Can a Hypnotist Control You?

One day you’re at the mall. A stage has been set up, and a hypnotist is asking for volunteers from the audience. He is going to put on a show. Soon, through the magic of hypnosis, some guy is convinced that he is JFK…“My fellow Americans”…Nice accent! Meanwhile, a woman is busy clucking like a chicken and flapping her elbows back and forth just off the stage. Wow! This is powerful stuff. All you want is some help quitting smoking, so you decide to look the hypnotist up in the yellow pages.

You make an appointment, but it turns out that the only thing this demented hypnotist does is play practical jokes and control your actions. He commands that after leaving your trance, every time you hear a phone ring, you will start singing “Another One Bites the Dust,” just like Freddie Mercury. This turns out to be problematic because you work at a funeral home. Could this nightmare really happen?

No, it is complete fiction that a hypnotist could ever force you to do anything you didn’t really want to do. You never lose your sense of values or safety or sensitivity during hypnosis. It just doesn’t work that way. If the experience is not consensual, then hypnosis cannot actually occur. It is possible (although unlikely) that the people imitating dead presidents and chickens were really under hypnosis and were, therefore, more suggestible. But, participants will never do anything they do not really want to do; they did intend to entertain you.

Hypnosis is nothing mystical or scary or dangerous. It is simply the combination of relaxation and focused attention. During hypnosis, you actually lose yourself in the moment or in an activity or even through seriously observing something. So, lots of activities are actually forms of hypnosis. This includes listening to music, reading, and watching television or movies. Similarly, driving or even mowing the lawn can be considered forms of hypnosis as well.

So, can hypnotism actually help solve peoples’ problems? Well, according to Neal Roese, Ph.D. and Associate Professor in the University of Illinois Department of Psychology, “psychologists use experimental methods to test the effectiveness of different treatments. Whatever ailment you look at, from quitting smoking to depression, there are several vastly more effective treatments available today than hypnosis. The published evidence for the effectiveness of hypnosis is remarkably weak, especially when placed alongside other kinds of treatments.”

Does hypnosis have any value at all? Certainly it does. Just like listening to a certain jazz album can really relax you after a long, stressful day (and may even help rid you of a headache,) hypnosis in any form, can be a valuable treatment for stress. Another valuable treatment for stress is watching hypnotist shows (whether they’re real or staged,) because they’re quite entertaining. I’ll never forget the one I saw as a kid at the mall. The guy really did sound like JFK.

Is a tomato a fruit?

Is a tomato a vegetable, or is it really a fruit? It seems like a simple question, but it turns out that there is quite a bit to consider. The correct answer depends upon whom you ask…

If you ask a botanist…

He or she will tell you that a tomato is a fruit. Anything with a ripened, mature ovary containing a seed or seeds is technically a fruit. By this definition, pumpkins, peppers, and even eggplants are also fruits. If you look "tomato" up in the dictionary or on Dictionary.com, you will probably also find it defined as a fruit.

But, horticulturally speaking…

The tomato plant, itself, is classified as a vegetable. It is an annual as opposed to a perennial woody plant or a tree from where most of the things we consider fruits such as apples, cherries, and oranges come.

And, according to the federal government…

The tomato also seems to be considered a vegetable. In 1893 the U.S. Supreme Court actually ruled in the case of Nix v. Hedden that the tomato is a vegetable (at least, that is, within the meaning of the Tariff Act of 1883.) You see tariffs had been placed on vegetables, and domestic growers of tomatoes wanted the same import taxes to apply to tomatoes that applied to other vegetables coming into the country.

The Supreme Court agreed, and Justice Gray declared, "Botanically speaking, tomatoes are the fruit of a vine, just as are cucumbers, squashes, beans, and peas. But in the common language of the people, whether sellers or consumers of provisions, all these are vegetables which are grown in kitchen gardens, and which, whether eaten cooked or raw, are, like potatoes, carrots, parsnips, turnips, beets, cauliflower, cabbage, celery, and lettuce, usually served at dinner in, with, or after the soup, fish, or meats which constitute the principal part of the repast, and not, like fruits generally, as dessert."

Perhaps this ruling and its explanation are why the FDA categorizes tomato juice with vegetable juices. People just seem to consider tomatoes to be vegetables, even if they are technically fruit. When you go to the grocery store, you don’t generally find tomatoes next to the apples and bananas. Instead, they are placed with other vegetables.

Maybe it’s actually all about salt…

You might be tempted to put salt on a tomato or on cucumber slices or green beans for that matter. These items are all technically fruits, but we treat them like vegetables. You would never think of putting salt on raw fruit like oranges or strawberries. I guess this is why our cooks, our stores, and even our courts consider tomatoes to be vegetables even though technically they are not.

from:http://factorfictionblog.com/2008/01/29/is-a-tomato-a-fruit.aspx

Tentang Buang Angin (fact or fiction???)

Alkisah menurut seorang ilmuwan yang mengadakan penelitian tentang kentut mengatakan, Kita jangan cuma tahu bau dan suaranya saja, (tetapi juga hakekatnya)

1. Dari mana asal kentut?

Dari gas dalam usus. Gas dalam usus berasal dari udara yg kita telan, gas yang menerobos ke usus dari darah, gas dari reaksi kimia & gas dari bakteria dalam perut.

2. Apa komposisi kentut?

Bervariasi. Makin banyak udara anda telan, makin banyak kadar nitrogen dalam kentut (oksigen dari udara terabsorbsi oleh tubuh sebelum sampai di usus). Adanya bakteria serta reaksi kimia antara asam perut & cairan usus menghasilkan karbondioksida.

Bakteria juga menghasilkan metana & hidrogen. Proporsi masing-masing gas tergantung apa yang anda makan, berapa banyak udara tertelan, jenis bakteria dalam usus, berapa lama kita menahan kentut. Makin lama menahan kentut, makin besar proporsi nitrogen, karena gas-gas lain terabsorbsi oleh darah melalui dinding usus.

Orang yang makannya tergesa-gesa kadar oksigen dalam kentut lebih banyak karena tubuhnya tidak sempat mengabsorbsi oksigen.

3. Kenapa kentut berbau busuk?

Bau kentut karena kandungan hidrogen sulfida & merkaptan. Kedua senyawa ini mengandung sulfur (belerang). Makin banyak kandungan sulfur dalam makanan anda, makin banyak sulfida & merkaptan diproduksi oleh bakteri dalam perut, & makin busuklah kentut anda.

Telur & daging punya peran besar dalam memproduksi bau busuk kentut. Kacang- kacangan berperan dalam memproduksi volume kentut, bukan dalam kebusukannya.

4. Kenapa kentut menimbulkan bunyi?

Karena adanya vibrasi lubang anus saat kentut diproduksi. Kerasnya bunyi tergantung pada kecepatan gas.

5. Kenapa kentut yg busuk itu hangat & tidak bersuara?

Salah satu sumber kentut adalah bakteri. Fermentasi bakteri & proses pencernaan memproduksi panas, hasil sampingnya adalah gas busuk. Ukuran gelembung gas lebih kecil, hangat & jenuh dengan produk metabolisme bakteria yg berbau busuk. Ini kemudian menjadi kentut, walau hanya kecil volumenya,tapi SBD (Silent But Deadly)

6. Berapa banyak kentut diproduksi sehari?

Rata-rata setengah liter sehari dalam 14 kali kentut.

7. Mengapa kentut keluar melalui lubang dubur?

Karena density-nya lebih ringan, kenapa gas kentut tidak melakukan perjalanan ke atas? Tidak demikian. Gerak peristaltik usus mendorong isinya ke arah bawah. Tekanan di sekitar anus lebih rendah.

Gerak peristaltik usus menjadikan ruang menjadi bertekanan, sehingga memaksa isi usus, termasuk gas-nya untuk bergerak ke kawasan yg bertekanan lebih rendah, yaitu sekitar anus. Dalam perjalanan ke arah anus, gelembung-gelembung kecil bergabung jadi gelembung besar.

Kalau tidak ada gerak peristaltik, gelembung gas akan menerobos ke atas lagi, tapi tidak terlalu jauh, karena bentuk usus yg rumit & berbelit-belit.

8. Berapa waktu yang diperlukan oleh kentut untuk melakukan perjalanan ke hidung

orang lain?

Tergantung kondisi udara, seperti kelembaban, suhu, kecepatan & arah angin, berat molekul gas kentut, jarak antara ‘transmitter’ dengan ‘receiver. Begitu meninggalkan sumbernya, gas kentut menyebar & konsentrasinya berkurang.

Kalau kentut tidak terdeteksi dalam beberapa detik, berarti mengalami pengenceran di udara & hilang ditelan udara selama-lamanya. Kecuali kalau anda kentut di ruang sempit, seperti lift, mobil, konsentrasinya lebih banyak, sehingga baunya akan tinggal dalam waktu lama sampai akhirnya diserap dinding.

9. Apakah setiap orang kentut?

Sudah pasti, kalau masih hidup. Sesaat setelah meninggalpun orang masih bisa kentut.

10. Betulkah laki-laki kentut lebih sering daripada perempuan?

Tidak ada kaitannya dengan gender. Kalau benar, berarti perempuan menahan

kentutnya, & saat kentut banyak sekali jumlah yg dikeluarkan.

11. Saat apa biasanya orang kentut?

Pagi hari di toilet. yang disebut “morning thunder”. Kalau resonansinya bagus, boleh kedengaran di seluruh penjuru rumah.

12. Mengapa makan kacang-kacang menyebabkan banyak kentut?

Kacang-kacang mengandung zat gula yg tidak bisa dicerna tubuh. Gula tsb (raffinose, stachiose, verbascose) jika mencapai usus, bakteri di usus langsung berpesta pora & membuat banyak gas. Jagung, kubis, susu juga penyebab banyak kentut (bukan baunya!).

13. Selain makanan, apa saja penyebab kentut?

Udara yang tertelan, makan terburu-buru, makan tanpa dikunyah, minum soft drink, naik pesawat udara (karena tekanan udara lebih rendah, sehingga gas di dalam usus mengalami ekspansi & muncul sebagai kentut).

14. Apakah kentut sama dengan sendawa, tapi muncul dari lain lubang?

Tidak… sendawa muncul dari perut, komposisi kimianya lain dengan kentut. Sendawa mengandung udara lebih banyak, kentut mengandung gas yang diproduksi oleh bakteri lebih banyak.

15. Kemana perginya gas kentut kalau ditahan tidak dikeluarkan?

Bukan diabsorbsi darah, bukan hilang karena bocor.. Tapi bermigrasi ke bagian atas menuju usus & pada gilirannya akan keluar juga. Jadi bukan lenyap,tapi hanya mengalami penundaan.

16. Mungkinkah kentut terbakar?

Kentut mengandung metana, hidrogen yg combustible (gas alam mengandung komponen ini juga). Kalau terbakar, nyalanya berwarna biru karena kandungan unsur hidrogen.

17. Bisakah menyalakan mancis api dengan kentut?

Jangan mengada-ada…. konsistensinya lain. Juga suhunya tidak cukup panas untuk memulai pembakaran.

18. Mengapa kentut anjing & kucing lebih busuk?

Karena anjing & kucing adalah karnivora (pemakan daging). Daging kaya akan protein. Protein mengandung banyak sulfur, jadi bau kentut binatang ini lebih busuk. Lain dengan herbivor seperti kambing, kuda,gajah, yang memproduksi kentut lebih banyak, lebih lama, lebih keras bunyinya, tapi relatif tidak berbau.

19. Betulkah pening kepala kalau mencium bau kentut 2-3 kali berturut-turut?

Kentut mengandung sedikit oksigen, mungkin sedikit saja anda mengalami pening kepala kalau mencium bau kentut terlalu banyak.

20. Apakah warna kentut?

Tidak berwarna. Kalau warnanya ora nye seperti gas nitrogen oksida, akan ketahuan siapa yang kentut.

21. Apakah kentut itu acid, basa atau neutral?

Acid, karena mengandung karbondioksisa (CO2) & hidrogen sulfida (H2S).

22. Apa yang terjadi kalau seseorang kentut di planet Venus?

Planet Venus sudah banyak mengandung sulfur (belerang) di lapisan udaranya, jadi kentut di sanapun tidak ada pengaruhnya

author: unknown