Lunar Eclipse Night, Sat 10/12

 

Great way to chill n' watch in the last month of the year.

Dinosaur Pancakes!

A dear friend suggested that if I thought guinea pigs are unusually discordant for an animal of their size and cuteness, perhaps I should hear how a fennec fox sounds like.

The standard answer to the standard (sometimes annoying) question.

Jim_Clemente: Actually, that is an issue I have discussed with the writers many times. It is why we changed the name of the drug we mentioned in Big Sea to Trilimide ( a made up drug). We do not want to give potential offenders any new ideas. Also, the kinds of things we focus on in the show are Behaviors that are intrinsic to that particular person. They are not the kinds of things they can change on a whim. Other shows may do that, but we stay away from forensics on Criminal Minds... Deliberately.

Via Criminal Minds Fanatic Blog

Explains why spending the past 5+ hours Googling and consulting a biomedical friend on 'trilimide' came up with nothing.

A real-life drug which actually fits the bill however is a type of anticholinergic known as scopolamine. Like 'trilimide', the drug's most common use is to allay motion sickness. There are records of scopolamine also being used to reduce parkinsonian tremors, uveitis and iritis (both inflammation of the eye).

Further Google searches cement the fact that the CM writers probably based their fictional 'trilimide' on  Colombia's 'Devil Breath' or burundanga. Burundanga is a street version of scopolamine which became a hot topic of chain e-mail rumors/hoaxes/urban legends a few years back, as duly noted by Snopes and Hoax-slayer. Victims often come in contact with the drug through ingestion or inhalation (when the drug is blown into the face). There are texts (my biomedical friend's textbooks really) which states that the drugs are even well-absorbed in the conjunctival (eye) membrane. Nasal insufflation itself already allows a faster onset of effect as compared to ingestion. Therefore, victims are treated to a double whammy of burundanga absorption. There's a video was made by VBS TV on burundanga :



The zombielike effects of the burundanga is often debatable (as is the problem with exaggeration when it comes to lurid horror urban legends). A consistent thread to victims' accounts is memory loss. Scopolamine is in fact an antagonist for the neurotransmitter acetycholine (Ach). Ach is vital in movement regulation (which explains scopolamine's use in movement disorders) and learning and short-term memory. Thus, inhibiting Ach affects the victim's ability to recall events at the point of drug assimilation into the body system.

Other known side effects of scopolamine are drowsiness (in recommended dosages) and amnesia (in sensitive individuals). At toxic doses, poisoned individuals could exhibit dry mouth, mydriasis (blurred vision), tachycardia, hot and flushed skin, agitation, delirium - as shown in the adage 'dry as a bone, blind as a bat, red as a beet, mad as a hatter'. Severe side effects include confusion, difficulty urinating, fast or irregular heartbeat, hallucinations, disorientation, mood or mental changes, trouble speaking and severe drowsiness. It is easy to see how bystanders might interpret several of these symptoms together as 'zombielike'.

The question remains if scopolamine actually makes one more vulnerable to suggestion. So far, I couldn't find any confirmation how the drug's mechanism of action would cause victims to be more likely to consent to a criminal's commands. After all, Ach inhibition should only affect the storage of new memories. There is still the possibility however that scopolamine affects the brain in other ways other than blocking acetylcholine.

Interestingly, scopolamine has actually been used as a truth serum in the past.

Exams hangover and holiday blues

Why do sitting for two hours staring at exam papers always make me feel so HUNGRY?









Glucose overconsumption by the brain. Refuel, refuel, refuel...

Is it wrong to be so excited to see Dr. Simon Baron-Cohen on television?

Just because my psych textbook doesn't show his picture.

BBC - Colony of Flying Penguins

BBC, the world's biggest prankster.

In Scotland, April Fool's Day (traditionally known as Hunt-the-Gowk Day), is in fact celebrated for two days - April 1 and 2.

Kinda wish I lived in Scotland.

World's Greatest April Fool prank.

Spaghetti trees, and Switzerland!

BBC, 1957.

For the original footage:

Today's April Fools Day!

Oh yes yes yes yes yes yes!

100% cannot believe whatever I hear today.

Superb. Whacked the flu bug off, felt a 100x better than before, and warm sun greeting me through my window.

Still have a cough, but yeah, at least I could walk and jump and dance myself silly.

When trimming your own hair = butchering your own hair.

Midway, wielding the scissors like Texas Barber Massacre.

You can tell it is a drastic haircut when someone you know goes "You CUT your HAIR!"

Just realized one side of my head looks like Sid Vicious, the other Abraham Lincoln-sans-beard. The back of my skull...I dunno. An unkempt lawn trodden on by 20 Rottweilers maybe?

On a bright note, at least I didn't cut off my arm or leg. Those would be rather hard to grow back.

It's raining cats, dogs, buckets and boulders...but guess what? I'm getting drenched and it's the best day of the week so far.

Edible crayons. Courtesy of Luxirare.

Contains three common ingredients: chocolate-covered sunflower seeds, fruity pebbles based on color and melted marshmallow.

Each crayon has their own unique medley of food bits, where flavor is based upon color.

Food coloring added to enhance color.

And they work!

Yesyesyes, want one!

I love playing with my food.

I'm slightly vexed that almost everyone here about my age wears flip flops or sandals. Where's the socks?