William A. Whitelaw, a professor in the department of medicine at the University of Calgary, explains what happens during a hiccup:

"A hiccup is not simply a twitch of the diaphragm but a complex motor act. During one, the diaphragm and the complete set of inspiratory muscles (intercostal muscles, neck muscles and others) make a sudden, very strong, contraction. The expiratory muscles are also strongly inhibited. Just after the contraction begins, the glottis (commonly called the vocal cords) clamp shut, making the "hic" sound. Before the diaphragm contracts, the roof of the mouth moves up, as does the back of the tongue, and there is often an associated burp. The heart slows a bit as well. In addition, hiccups are seldom isolated events but tend to recur every few seconds, sometimes for hours." - sciam.com

Coal Ash Is More Radioactive than Nuclear Waste. By burning away all the pesky carbon and other impurities, coal power plants produce heaps of radiation.


http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=coal-ash-is-more-radioactive-than-nuclear-waste

Who knew!! Very interesting, never would have thought that,

pkrause

Me either, pk. And I never guessed babies were hardwired to make social judgements. Look at this:

Your Baby is Watching (and Judging) You
By Meredith F. Small, LiveScience's Human Nature Columnist

posted: 28 December 2007 01:16 pm ET

"Next time the baby shoots you a dirty look, it might not be gas. Instead, the baby might be really disgusted by your behavior. ... "

more at: http://www.livescience.com/history/071228-hn-babies.html

Snake Oil Salesmen Were on to Something

Snake oil really is a cure for what ails you, if that happens to be arthritis, heart disease or maybe even depression - By Cynthia Graber .

read it at: http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=snake-oil-salesmen-knew-something

GOT MILK?: Men have all the necessary equipment to produce milk, and on occasion it can happen.

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=strange-but-true-males-can-lactate

The Top 10 Intelligent Designs (or Creation Myths)

find these top 10 at: http://www.livescience.com/history/top10_intelligent_designs.html

Mind-Bending Therapies

The drugs that put the “psychedelic” into the sixties are now the subject of renewed research interest because of their therapeutic potential.
Psychedelics such as LSD and the compound in magic mushrooms could ease a variety of difficult-to-treat mental illnesses, such as chronic depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and drug or alcohol dependency.
Clinical trials with various substances are now under way in humans.

more: http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=psychedelic-healing

Hot Science Topics Avoided by Presidential Candidates

including such topics as stem-cell research; creationism vs. evolution in public schools

an interesting article here: http://www.livescience.com/history/080103-presidential-cands.html

Why Do Drops of Liquid Form Spheres in Space?
January 4, 2008
Whether water sits in a lake or a glass of water, Earth’s gravity pulls the liquid downward into the shape of the container it’s in.

But in space, gravity’s effects are different. Objects in orbit are indeed affected by gravity, but they are in freefall, moving constantly sideways while falling toward Earth. This renders them effectively weightless.

Up there, surface tension shapes water into spheres. Magnetic-like molecules on water’s surface cause the surface to behave like an elastic skin. Each molecule is pulled with equal tension by its neighbors.
The tight-knit group forms the smallest possible area—a sphere.


- Corey Binns at: http://www.livescience.com/mysteries/080104-llm-space-spheres.html