Amazing Science!

[Zzzptm]

Starting things off with "smelling your own farts is good for you!"

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/science-smelling-farts-alzheimers-disease-b2877346.html

https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/newsroom/news-releases/2021/01/rotten-egg-gas-could-guard-against-alzheimers-disease

Pull my finger for your good health! 

[Vyn]

That's amazing!

Here's one: Our eyes are not designed to process photons, therefore light waves themselves are invisible to people. So, the old spiritual, "I Saw the Light,"...well, no, you actually didn't Jethro.

[Zzzptm]

Whoaaaa cool

[Vyn]

Another: When you touch something, you're actually experiencing what it felt like in the past because it takes time for the nerves to send their signal and be processed by your brain.

[Zzzptm]

There is a gene in the fruit fly that makes them susceptible to alcohol's effects. The mechanism for fruit fly inebriation is also present in mammals, including humans, making fruit flies a good subject for further studies in alcoholism.

Now, had biochemist researchers done this study, they would have provided a methodical name for the gene. But because fly researchers were doing the research, they named it "cheapdate".

"I agree, we biochemists call proteins and genes in a methodical sequential manner; fly people name stuff based on the morning cereal or cartoon. I still like them however." - from a Reddit comment about the article.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11199289/

The study also involves an "inebriometer" to test the fruit flies for resistance to alcohol:



The inebriometer is an apparatus that is used to measure the sensitivity of Drosophila to alcohol vapor. Approximately 100 flies are introduced into the top of a 4-foot glass column through which a controlled concentration of alcohol vapor circulates. As they become intoxicated, the flies progressively lose postural control and tumble downwards; their fall is impeded by their ability to cling to oblique mesh baffles distributed along the length of the column. The time required for the flies to emerge at the bottom of the column is a measure of their alcohol sensitivity.

Fly researchers seem like they'd be fun people at parties.

[Typhon]

Another: When you touch something, you're actually experiencing what it felt like in the past because it takes time for the nerves to send their signal and be processed by your brain.

True, but it is hardly a distant past.  You brain has the information in a tiny fraction of a second.

[Zzzptm]

This thread gets me to discover some really cool stuff.

Today I learned about total internal reflection. It can be demonstrated with water, but it's also how fibre optic cables work:

[Zzzptm]

And then that got me to look for stuff by Julius Sumner Miller. I loved watching his Physics presentations back in the day. I still do love them.