My blog

Marine Predaror

Thursday, Mar 13, 2008 10:17PM / Standard Entry

     Think"marine predaor" and you immediately think "shark". Now think "predator" with no teeth" and all of a sudden it is not so easy. What about one that has no heart or blood and even lacks a brain ? Jellyfish are unlikely candidates for a predator but what is it about them that each year turns thousands of beach-goers into quiverin wrecks? How can a creature comprising little more than floating stomach and consisting of more than 95% water exist, let alone pose a threat to humans?

     Jellyfish evolved in the late Pre-Cambran era, more than 650m years ago, and were probably the first true multi-cellular organismms. These primitive creatures are among the most fascinating,and diadly,on Earth. Though sharing few external similarities, they are related to corals and anemones.The come in al shapes and shades and can range in size form a mere 12mm.to a mighty two meters.

     Seventy of the 250 species of true jellies, are known to be harmful to humans and the secret of their success lies in the form of stinging tentacles thatacles that trail from the adult's umbrella-like body.These tentacles form an effective defense as well as making inside whichi hides a long, coiled thread, variously armed with spines, hooks or barbs. When stimulated, the thread is catapulted,variously armed with hundreds of stinging cells, inside which hides a long, coiled thread,variously armed with spines, hooks or barbs,poisonous but those that injict their victim with a potent neurotoxin that can cause muscle paralysis, light-headedness,and even death in humans.

    The injected poison can couse death within three minutes bu shock to the heart,complete circulatory failure and respiratory paralusis. Dr. Peter Fenner, an expert on Box jellies estimates that :"There are approximately 20-50 deaths every year in the Philippines alone due to stings.Others occur but exactly how many we will never know." A further 10,000 people are stung but survive the encounter.

1 comment–  Add a comment
THE POLICEMAN

Tuesday, Mar 11, 2008 8:57PM / Standard Entry

Real policemen hardly recognize any resemblance between their lives and what they see on TV.

The first difference is that a policeman’s real life revoves round criminal law. He has to know exactly what actions are crimes and what evidence can be ysed to prove them in court.He has to know nearly as much law sa a professional lawyer, and what is more, he has to apply it on his feet,in the dark and rain ,running down a street after someone he wans to talk to .

Little of his time is spent in chating. He will spend most of his working life typing millions of words on thousands of forms about hundreds of sad, unimportant people who are guilty of stupid,petty crimes.

Most television crme drama is about finding the criminals is seldom much of a problem. Except in very serious cases like murders and terrorist attacks litte effort is spend on searching.

Having made an arrest ,a detective really starts to work.. He has to prove his case in court and to do that he often has to gather a lot of different evidence.

A third big differece between the drama detective and te teal one is the unpleasant pressure: firstm as members of a police force they always have to behave absolutely in accordance with the law. Secondly, sa wxpensive public servants they have to get results.They can hardly ever do both. Most of the time some of them have to break the rusults. They can hardly ever do both.Most of the time some of them have to break the rules in small ways.

If the detective has to deceive the world, the word often deceives him. Hardly anyone he meets tells him the truth. And this separation the detective feels between himself and the resr of the world is deepened by the simple-mindedness-as he sees it-of citizens, social workers ,doctors,law-makers,and judges,who, instead of eliminating crime punish the criminals less severely in the hope that this will make them reform. The result, detectives feel, is that nine-tenths of their work is recatching people who should have stayed behind bars. This makes they rather cynical.

1 comment– Add a comment
OUR TEETH----from my books

Tuesday, Mar 11, 2008 8:54PM / Standard Entry

We all have offensive breath at one time or anoher.In most cases,offensive breath emanatesfrom bacteria in the mouth,although there are other,more surprisingcauses.

Until a few years ago,the most doctors could do was to counsel patients with bad breath about oral cleanliness.Now there are finding new ways to treat the usually curable condition.

Bad breath can happen whenever the normal flow of saliva slows.Our mouths are full of bacteria feeding on protein in bits of food and shed tissue.The bacteria emit evil smelling gases,the worst of which is hydrogen sulfide.

Mouth bacteria thrive in airless conditions.Oxyen-rich saliva keeps their numbers down.When we sleep,for example,the saliva stream slows,and sulrue-producing bacteria gain the upper hand,prducing classic“morning breath”.

Alcohol,huger,too much talking,breathing through the mouth during exercise anything that dries the mouth produces bad breath.So can stress,though it’s not understood why. Some people’s breath turns sour every time they go no a job interview.

Salliva flow gradually slows with age,which explains why the elderly have more bad breath trouble than youger people do. Babies,however,who make plenty of saliva and whose mouths contain relatively few bacteria have characteristically sweet breath.

For most of us,the simple,dry-mouth variety of bad breath is easily cured. Eating or drinking starts saliva and sweeps away many of the bacterria.Breakfast ofen stops morning breath.

Those with chronic dry mouth find that it helps to keep gun, hard candy, or a bottle of water or juice around.Brushing the teeth wipes out dry mouth bad breath because it clears away many of the offending bactria.

Surprisingly, one thing that rarely works is mouth wash. The liquid can mask bad-breath odor with its own smell, but the effect lasts no more than an hour. Some mouth washes claim to kill the bacteria responsible for bad breath. The trouble is, they don’t wash under thick layers of mucus. If the mouthwash contains alcohol-as most do-it can intensify the problem by drying out the mouth.

Add a comment