Eye Tattoos

Yes - there are such things as eye tattoos.

First tattoo artists use a traditional needle with ink. If the ink doesn't hold, they switch to a syringe that injects ink into the eye. The ink then slowly floods across the white portion of the eyeball over the next few weeks.

As expected, cornea tattooing is extremely dangerous. Infection, even perforation and hemorrhage are very possible. Most enthusiasts find that doctors, while willing to consult on the procedure, never performed it, leaving it to a tattoo artist.

Cosmetics aside, there are medical benefits to eye tattoos such as if the eye is burnt or cut, the tattoo can cover scars. It also helps with leucoma - an opaque white blemish - and keeps the eye's natural appearance.

Here's a scary video of a cosmetic eye tattoo.

The Door To Hell

In the desert of Turkmenistan is a massive crater which has literally been on fire for decades.

During the 1970s, when Turkmenistan was still part of the USSR, geologists were searching for gas in the desert - often detected as seeping through the sand. While drilling, the geologists opened up a massive hole full of poisonous gas. The hole, ~100 meters in diameter, easily swallowed their equipment. To burn off the excess poisonous gas, the geologists set it ablaze thinking it would die out in a few days time.

Fail.

Here's a video of the Darvaza Gas Crater on fire (starts at :40).

Man's Best Friend Roots in Middle East

Research documented in Nature suggests that dogs were first domesticated in the Middle East.

Studying gene segments from dogs and grey wolves (from which they evolved), research indicates dogs and wolves that come from the Middle East exhibit the most genetic similarity.

Research suggests that after domestication in the Middle East, dogs interbred with wolves when they reached East Asia, allowing for dogs and wolves to share some of their genetics.

Science Behind Traffic Jams

In high density traffic, small disturbances like braking too hard or getting too close to another car can quickly amplify into a traffic jam. MIT research is explaining why.

The mathematics of traffic jams are strikingly similar to the equations used to describe fluid mechanics, i.e. traffic acts a lot like fluids. Fluids flow as one unit and bunch up when the pathway becomes restricted.

Variables such as traffic speed and density help calculate when a jam will form and how fast it will spread. Once formed, there's nothing you can do except wait. So the plan is to design roads with enough capacity to keep traffic density low.

Newborns May Cry in Mother Tongue

Research suggests that newborns cry in melodic patterns they have heard in adults’ conversations — even while in the womb. This means they are language learning even before birth.

Melodic patterns and pitch shifts attach emotion and meaning to words and newborns re-create those patterns in at least some of their crying. For example, in tests German newborns’ cries started out high-pitched and became increasingly lower vs. French newborns’ who started out low and moved higher - characteristic of how German and French is spoken. Also, prenatal babies prefer their mother's voice to others and days after birth discriminate between native and foreign languages.

Why Do We Hiccup?

Breathing requires help from the diaphragm, a large muscle between the chest and abdomen. Phrenic nerves control the diaphragm and nerve irritation induces a spasm, forcing short, quick breath's between closing of the epiglottis (a flap that protects the space between the vocal cords). The epiglottis' closing creates the 'hiccup'. A full stomach (food or air), too much spicy food, smoking, alcohol, sudden emotional swings, or sudden temperature shifts can all irritate the phrenic nerves, causing a hiccup.

To stop a hiccup, bite into a lemon, pull on your tongue, or hold your breath ... something Charles Osborne should have done. Osborne is in the Guinness Book of World Records title for Longest Hiccup Attack, hiccuping for 68 years (1922-1990).

This guy could have used the help as well.