SAVOR THE COFFEE

Life is like a cup of coffee

 

A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor. Conservation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life. Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups - porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite - telling them to help themselves to the coffee. 

When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said, "If you have noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups have been taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee. In most cases it is just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink. What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups. Now consider this: Life is the coffee. The jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain Life, and the type of cup we have does not define, nor change the quality of life we live. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee. Savor the coffee, not the cups! The happiest people don't have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything."

BE CAREFUL WHILE HAVING COLD

Ice cream headaches 

When you stick something extremely cold in your mouth and eat it quickly such as drinking an ice cold beverage or eating ice cream rapidly, it quickly cools the palate of your mouth. Why this is significant is that there is a nerve centre located just above the back of the roof of your mouth. This nerve centre includes nerve clusters that send signals to the brain about changes in body temperature. When these nerve clusters are rapidly cooled by what you are consuming, they are over stimulated and send the message to the brain that the body just lost a severe amount of heat. This ends up resulting in the rapid contraction of blood vessels in your head. Shortly thereafter, the temperature at the palate of your mouth goes back to normal and the nerve centres signal everything is fine and the blood vessels end up rapidly dilating. This all happens in a matter of few seconds, but the end result of this rapid contraction and dilation of blood vessels is an extreme, sharp pain, often in your temples, forehead or sometimes even your face itself and is referred to as 'ice cream headaches' or 'brain freezes'

DO YOU KNOW

Why newspapers turn yellow over time?

Paper is made from wood, which is made up mainly of white cellulose. Wood also has a lot of a dark substance in it called lignin, which ends up in the paper, too, along with the cellulose. The exposure of lignin to air and sunlight is what turns yellow.

Lignin makes wood stiff and trees stand upright. You can say it acts as a glue to bind the cellulose fibres together. Dr. Hou-Min Chang, a professor of wood and paper science at N.C., compares lignin to the concrete used in buildings, with cellulose as the steel frame. Without lignin, Chang says, a tree could only grow to be about 6 feet tall. Lignin also helps protect the wood from pests and other damage. 

Newsprint, which must be produced as economically as possible, has more lignin in it than finer papers. At the mill, the wood that will be turned into newsprint is ground up, lignin and all. 

Paper manufacturers utilise the benefits of lignin in some types of paper, though. Brown kraft paper, the dark brown paper used in grocery store bags, and cardboard are stiff and sturdy because they have more lignin in them, and because those kinds of paper aren't treated with bleaching chemicals. It doesn’t matter how dark they are because the printing on them is limited. 

To make a fine white paper, the mill puts the wood through a chemical solvent process, which separates and discards the lignin. Pure cellulose is white, and the paper made from it will be white and will resist yellowing. 

Lignin eventually turns paper yellow because of oxidation. That is, the lignin molecules, when exposed to oxygen in the air, begin to change and become less stable. The lignin will absorb more light, giving off a darker colour. If newsprint were kept completely out of sunlight and air, it would remain white. After only a few hours of sunlight and oxygen, however, it will start to change colour. 

AQUATIC ANIMAL

 Sea Pig

Thriving on the deepest ocean floor, Sea Pig behaves much like slugs do on land. They scavenge the ocean floor for any organic material using their tube feet to move them along and using their tentacles to push food into their mouth. The Sea Pig is not an endangered species, but rare to see due to the depths of ocean in which they live. Though they appear to be some sort of slug/pig combination, Sea Pigs are scotoplanes or sea cucumbers belonging to the genus of the deep sea Holothurians.

GLOBAL CELEBRATION OF LAUGHTER

World Laughter Day 😃😂🤣

Everybody knows that laughing feels good, but few realise how valuable these simple tools can be in improving our wellness and wellbeing. Laughter cannot heal or solve anything but it can improve the situation. That’s what World Laughter Day is for!

World Laughter Day is celebrated on the first Sunday of May annually and is a global celebration of laughter, smiling and of all things positive. 

It can be celebrated by anyone, but it is mostly observed in cities where large groups of people gather to laugh together, spread some joy and bond. Laughter is a universal language that brings us all together. World Laughter Day is all about uniting us with the power of fun and laughter. 

History of World Laughter Day: World Laughter Day was founded by Dr. Madan Kataria in Mumbai, India in 1998. Dr. Kataria started the Laughter Yoga movement in 1995 as he understood the positive effects laughing and smiling have on the body. He wanted to spread the message across the globe. Today this message has spread over 70 countries.

The benefits of laughing: We all love to laugh but did you know that laughter has proven to actually improve your health? Here are just a few benefits from having a laugh. 

* Laughter boosts the immune system - It helps to increase infection fighting antibodies which can help combat infection. 

* Laughter relaxes the body and reduces stress - A proper belly laugh can help reduce stress and can relax your muscles.

* Laughter is good for your heart - Laughing can help increase blood flow and improves the functioning of blood vessels which can help protect you against heart attacks. 

* Laughter burns off calories - Laughing for around 10-15 minutes a day can burn off up to 40 calories. 

NATIONAL GAME OF ARGENTINA

Pato

Pato is a sport that has been played for hundreds of years in South America and is considered one of the oldest sports on the continent. It is a unique and exciting sport that combines elements of basketball, polo, and rugby. 

The game is played with two teams of four players each, who ride horses and try to score goals using a ball that has six handles on it. The ball is made of leather and is about the size of a soccer ball. 

The aim of the game is to score goals by throwing the ball through a vertical hoop that is located at each end of the field. The hoops are placed 2.5 metres above the ground and are similar to basketball hoops. 

The game starts with a throw-off, where one team throws the ball into the air, and both teams try to catch it. Once a player has possession of the ball, they can ride their horse and try to pass it to a teammate or shoot it towards the goal.

The game is very fast-paced and requires a lot of skill, coordination, and teamwork. 

Players need to have good riding skills and be able to control their horses while also handling the ball. 

Pato is not just a sport but also a cultural tradition in South America, where it is considered a symbol of the gaucho (cowboy) culture. It is often played at festivals and celebrations and is a great way for people to come together and enjoy the excitement and camaraderie of the game. 

DO YOU KNOW

Why doughnuts have holes?

The origin of why doughnuts have holes is a bit unclear, and there are several different stories or theories. 

One popular theory is that a man named Hanson Gregory, who was a sailor in the mid-nineteenth century was the first to create the hole in the doughnut. The story goes that Hanson wanted a better way to cook his doughnuts while on board a ship, so he used a round tin pepper container to punch a whole in the middle of the dough, which allowed the doughnut to cook more evenly and prevented the centre from being undercooked. 

Another theory is that doughnuts were traditionally made as a twisted shape, and the hole was added to make them cook more evenly and quickly. 

Yet another theory is that the hole was added for practical reasons, such as making it easier to carry several doughnuts at once on a stick or string.

Regardless of the exact reason, the hole in the centre of the doughnut has  become a defining characteristic of this popular treat. Today doughnuts come in a wide variety of flavours and styles, from traditional glazed doughnuts to more modern creations like bacon maple bars or cronuts (a hybrid of a croissant and a doughnut)