This could save your life!

A very happy Chinese New Year to all my readers!

It's the third day of the Chinese New year, and a short trivia for those who don't know about chinese new year, there is a total of 15 days for our new year celebration! So there's a lot more celebrating to do!

But. Today's trivia shall not be on CNY. Instead, I was reminded on this special day, something my late grandfather told me. Something that could very well save someone's life one day. ^^

My late grandfather was a taxi driver and he once told me that if the car I was driving ever had a faulty brake, one way to stop the vehicle would be to immediately keep changing the gear randomly and quickly. A car on manual gear would stall if the gear kept changing randomly and by stalling your car, you stop it without ever needing brakes.

There you go. Keep this piece of info in your mind and who knows, one day it might just save your life!

Now some of you may ask, what about cars that are on automatic gear?? Well... I don't know. I guess you *could* try to put it in reverse gear and pray hard that it works, though I've never tried it myself. Hey. I don't have a licence you know. *wink*

The lowdown on hymen.

Since a reader of this blog asked me to write about the hymen, I decided to give you readers a little trivia about the hymen.

According to cool nurse:

During the early stages of fetal development there is no opening into the vagina at all. The thin layer of tissue that conceals the vagina at this time usually divides incompletely prior to birth, forming the hymen. The size and shape of this opening (or openings) varies greatly from person to person.

Sometimes this formation of an opening does not occur, resulting in an imperforated hymen (it lacks the more common opening).

It has been long thought that if a girl is a virgin, then during her wedding night, her hymen will break and she will then bleed. Many women, even now, are expected to bleed on their wedding night to proof their virginity and when they don't they face shame and humiliation.

But the truth is, whether a girl bleeds on her wedding night doesn't prove anything at all!

It is a proven medical truth that some females are simply not born with a hymen, since all the tissues had divided completely while they were still in the womb.

And if the woman is active in sports, her hymen could tear naturally. Apart from that, once she menstruates or when she uses a tampon, the hymen could break too.

For some females, the hymen may be very small or elastic and that means that they could be pregnant even if their hymen is still intact. In fact, the remnants of the hymen are usually still present until a women delivers her baby vaginally.

Of course, everyone's different. So gauging a person's virginity via this myth on the hymen is simply bullocks. =p Spread the word!

to Den: I hope this post helped you with your question. The other two topics are actually too medical for this trivia blog. So, I shall just post a couple of good sites for you to look at, and hopefully it'll help explain your questions. ^^

On dermoid cysts : [1] ; [2]

On parthenogenesis : [1] ; [2]

And yes, you asked about the purpose of the hymen... Well, from what I gather, there isn't any purpose. It's just something left over from fetal development. Correct me if i'm wrong. =)

Aluminum foils and microwaves

I have been wondering why pple keep telling me that aluminum foils cannot be use in microwaves. So i decided to find out.

I found an association called the European Aluminium foil Association, (dun laugh i'm serious!) and here's wat it says abt aluminum foils in microwave:

A prime benefit of aluminum foil containers is consumer convenience. Warming, cooking, baking, grilling or steaming can be done without complication using any of the domestic types of cooking equipment available. Independent research in the UK has confirmed the findings of several other test programmes conducted over several years.

These have demonstrated that, as long as simple guidelines are followed, shallow foil containers can be used safely and beneficially in microwave ovens.

Combination microwave/grill ovens are increasingly popular. It follows that the use of foil containers, which offer critical performance benefits in both methods of heating, will be increasingly seen as the natural packaging choice for foods requiring cooking or re-heating.

Making the best use of microwave ovens

Shallow containers can be used safely in a microwave oven, and better-cooked results can be obtained.

The microwave guidelines are: The aluminum foil must not touch other metal, such as a metal turntable, the oven sides, or another container.

Use containers singly, and place on an ceramic plate if the turntable is metal.

Microwave energy cannot pass through metal, therefore remove board lids lined with foil and, where appropriate, use a suitable cover such as microwave film or a plate.

Microwave energy only enters food from the top, so use shallow trays only, and ensure they are at least two thirds full.

Heat food for slightly longer than usual, and ensure that it is piping hot before serving. Thanks to the excellent heat conductivity of aluminum, many foods heat more evenly in foil containers, but where appropriate foods should be stirred as usual.

So, if you are careful, you can use aluminum foils in the microwave.

Another trivia on aluminum foils: the shiny and dull side - which is better?

Well, as someone who have studied physics, I've always thought that the shiny side is better. But apparently, the difference in the two sides is only due to the manufacturing process and actually, neither side is especially better than the other. However, since the shiny side is a better reflector of heat, it might still be a good idea to wrap food that you want to cook shiny side in. And if you want to refrigerate something, wrapping it with dull side in would be a better choice.

But there's one exception. Those who actually buy non-stick aluminum foils should always wrap their food dull side in. This is because the dull side happens to be the non-stick side. ^^