Musings of an Aspiring Polymath: September 2006

Thursday, September 28, 2006

The Term Break Conspiracy

I am amazed by how fast time appears to pass when it is term break. Before I knew it, it was already Thursday! This is certainly very depressing. However, because I am of a curious nature, I soon began wondering why time passes particularly quickly during the term breaks.

After much thought, I came to be aware of a number of strange events which hinted to some conspiracy. First, it was not only this particular term break which appeared to pass quicky - in fact, all known term breaks have been known to pass quickly. Second, time never passes quickly during the school term, and rather, it is quite the opposite. These two points alerted me to the truth, which I will reveal shortly.

It cannot be a coincidence that the time flies only during term break, and crawls only during the school term. Since it cannot be a coincidence, this only leaves one conclusion - that this particular oddity with time is planned and premeditated!

I postulate the following conspiracy - that the "school board" was aware of certain periods in the calendar where time would slow or speed up. Hence, with such knowledge, they planned the school term and term breaks such that they would coincide favorably with the "time oddities". This conclusion may seem hard to accept, but there is much evidence to support my conclusion.

I am certain that everyone remembers that particularly tough module where the lectures appeared to be exceptionally long (although appearing to occupy the standard duration of a lecture). This is proof that the timetable was specially planned to take advantage of the "time oddities"! The "school board", knowing that the module was tough and hence needed more time to be devoted to it, chose a timeslot where time would pass particularly slowly.

This is obviously a conspiracy ! I shall gather more evidence and expose the conspiracy !

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Paint by Numbers

Recently, I've been spending my free time doing Paint by Numbers, which is a type of logic puzzle not totally unlike Sudoku. Basically, you're given some numerical clues and using these clues you're supposed to fill in boxes. After the puzzle is complete the shaded boxes will reveal a picture. Of course, my explaination isn't really that good - for a clearer explanation check out Wikipedia's article , or better, try out some sample puzzles here.

If after trying the puzzles you discover you like it, you can signup for a free account at Griddlers Net, which has many such Paint by Numbers puzzles.

Of course, I am not to blame if you discover that your free time has somehow vanished. =)

Technorati Tags : Paint by Numbers , Griddlers

Monday, September 25, 2006

Tiring Meals

Why heavy meals tire people

Often, after a heavy meal, people have the tendancy to feel sleepy and tired. This has often been attributed to the blood in the body, especially the head, being drawn into the stomach to digest the food, hence making the body tired. This explaination, however, is incomplete.

The truth of the matter lies more with heat. As food is being consumed, it has to travel down the esophagus and various passages to reach the stomach. In the process, it has much contact, and thus friction, with the various passages. This friction creates a sizable amount of heat in the body.

Also, when food is being digested, the chemical reactions generate heat. Thus, consuming a meal actually generates a great deal of heat. This heat, combined with that of normal body functions, may exceed the body's capacity to remove heat, leading to the body's failure. Hence, when food is being consumed, the body's natural reaction is to lower the body's activity rate so as to reduce heat production. Thus, people may feel sleepy or tired when eating. This natural reaction is similar to a person with heatstroke fainting, as both involve slowing the body's activity rate to reduce heat production.

Thus, we should learn to eat in cooler places to avoid dozing off.

I wrote this article a few years ago for my (now defunct) website, under the section "Prevarications". I may post more articles of the same nature in the near future.

Technorati Tags : Prevarications , Tiring Meals