being dropped from a crane on his belly, just to see how much damage it would do! In case you were wondering: a lot.
Or the catchphrases, like: I reject your reality and substitute my own; when in doubt : C4; failure is always an option. There's many more of course, but you should see (well, hear) yourself!
Blowing up stuff, crashing vehicles, shooting guns etc. has to be the coolest job ever. And all in the name of science! Plus, if they do it, you don't have to try it yourself.
On top of all that, you actually learn stuff on the show as well. Mythbusters has saved lives on more than one occasion. The boy who saved the man from the train, more than one person that got out safely out of their car after it landed in the water. All of that because of Mythbusters.
They always say that you should't try any of the things you see on the show at home. But I'll admit to doing one experiment myself. The Mentos and Diet Coke experiment. I only did it because the Mythbusters said it was okay. And it's a pretty harmless experiment.
There are so many great moments in the show that listing my favorites would take me a really long time. So if you've never seen an episode of Mythbusters, be sure to check it out. It's great!
Science combined with explosions, destruction, crashes, guns, high speeds, some controversy and just the sheer epic awesomeness of the show? What's not to like?
I mean, they do the stuff you've always wondered about. You could of course try it yourself, but you'd probably get seriously injured or killed. They are the experts and know what they're doing. Well, most of the time anyway. Sometimes it goes wrong. And then it's still funny to watch :-)
The Mythbusters also have a great dynamic between them. And you have the recurring themes: Jamie's moustache, Adam hurts himself, Tori tries a silly stunt which leads to a spectacular crash without him getting hurt that bad; Grant builds a robor ot remote controlled thing; Kari doesn't like bugs / dead pigs and vomits; the whole team has that 'I can't believe this is my job' or 'I have no idea what we're doing' moment; Buster has a rough day on the job.
Ah Buster. Where would Mythbusters be without Buster? Besides, it's fun to watch Buster being dropped from a crane on his belly, just to see how much damage it would do! In case you were wondering: a lot.
Or the catchphrases, like: I reject your reality and substitute my own; when in doubt : C4; failure is always an option. There's many more of course, but you should see (well, hear) yourself!
Blowing up stuff, crashing vehicles, shooting guns etc. has to be the coolest job ever. And all in the name of science! Plus, if they do it, you don't have to try it yourself.
On top of all that, you actually learn stuff on the show as well. Mythbusters has saved lives on more than one occasion. The boy who saved the man from the train, more than one person that got out safely out of their car after it landed in the water. All of that because of Mythbusters.
They always say that you should't try any of the things you see on the show at home. But I'll admit to doing one experiment myself. The Mentos and Diet Coke experiment. I only did it because the Mythbusters said it was okay. And it's a pretty harmless experiment.
There are so many great moments in the show that listing my favorites would take me a really long time. So if you've never seen an episode of Mythbusters, be sure to check it out. It's great!
Sunday, January 20, 2013
Brain experiment
What made me happy today? A successful experiment on my own brain!
In order to get to my point, I first need to give you two pieces of background information.
Backstory 1: I'm a nurse, specialised in neurology. I've worked in a hospital for 4.5 years, and now work in clinical research. I like science, and will do the occasional experiment on myself. Nothing dangerous of course :-)
Backstory 2: for as long as I can remember I've been a pretty bad sleeper. I have days when I sleep ok but I also have days when I am plagued by insomnia.
Combine backstory 1 with backstory 2 and you'll sense where I'm going with this :-)
Over the years I have tried a lot of things that are said to help with insomnia. From the simple 'hot milk' to the 'get out of bed, do something different and go back to bed when tired'. None of those things ever seemed to work consistently. Warm milk before bed is a bad idea for me, it upsets my stomach. Getting out of bed does not help either, I'm tired any way... I refuse to take sleeping pills. I know my body, and I know I would be all fuzzy during the next day. Which I do not want.
So over the years I have developed several coping strategies for my bouts of insomnia. But there are occasions when nothing seems to help, or seems to be able to get me to sleep. That's when I decided it was time to start doing some experiments on my own brain.
The leading two causes of my insomnia usually are: ambient noises (old building, the pipes and central heating tend to be a bit noisy) and my own brain.
Now for the noise, there's a simple solution: earplugs. They'll help, but I can't use them every night because they'll irritate my ears.
For my brain that keeps on thinking about, well, everything when I'm in bed, it was a bit harder to find a solution. But after digging around in my brain and on the internet I think I finally may have found a solution: white noise and other soundscapes. They cancel out some or all of the background noise, and seem to give my brain something to focus on, other than thinking about so much stuff. I even found some soundscapes on Youtube that are said to promote sleep.
So far, the results seem good! I've had a very good night's sleep last night and the nights before were pretty ok too. I feel rather well rested at the moment so it might be working. Here's hoping!
Yes, I am perfectly aware that 1 person is not a valuable test group, but I'm only experimenting with what works for me and my insomnia.
Also, I know this post is up a lot earlier than usual, but it's snowing very hard and I have some social obligations this afternoon :-)
In order to get to my point, I first need to give you two pieces of background information.
Backstory 1: I'm a nurse, specialised in neurology. I've worked in a hospital for 4.5 years, and now work in clinical research. I like science, and will do the occasional experiment on myself. Nothing dangerous of course :-)
Backstory 2: for as long as I can remember I've been a pretty bad sleeper. I have days when I sleep ok but I also have days when I am plagued by insomnia.
Combine backstory 1 with backstory 2 and you'll sense where I'm going with this :-)
Over the years I have tried a lot of things that are said to help with insomnia. From the simple 'hot milk' to the 'get out of bed, do something different and go back to bed when tired'. None of those things ever seemed to work consistently. Warm milk before bed is a bad idea for me, it upsets my stomach. Getting out of bed does not help either, I'm tired any way... I refuse to take sleeping pills. I know my body, and I know I would be all fuzzy during the next day. Which I do not want.
So over the years I have developed several coping strategies for my bouts of insomnia. But there are occasions when nothing seems to help, or seems to be able to get me to sleep. That's when I decided it was time to start doing some experiments on my own brain.
The leading two causes of my insomnia usually are: ambient noises (old building, the pipes and central heating tend to be a bit noisy) and my own brain.
Now for the noise, there's a simple solution: earplugs. They'll help, but I can't use them every night because they'll irritate my ears.
For my brain that keeps on thinking about, well, everything when I'm in bed, it was a bit harder to find a solution. But after digging around in my brain and on the internet I think I finally may have found a solution: white noise and other soundscapes. They cancel out some or all of the background noise, and seem to give my brain something to focus on, other than thinking about so much stuff. I even found some soundscapes on Youtube that are said to promote sleep.
So far, the results seem good! I've had a very good night's sleep last night and the nights before were pretty ok too. I feel rather well rested at the moment so it might be working. Here's hoping!
Yes, I am perfectly aware that 1 person is not a valuable test group, but I'm only experimenting with what works for me and my insomnia.
Also, I know this post is up a lot earlier than usual, but it's snowing very hard and I have some social obligations this afternoon :-)
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