sooo why am i not in med school?

[via globalhealth.stanford.edu]

.....oh yeah, because i hate needles.

and, ok, sometimes blood makes me queasy.

but what got me started on this is something i've come to realize:

i am in love with the human body

it fascinates me!

seriously, we are walking miracles

i love learning about it

talking about it

etc etc etc

i've recently gotten in the habit of googling things as soon as i get curious about them

you know all those things you say "i wonder why..."

well, i started finding some answers

here's a couple tidbits i learned this wknd:

1. nasal cycles

turns out you don't breathe equally through both nostrils

at any given time, the majority of air is passing through just one side

but every hour or so, it switches

the internet called this a "delicate dance"

groove on, olfactories!

2. why are girls colder than boys?

i love this one!

so, how cold you feel is determined by the temperature of your extremities [e.g. hands and feet, etc.]

the answer to the aforementioned question involves blood flow

as females, our bodies know that our core needs to stay warm

our child-bearing organs demand it, if you will

so, most of our blood flow stays around our midsection

thus, it doesn't make it to our hands and feet as well

thus, we feel colder

3. why do kids get more ear infections than adults?

so there's this tube that runs from your ear to your throat

[goes by the name of eustachian]

any unwanted fluid in your ear drains through it and you swallow it

if you get too much fluid in your ear, you get an infection

but if you get sick, sometimes little germs sneak into the tube

thus clogging it

thus preventing drainage

thus causing an ear infection

so why does it happen to kids more?

well, their trusty ol' eustachians are shorter and more horizontal than adults

shorter = easier for germs to clog it up

horizontal = doesn't drain as well

clogging + lack of drainage = ear infections

and there you have it kids!

kind of having a nerdy science day up in here

look out, bill nye!