Hello Buddies, welcome once again to another episode of "What I Learnt For The Week".
Over ther period of last week (7th-11th May), I made some amazing discoveries, of which I would select some random 5 to represent the lessons learnt for each day of the week. This episode promises to be educative and exciting.
Monday: Touching Virtual Reality
Just like my usual custom is; and without exception to the episode; I normally begin with lesson learnt from emerging technology on "robotics and Machines".
Like we may have already been aware of, Virtual reality (VR) is a computer simulation or computer creation of an entirely new or non-existent environment. And this environment would be quite different from the true world. Now, this is achieved by the process of cutting your perception off from the true world and replacing it with the computer generated imagery (this can be achieved with a VR headset).
Also, this can be through the holographic projection of images onto the real world with a combined technology of mixed reality. But before now; in any of these cases; these virtual objects cannot be felt. But with the advances in technology, a solution has been found, which would enable us to touch and feel virtual images.
How do you feel virtual objects?
A particular research was heralded by a team of scientists at the Bristol University, and they came up with an idea of creating patterns of waves in mid-air using ultrasound together with the holographically projected images. When these vibrations are sent from the source, they create some forms of "haptic shapes" (3D imagery that can be felt).
These haptic images can be further dispersed in oil to make the images distinctive and clear. Then when someone touches these shapes, he/she would have a sensation resulting from the ultrasonic projection, thus simulating the effect of touching a real-life object.
To make this clearer, here's a video I found for y'all in YouTube to show you how this looks like
Applications of this technology
This technology has a wide range of potential applications. In gaming; for example; each of the gamer can interact with their virtual characters. And yes! You can feel the impact of a blow; for example. Also you can use this to project the image of a loved one from miles away, and you can actually touch them, while they would be touching you too from their own end. This would be made possible by advances in Internet of Things (IoT) and the dividing line would be blurred. Imagine shaking the hand of someone miles away; that's exactly what this tech can offer.
Have I piqued your interest? Read more here.
Tuesday: Blue Skin Disorder
Have you seen the movie X-Men in which one of the mutants; Hanc Mccoy (the beast); has blue skin in lieu of the normal human skin colour? Okay you may be quick to say that this is just some bunch of sci-fi, but have you taken time to ask this question "can humans actually have this type of blue-coloured skin in real life?". The answer to this is an emphatic "YES". Let's see how.
[Image Source: Maxpixel. CC0 Licensed]
You may be wondering, how does this happen. Okay this is it: There is a rare genetic disorder termed "Methemoglobinemia", which is characterized by an excessive amount of Methemoglobin in the blood, which causes the inability of the normal hemoglobin in the bood to distribute oxygen adequately to the various parts of the body.
This condition causes a chocolate tint in the person's blood, with a characteristic blue-coloured skin. It might interest you to know that a known case of this weird syndrome was seen in the Eastern region of the U.S; Appalachia: in which a particular family (the Fugates) had some members with deep blue skin coloration; during the early 19th century to the late 20th century.
Note: The case of the Fugates was genetic methemoglobinemia, which is even awesome how they were able to live a fairly normal life with an excessive amount of methemoglobin in their blood. This is because, an abnormal increase in the level of the methemoglobin in the blood of a normal individual would lead to seizure, cardiac arrest, and ultimately death.
Apart from the fact that this syndrome is genetic; like in the case of the Fugates; other predisposing factors can induce Methemoglobinemia. Like when the body is exposed to some chemicals (example: Xylocaine, and even excessive amount of Benzocaine can trigger this). Also, Argyria (silver poisoning) is another pathway of getting the blue tint in your skin.
To know more about the Blue Skin Disorder, click here.
Wednesday: Atychiphobia (Fear of Failure)
Before I proceed, I would like to remind us that failing at a single attempt does not make you a failure, but when you refuse to try again. But do you know that there are some people who are scared of even trying; with the fear that they would definitely fail? Yes! This is a type of phobia and it is called "Atychiphobia".
[Image Source: Pxhere. CC0 Licensed]
Atychiphobia cuts across different aspects of lives. For example; some people have very uneasy feeling when they are faced with examinations in school. Some others avoid going into relationships with the fear of failing at it. Others are even scared of taking up a particular career; maybe because someone else failed at it; and they have the thoughts that they would fail at it too. While some are just scared of taking risks. All these could be the manifestation of Atychiphobia.
Causes of Atychiphobia
The major part of this is caused by past experience. Maybe the person may have suffered ridicules in the past as a result of a failed attempt at doing something, this could cause him/her to feel discouraged in taking further steps, and this could lead to Atychiphobia. Remember, fears have the propensity to grow.
Also, people that have failed repeatedly in a particular area, may just decide to quit trying; both in that area, and in related areas; thus giving room for the fear of failure. Before I continue, let me quickly drop a tip for you. Here are the words of one of Chinese greatest teachers; Confucius:
Our glory does not lie in not falling, but in getting up whenever we fall. - Confucius [Paraphrased by me]
Symptoms of Atychiphobia
The symptoms of this phobia is manifested in various ways, among them are:
- Avoidance of taking risks
- Being too quick to give up; even in a relationship
- Physical symptoms (like sweeting, palpitation, tension) at the presence of; maybe; an examination.
Here's the word that was once said by one of my teachers, and I would want to reiterate it again here:
Life itself is risky, but it is riskier not to take risks... It is better to fail at doing something than to succeed at doing nothing. - Prof Emeka Anyanwu [Paraphrased by me]
Now, that's the spirit of "never quitting". Even if you try and fail, try again.
Wanna know more about Atychiphobia, click here.
Thursday: Busy Life Syndrome (BLS)
Have you ever experienced a condition in which you enter inside the room to pick up something and you totally forget why you even entered the room? Or maybe you go inside to pick your car keys, and you end up picking the remote control. Okay! This might sound funny, but it is an actual medical condition, and it is called "Busy Life Syndrome (BLS)".
[Image Source: Pixabay. CC0 Licensed]
Though some have argued that this term is actually hypothesized, but you can't rule off the fact that this kind of forgetfulness does happen. The sufferers of this syndrome experience lack of concentration which can be accompanied by some degrees of forgetfulness.
No doubt, as one ages, there is tendency for him/her to suffer from some level of forgetfulness, but this condition is without recourse to aging, as it also occurs in the younger folks.
Some may ask "what are the likely causes of this?". Well, some people get so much busy with life and can multitask extremely, this tends to increase the amount of information being processed by the brain per time. And some could go on like this for a greater percentage of the day, leading to mental strain and stress. Now, this mental stress could consequently affect the person's level of concentration, attention, and thinking; thus leading to BLS.
Also, it has been indicated that one of the largest single causes of BLS is the social media. No doubt, we live in an era where information that comes to us is on the increase. many people could keep late nights behind their computer systems or their phones, at the expense of their sleep. Also, damages in the hippocampus (the area of the human brain related to short-term memory) can also trigger forgetfulness.
But in any case, it has also been advocated to take rests often, prioritize your works and activities, and try to limit you multitasking nature. Remember this popular phrase:
Prevention is better than cure
To know more about Busy Life Syndrome, click here.
Friday: Yellow-Blooded Sea Cucumber
In the last couple of episodes, we looked at the blue-blooded Antarctic Octopus (In which the blood uses hemocyanin; which is a copper-rich pigment in lieu of hemoglobin to transport oxygen). We also saw the Ocellated Icefish which the blood is devoid of any colour (lacking both the hemoglobin and the hemocyanin). Then, in the last episode, we saw another creature; the Skink: with a green-coloured blood.
But as it were, these are not the only non-red coloured blood we have in the animal kingdom. In this episode, we will be looking at another sexy creature with a non-red blood, and this is the "Sea Cucumber". And yes! These are animals not plants, lol. And they have a characteristic yellow blood.
[Image Source: Pxhere. CC0 Licensed]
Someone could ask: "What is the cause of the yellow coloration in the blood?". Here's the explanation: The blood of this creature has an excessive amount of Vanabin (this is a vanadium-based pigment) which gives the yellow coloration. But as against the hemocyanin and the hemoglobin which have the function of transporting oxygen in the blood, the vanabin does not transport oxygen.
So how does the sea cucumber transport oxygen? Actually, it has the sufficient amount of hemocyanin just to be able to effectively transport oxygen, but the excessive amount of vanabin overrides the blue colour of the hemocyanin. This is the reason the blood appears yellow.
Here's a very quick tip for you before I wrap up: Sea cucumbers can regenerate body parts when cut, and some of them can transform their sexes in the course of their lifetime.
Wanna know more about the yellow blood coloration in sea cucumber, click here.
Okay buddies, this is the summary of some of the lessons I learnt for the week. And until I come your way again, don't stop learning. 
Thanks for reading
References for further reading
All images are CC0 Licensed and are linked to their source
