Archive for the 'What is...?' category
7 Essential Body Language Tips
Sunday, January 14, 2007 1:50 am
The secrets of our body language have been around forever yet people constantly fail to recognize the importance of using body language to their advantage. Did you know that people only pay attention to 7% of what we say? Where does the rest of their attention go? You guessed it right: our body language. Now let me give my 7 BLT’s so that you can use your body language much more efficiently when interacting with people.
1- Always look at someone directly in their eyes when they are speaking to you. This may seem difficult at first but it’s definitely the #1 body language ingredient to make you successful when interacting with others. Note: Do not ever stare at someone.
2- Always stand up straight. You never want to slouch. Not only does this make you appear shorter but it projects an image of someone who has low self-esteem.
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Categories: Misc Madness, Deep Thoughts, What is...?
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What is a Laugh Track?
Saturday, January 13, 2007 2:44 pm
A laugh track, sometimes called canned laughter by critics, is a collection of pre-recorded audience laughs and applause sounds added to television programs during post-production. A laugh track’s main purpose is to trigger a response from home viewers who may not understand all of the intended humor during a taped sitcom. The belief is that laughter creates laughter, so a laugh track supplements natural reactions to a set-up and punchline. Some television producers call this practice sweetening the track.
The first known use of a recorded laugh track is said to be in 1950, when the producers of the Hank McCune Show added canned laughter after the show’s taping. Until that time, other radio and television comedies either used a live studio audience or no laugh track at all. In 1953, a sound engineer named Charley Douglass invented the Laff Box, a small electronic device containing numerous loops of recorded laughter and applause. The Laff Box provided a laugh track for numerous sitcoms and talk shows during the 1950s and 1960s.
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Categories: Misc Madness, What is...?
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What is the Hypothalamus?
Thursday, January 11, 2007 3:16 amThe hypothalamus is the small cone-shaped structure within the brain that plays a central role in controlling our autonomous nervous system (ANS), responsible for regulating homeostatic metabolic processes in the body.
Examples of homeostatic processes include sleeping, eating, thirst, blood pressure, body temperature, and electrolyte balance. The hypothalamus is located under the thalamus, one of the most evolutionarily ancient parts of the human brain, which is located directly at its center. Being as old as it is, the hypothalamus is a brain region possessed by birds, reptiles, and mammals alike, though the structure of the hypothalamus in mammals is more complex than hypothalamuses in reptiles and birds.
The hypothalamus controls the nervous system by synthesizing and releasing neurohormones at regular intervals. Different neurohormones represent distinct signals to the rest of the nervous system. The hypothalamus serves as an interface between the limbic system, endocrine system, and the autonomous nervous system. One well-known hormone released by the hypothalamus is oxytocin, known to play a role in both romantic love and female lactation.
Communicating with the autonomous nervous system via neural signals and the endocrine system via endocrine signals (chemical signals which travel through the bloodstream), the hypothalamus is an axis around which a variety of complex systems within mammals evolved.
Conceptually speaking, the main purpose of the hypothalamus within humans and other mammals is to preserve the appropriate metabolic atmosphere necessary for everything else within the mammalian body to function. Unlike cold-blooded animals such as reptiles, mammalian bodies constantly maintain a strict set of metabolic conditions separating the internal chemistry of the animal from the external chemistry of the surrounding world. Because the hypothalamus is so evolutionarily old, it has had much time to be fine-tuned by the ongoing process of natural selection. Thus, hypothalamic disorders usually come from brain tumors rather than being present from birth (since hypothalamic disorders so severely curtail an organism’s ability to reproduce, most inborn disorders of a hypothalamic nature have already been selected out of the gene pool).
Categories: Misc Madness, What is...?
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What is the Mesothelium?
Monday, December 11, 2006 3:06 amThe mesothelium and its associated cancerous condition, mesothelioma, is relatively unknown by most people. It is most often found in men, but sometimes in women.
The mesothelium is the membrane that lines three of the body’s cavities: the pleura or thoracic cavity; the peritoneum or abdominal cavity; and the pericardium or heart sac. Mesothelial tissue is also found in the male internal reproductive organs and it covers the internal reproductive organs in women.
The mesothelium comes from the mesoderm cell layer that lines the body cavity in the embryonic state. It becomes the layer of cells that covers and protects our internal organs. The mesothelium has two layers of cells. The first layer immediately surrounds the organ and the second layer is the sac that surrounds the cavity.
The mesothelium produces a lubricating fluid that is released between the two layers, allowing moving organs, such as the beating heart, the expanding lungs and the active intestine, to glide easily within the body cavity.
Mesothelioma is a cancerous disease in which cells of the mesothelium become abnormal and divide without control. They can invade and damage nearby tissues and organs and the cancer cells can also spread from their original site to other parts of the body. Most cases of mesothelioma begin in the peritoneal cavity. Mesothelioma is linked to asbestos exposure and smoking.
Early symptoms of mesothelioma are generally non-specific, and may lead to a delay in diagnosis. Sometimes resembling viral pneumonia, mesothelioma patients who have the disease in their lungs may complain of shortness of breath, chest pain or persistent cough. Some patients don’t have any symptoms at all. Symptoms for peritoneal mesothelioma can include pain or swelling in the abdomen, weight loss, bowel obstruction, anemia, or swelling of the feet.
Remember that only a doctor can make an exact diagnosis. Sometimes, the symptoms for mesothelioma are very similar to less serious conditions, so it is imperative that you discuss your symptoms with a physician.
Categories: Misc Madness, Weird Shit, Urban Dictionary, What is...?
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