Wednesday, October 1, 2014

How to save your fingers when they are near frostbite

I do not know if this has been posted here or not but quoting from my personal experience, this was the most important life saving hack that happened to me at the spur of the moment. I helped my fingers cheat death!

What do you do in near-frost bite conditions, when your hands start numbing and you cannot even wiggle your fingers? Ans.: Pee on them! Yes, it may appear bull-shit but it is what struck me when I was (almost) about to lose my fingers due to a frost bite attack. And this happened very recently on my solo motorcycle trip to Ladakh. 

Situation: 
I had started pretty early from Karu towards Manali to cover as much bad ground I could in daylight. I was riding alone and by the time I crossed Upshi, it started drizzling. I was covered from head to toe in multiple clothing layers and was wearing a rain coat over my riding jacket but did not adequately cover my hands. All I had were my textile riding gloves. As if the icy rain was not enough, at Talang La it started snowing (moderate). My riding gloves were completely drenched and the searing pain in my fingers increased to such a point that I actually couldn't feel anything on my fingers. Near Talang La, I wished to stop but that is when a horrifying fact hit me - I found that I couldn't move or even wiggle my fingers off the handles. No word/expression can describe the excruciating pain in my hands; when I realized that I may be on the verge of losing finger(s) due to frost bite. It was 6:30 a.m. near the Talang La top and there wan't a soul around. no motorcyclists, cars, nothing. Obviously, other people had the good sense not to start in the icy rain in those dizzying altitudes.

Fightback:
I tried warming my hands on the bike's exhaust but other than burnt skin, I could achieve nothing. Pushed back and without any help, suddenly a flashback of a scene from god-knows-what survival series came to my mind. Somehow, I managed to zip down my jeans and peed on my hands. And voila! It worked like magic. My fingers felt a surge of blood rushing through the veins and I could at least move my fingers albeit very little. Realizing that it was my only chance to save my fingers, I gradually warmed my hands over the motorcycle's exhaust and engine (which were also losing heat very fast!) and after around half an hour of this mind-numbing ordeal, I could finally move my fingers. I couldn't afford to wear wet gloves in that chilled early morning air and therefore I wrapped up my fingers with some duct tape, creating 'wrap-around' gloves for the moment. 

Moment of Truth: 
I believe it was just a matter of seconds between when the idea to pee on my hands struck me and when frost bite could actually set in. After starting to 'feel' motion in my hands, it was like a machine which automatically hums back to life just after an abrupt power outage. I could actually feel the blood slowly flowing in my fingers! It was nothing like I had ever felt before.

I guess I was somewhere around the Superficial Frostbite condition.

Science behind the phenomenon:
As much as I can recall from my basic science classes at school, it must be specific/latent heat/conduction playing its part. You will know that liquids expand more than solids on heating. Moreover, expanding liquids will conduct heat on a wider surface area as compared to a rigid solid due to its fluidity. From what I could understand that instant 'warmth' was all my fingers needed and not high heat focussed at a particular part (me touching the exahust and had burnt my finger). It is for the same reason, putting your hand in hot water scalds a larger area even if the contact is for fraction of a second as compared to touching a hot solid body. It follows that you will be scalded almost immediately by steam than water/solid at the same temperature. 

The specific heat capacity of a material measures how much energy is required to change the temperature of that material. The specific heat capacity of water is 4180 joules per kilogram per kelvin, meaning that it requires 4180 joules of energy to raise the temperature of one kilogram of water by one kelvin.If a one gram drop of boiling water (at 100°C) falls on skin at a temperature of 35°C then the temperature of the water quickly falls by 65°C. To drop the temperature of one gram of water by 65°C requires a change in energy of 272 joules. Because heat always flows from a hotter body to a colder one* this heat flows into the skin, damaging skin cells as it does.

A Surprising Cure For Insomnia

A Surprising Cure For Insomnia


By Kate Sztabnik
On any given night, I might fall asleep to soft-spoken prattle from a grown man pretending to be a magic purple fairy. Or perhaps I'll drift off as a ponytailed blonde role-plays an outer-space travel agent selling me intergalactic vacation packages. Either way, as my iPhone rests beside me on my pillow, I'll feel a relaxing, slow-moving tingling sensation in my scalp—say, when the pink-eyeshadowed travel agent leans in, purses her lips, and asks me, in a gentle, enunciated whisper, "Are you looking to go exo- or stay inner solar?" Before I have time to contemplate the weirdness of her request, I'll be drooling.
Before you peg me as some sort of Internet fetish enthusiast, let me explain. Last winter, during a particularly exhausting stretch at work, I'd flop into bed just as the death metal singer at the bar downstairs from my apartment commenced his guttural screaming. I tried all the sleep-inducing tricks I could think of: dim lights, calming hot tea, a noise machine that sounded like an army of jabbering crickets. But no amount of Celestial Seasonings could lull me into slumber. Then one night I decided to search online for relaxation videos. This produced sterile waterfalls, classical music—and Ilse. Pretty, with no makeup and charmingly crooked teeth, Ilse breathed her channel's name in a soft Dutch accent—"The Waaaterwhissspers Ilse"—and a tickly feeling spread through my scalp, a burst of prickly warmth followed by a sense of deep relaxation. She leaned into the camera, pretending to examine my pores and give me a facial. Whoa, sister, I thought. But then something even stranger happened. My arm went slack; I was snoring within minutes.
I soon learned that Ilse is part of a vast online "whisper community." Her videos are labeled ASMR, short for autonomous sensory meridian response. This is the term that self-professed "tingleheads" use to describe what I felt when Ilse "cleansed" my forehead with a cotton pad, making a soft scratching sound into her microphone. And the sensation I felt when, the next night, I stumbled upon Ashlie, who softly narrated her actions as she brushed a friend's hair. Ashlie's video was 22 minutes long, but I was conscious for only the first two.
It seems that not everyone can experience ASMRs. But for those of us who feel them (the videos have racked up millions of views on YouTube), it matters little that science has yet to find a biological explanation or even affirm that they exist. For me, discovering ASMR put a name to a sensation I'd experienced occasionally throughout my life without ever knowing why. Everyone has different triggers. I've learned that mine include whispers, accents, crinkling candy wrappers, gentle handling of valuable objects, and spa role-play. While I sometimes feel sheepish clicking on these low-budget, banal, slightly perverse sleep aids, the feeling -- fuzzy-tipped, hypnotic, like a soft rainforest shower straight to the skull -- soon erases every thought in my mind.

20 Handy Tips for Using Lemons!

20 Handy Tips for Using Lemons!
 
The lemon is a citrus with a great aroma, that blends wonderfully with food and drink, but also has many other uses, thanks to its antibacterial effect. The lemon is rich in vitamin C. It is considered a strong anti-oxidant and contains 5% acid, which makes him a very useful tool.
 
So we know it's useful, but do we know how to utilize this potential? For that reason, we have collected 20 of the best things to do with a lemon, besides cooking with it!
 
1. Ant Repellant - Pour some lemon juice around any infested areas to keep them at bay!
 
2. Air freshener - An equal amount of water and lemon juice, placed in a air freshener, will supply your house with a nice fresh scent.
 
3. A clean tub - An equal amount of water and lemon juice can also be a very effective cleaning supply against mildew and fungus accumulating on the sides of your tub and/or shower.
 
4. Disinfectant - A small amount of lemon juice can be a great companion to vinegar as a cleaning supply, and can help neutralize the strong smell of the vinegar. It will also greats fortify the disinfection.
 
5. Microwave - Heat up a bowl of water and lemon wedges in the microwave for 30-60 seconds. Next, clean the microwave. Those previously hard to remove stains will now be easily removed and the 'food smell' will be neutralized.
 
6. Refrigerator - Storing half a lemon in the fridge will help prevent unpleasant odors.
 
7. Cleaning Chrome / Brass / Copper - Mix lemon juice with drinking soda and dip a clean towlet in it. Wipe down the surfaces thoroughly and then rinse well and wipe down with dry paper to get them to look like new!
 
8. Bathroom - Mix 1/2 a cup of borax powder with a glass of lemon to clean the toilet perfectly and leave it smelling clean and fresh.
 
9. Faucets and sinks - Use half a lemon to remove limescale build up on your sinks and faucets. Rinse well and redo as required.
 
10. To make your laundry whiter, add a 1/2 cup of lemon juice for the washing duration of the machine and hang up the clothes to dry. A teaspoon of lemon juice in the machine during wash will give your fabric a fresher smell.
 
11. Dishes - To remove fat substances on tools, add a teaspoon of lemon juice to the dish soap.
 
12. Drainage - A mixture of hot lemon juice and drinking soda can improve your drainage and help unclog it.
 
13. Trash can - If you throw a few lemon peels in the trash, it will help to neutralize the bad odors coming from the rest of the food stuffs.
 
14. Cutting Board - Rub half a lemon on a wooden cutting board, leave it like that for the night and wash it the next day. The lemon juice will help kill bacteria accumulating on the board, and will of course neutralize any bad odors.
 
15. Glass and Mirrors - 4 table spoons of lemon juice mixed with 2 litres of water will make for an effective mixture to clean windows, mirrors and glass surfaces.
 
16. Furniture - 2 parts of olive or cooking oil, add one part of lemon juice to make a wonderful solution for polishing furniture.
 
17. Hair brightening - To brighten your hair, pour some lemon juice on it and sit for an hour in the sun.
 
18. Hair sofetning - Lemon juice mixed with a glass of warm water can be used as a great hair mask. Soak your hair in the liquid for a few minutes and then rinse thoroughly. If you have a sensitive scalp, however, this may not be the solution for you.
 
19. Cuts, stings and skin irritation - dribble a small amount of lemon juice on small cuts, and although it will probably sting a bit, it should help stop the bleeding and disinfect the wound. In addition, applying lemon juice to stings should alleviate the feeling of discomfort and itchiness.
 
20. Removing bad smell from hands - If you were handling something odorous like fish or onions, washing your hands in lemon juice is a great way to get rid of those odors without drying or damaging your skin.