Being excess may promote cell revolt - a Hypothesis!

This following article points to the fact that one should not be excess and cross his limits in everything:
Body cells really tolerate your excesses. Most of the time your body corrects the altered chemistry due to that. And the body cells are satisfied with this correction and oblige to work as before with this satisfaction inside your body. But when these excesses become more and more, some of the cells revolt against getting the compromised supply of nutrition that results by such excesses.

Camphor, that lights up bright God's face!

A white round sweet-like substance that smells pleasant and strong to the nose shall attract definitely any child towards it. When it is lighted up, its flame also attracts the child to touch it - but its heat makes the child to retract its hand back! It is our Camphor ('Karpooram' or 'Soodum' in Tamil).

Delicacy for man and the microbe, the Agar-Agar!

Kids in 1970s enjoyed their summer holidays freed from the school classes and exams. I enjoyed a vacation by doing a small business :) I bought a few grams of a white substance from the mall, ground it into powder; soaked it overnight in a plate full of water. At morning I was delighted to see the plate full of a jelly-like delicacy. I added colourant and sugar to it and then, the delicacy was ready for sales to the boys and girls! What is that substance that I used?

Aromatic repellant, the Mothballs!

In my childhood, one object drew my attention much by its smell! Even at these present days I could smell and detect its presence in any other materials that had contact with it: we can detect it by its characteristic aromatic odour - even when this odour is present in its lowest concentration! This object is white and round; and is commonly seen in households. It is nothing but our Mothball. Its content chemical is either Naphthalene or Para-dichlorobenzene. Its Tamil names are 'Mannenaikundu', 'Patchaa urundai', 'Anthurundai'.

Liquid metal - the element Mercury!

When I was a school student, I applied a drop of (metal) mercury on the (metal) lead found on the joint of a divider instrument of my geometry box. A greyish white material resembling holy ash kept on coming out from it like in a magic show; even when I wiped it off it continued its coming out! This is the Amalgam that is formed by such dissolving of Lead element (Pb) in Mercury element (Hg).

Colour the skies with Fireworks!

Each morning as it dawns, we see different colours displayed by Nature before our eyes. But at night's darkness we don't see anything colourful around us. But we can get here our environment coloured, and get also our skies coloured - by using Fireworks! (Pyrotechnics). Attracted by the colours produced by the fireworks, I tried some experiments myself then as a school student.

Anting, a tactic in birds!

I have seen birds fall down to the ground, stretch out their wings and fight with each other for territorial claims. Yet there are some birds that do this wing stretching solitary. It is not their sun-bathing or an act to catch their prey. But it is a tactic called as Anting.

The mighty Borosilicate Glass!

While doing certain household experiments as a school boy, I was shocked in two incidents to see my experimenting work spoiled. First one occurred when the glass bottle in which I had poured hot water broke down and the other one when I poured water in a hot glass bottle ('Horlicks bottle', as it was called then) - it cracked and fell down in pieces! My efforts to set up a 'home laboratory' was thus shattered!

Smell here the aromatic Sweet Basil!

In my school age days I was sent by my sister to buy Sabza seeds at groceries shop. She used the seeds to reduce her body heat. She soaked them in water overnight before drinking it on the next morning. I used to peep into the tumbler to see the wonder that the water in it had disappeared and that the seeds then had a white mucilaginous covering. The seeds also became sliding on the tongue and palate! I later found that these seeds are that of the Sweet Basil (Ocimum basilicum, 'Thiruneetrupatchai' or 'Karunthulasi' in Tamil).

Rabbits take yucky for health!

In Nature everything is happening with an inner meaning or intention. It may look absurd and dirty. But in animals it is done for goodness - the health. I refer here to Coprophagy, the act of taking one's own faeces. For example, Rabbit (Sylvilagus floridanus, 'Muyal' in Tamil) does this!

Animals living without Oxygen!

For any living animal Oxygen is the basic requirement. Without Oxygen there will be no life in it. Recently there was a news about the discovery of creatures living about 3.5 kilometers under the Mediterranean Sea where there is no Oxygen at all!

Garden in glass jar - Silica Garden!

Whatever present in the Nature is mimicked, it will wonder us, is it not? A garden with colorful trees present inside a glass jar(!) is the wonder here - the Chemical garden or the Silica garden! This jar contains a solution of Sodium silicate (common name: Water glass). Inside it small crystals of various metallic salts are placed. Then the colorful trees start to grow instantly and visibly in minutes!

Microbes hosted by generations of Termites and Man!

Usually we think that microbes are harmful and that they impair our health. But here is an example for their good beneficial work without which our Termite (Mastotermes darwinensis) cannot live at all! Protozoan (Trichonympha) and other Microbes live in the guts of these termites and aid in the digestion of Cellulose of plant materials by secreting out the enzyme, Cellulase - to release energy from it! (Note here the fact that humans are also weak to digest cellulose!).

Wasps paint walls with antibiotics!

In the past, man grew fungus and found out that it produced a substance that killed other disease - producing germs. It is the science about the production of Penicillin from the fungus, Penicillium notatum. But in the remote past millions of years ago wasps had found this fact and used this technique in protecting their developing offspring, the larvae! Yes, the Beewolf wasps (Philanthus crabroniformis) produce a cocktail of antibacterial substances from Streptomyces since ages.

Chemical wonder in Pharaoh's Serpent!

In 1960s during festivals an exciting firework was lit to the amazement of children. It is a small black tablet that gave out a snake-like thing amidst smoke, when it was lit. This black snake (Pharaoh's Snake, 'Paamboo maathirai' in Tamil) entertained children as it 'grew' out

Insects evolving to the world of fame!

Curious creatures are these ants, bees, wasps and termites. In and near every household of the world we meet one or more of them at any given time. All these come under one Order, Hymenoptera. There are much similarities than some dissimilarities among them. They are mostly social in nature and build colonies for themselves to dwell. Basically, in common (for example, ants) they have Workers, Soldiers, Kings (Drones) and Queens as members in their colonies. The Workers and Soldiers are sterile, wingless and are females; they develop from unfertilized eggs as diploid members. Winged males (kings or drones) are haploid and fertile!

Desiccants protect and preserve!

I had wondered earlier about a small packet found inside the bottle containing Vitamin capsules. It was made of cotton cloth with some sand-like contents inside it. It also bore the printed words: THROW AWAY. DO NOT EAT. It is the Desiccant packet that keeps the bottle

Magic Golden bangles of Chemistry!

In my college Chemistry laboratory there are racks and racks of small reagent bottles containing various chemical solutions. As a curious chemistry student then, I used to see the reactions as when a reagent is added to another one or multiple reagents added to a single one in a test tube. It was really adventurous to note the various chemical reactions taking place - change of color, production of colored solution from colorless one, precipitation of solids as a magic from a solution and colored vapors coming out with specific odors! A wonderful reaction to which one of our lecturers

Fats determine your health!

Consuming fats in excess in any form whether it is oil, animal fat or dairy products, it surely adds the fats to the body increasing its weight. Apart from this fat deposition, the fats are also seen in blood, causing clogging in the blood vessels and hence, blocking the free blood flow to the organs of action such as heart, kidney, brain and muscles etc. This not only impairs the action of these organs but also makes them to strain at work producing all the illnesses such as Heart attack and Stroke. There are many types of fats among which some are good to the health and others are not - bad. From where do they come into the body?

Saturated fatty acids:Dairy products, Lard, Butter, Coconut oil, Palm oil, Chocolates .... Bad, when you take routinely.
Poly unsaturated fatty acids - cis (PUFA): Sunflower oil, Safflower oil, Fish oil .... Good.
Poly unsaturated fatty acids - trans (Transfats): Artificially hydrogenated oils - Margarine .... Bad.
Mono saturated fatty acids: Nuts, Olive oil, Groundnut oil, Sesame oil .... Good.
Triglycerides: Coconut oil, Palm oil, Animal fats .... Bad, if these raise this fat to 150 mg/dL and above in blood.
Low density Lipoprotein (LDL): Animal fats, Plant oils, Chocolates, Margarine .... Bad, if LDL is 100 mg/dL & above.
High density Lipoprotein (HDL): Fish oil, Sunflower oil, safflower oil ... Good, if HDL is 60 mg/dL and above.
Cholesterol: Animal fats, Cheese, Egg yolk, Chocolates, Palm oil, Coconut oil .... Bad, if it is 240 mg/dL and above.

In addition to choosing the good and the best fat diet for the prevention of Heart disease and the Stroke, we should also add the following:
1) Doing Aerobic exercises
2) Taking Anti-oxidants
3) Weight losing

Let us live a wonderful and healthy life by lowering these fats in our diet, and the body!

Laminated Glass prevents injury!

Each time a glass cup or a plate is broken into pieces I take care that these do not injure the person handling them to dispose off. Still I see persons getting glass piece pricks into their feet as they walk on the rural roads. Nowadays there is also a change: I see smaller, regular and similar glass pieces (that resemble large sugarcane crystals) lying on the road when there is an accident, or on the fight scene in movie pictures! These pieces come out of Laminated Safety Glass (also called Automotive Glass). This special glass is a toughened and high strength glass. When shattered it holds together its broken pieces. It also prevents itself from breaking down into large sharp pieces even when it falls down from a height. Inside this glass there is an interlayer of Polyvinyl butyral (PVP). When it is broken the two outer layers of (broken) glass sheets are kept bonded only by this inner layer!

It is a wonder glass that doesn’t injure any one even when it is broken – unlike our heart!