1. Here Is What Coffee Actually Does To Your Brain

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    By Lauren F Friedman
    Business Insider, August 31, 2014

    Coffee wakes you up in the morning and keeps you alert throughout the day, but how does its magic ingredient actually work? Mitchell Moffit and Gregory Brown demystify the inner workings of caffeine in their latest ASAP Science video.

    The first thing to know is that part of your natural tiredness comes from a molecule called adenosine, which is produced by your body while it chugs along through the day. “While you sleep, the concentration of adenosine declines, gradually promoting wakefulness,” the video explains. Meanwhile, the more adenosine that builds up, the sleepier you feel.

    Your morning coffee is able to hijack that process because caffeine looks a lot like adenosine to your brain cells:

    Because of its similar shape, caffeine can bind to the adenosine receptors in your brain. Once the caffeine is locked into adenosine’s rightful spot though, there is no way for the adenosine to stick around — which prevents it from building up and making you sleepy.

    Without the molecule that usually induces exhaustion, “our natural stimulants run wild,” Joseph Stromberg writes in Smithsonian. The result? You feel wide awake — at least for a while.

    But all good things must come to an end, and your brain quickly wises up to your tricks.

    When the adenosine is continually blocked from binding to its receptors, your body eventually creates more receptors — which means you need even more caffeine to plug them up. This can make kicking your coffee habit increasingly difficult, and make you need more and more caffeine to stay alert. 

    Wikimedia Commons

    “When you try to quit drinking coffee or miss your daily intake,” Moffit and Brown explain, “you might experience some withdrawal symptoms and feel more tired than you would have before you ever drank coffee.”

    But caffeine does more than just block adenosine. It can also pump up your levels of adrenaline and boost your mood — “the exact same thing cocaine does, just to a lesser degree,” the video says.

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  2. Surgeons’ Shock After They Remove 232 ‘TEETH’ From Indian Teenager’s Mouth

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    Surgeons’ shock after they remove 232 ‘TEETH’ from Indian teenager’s mouth Ashik Gavai, 17 was suffering swelling on the right side of his lower jaw Was diganosed with rare condition known as complex odontoma These are haphazardly arranged tooth-like growths that often affect teens Surgeons say 232 may be a record – previous number removed was 37 Surgeons in Mumbai have removed an astonishing 232 teeth-like growths from the mouth of a teenager.

    Ashik Gavai, 17, sought medical help after suffering swelling on the right side of his lower jaw.

    He was referred to the city’s JJ Hospital, where doctors found he was suffering from a condition known as complex odontoma.

    ‘We operated on Monday and it took us almost seven hours,’ head of dentistry Sunanda Dhivare-Palwankar, told AFP.

    ‘We thought it [would] be simple surgery but once we opened [him up] there were multiple pearl-like teeth inside the jaw bone,’ she said.

    After removing those the surgeons also found a larger ‘marble-like’ structure which they struggled to extract.

    It eventually had to be ‘chiselled out’ and remove in fragments, Ms Dhivare-Palwankar added.

    The teenager’s father, Suresh Gavai, told the Mumbai Mirror newspaper he had feared the swelling was a cancerous growth.

    Fortunately the surgeons managed to maintain teenager’s jawbone structure, meaning it should heal without any deformities. Once removed, odontomas do not recur.

  3. The World’s Tigers—There Are Only 3,200 Left in the Wild

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    Photograph by Dr. Joseph F. Rock, National Geographic Creative

    Tigers may be relegated to zoos in the future if we’re not careful. Only about 3,200 tigers can be found in the wild today—a far cry from the iconic cat’s situation a century ago, when 100,000 tigers roamed vast stretches of the Asian continent.

    “People don’t realize how dire the situation is for tigers because we see them all the time. We see them in zoos, we see them in circuses, so we think they’re doing all right,” said Sharon Guynup, a writer who co-authored the book Tigers Forever: Saving the World’s Most Endangered Big Cat with National Geographic photographer Steve Winter.

    To mark International Tiger Day—which is held annually on July 29—National Geographic spotlights Asia’s largest cat species and the conservation challenges that it faces.

    —Katie Langin, July 29, 2014

  4. How to keep apples from browning

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    One common question that we hear is “How do you keep the apples from browning?” Fortunately, there are several options for keeping cut apples fresh! Check out this video to know the most easy ones.

  5. A blessing we just cannot do without

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    Friendship is a treasured gift that gives our Heart a lift. A blessing we just cannot do without
    because friendship is what living is all about… ~sms4smile

  6. We can never have enough of nature

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    A nation that destroys its soils destroys itself. Forests are the lungs of our land, purifying
    the air and giving fresh strength to our people. ―Franklin D. Roosevelt

Live & Die for Buddhism

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Me & Grandma

My Reflection

This site is a tribute to Buddhism. Buddhism has given me a tremendous inspiration to be who and where I am today. Although I came to America at a very young age, however, I never once forget who I am and where I came from. One thing I know for sure is I was born as a Buddhist, live as a Buddhist and will leave this earth as a Buddhist. I do not believe in superstition. I only believe in karma.

A Handful of Leaves

A Handful of Leaves

Tipitaka: The pali canon (Readings in Theravada Buddhism). A vast body of literature in English translation the texts add up to several thousand printed pages. Most -- but not all -- of the Canon has already been published in English over the years. Although only a small fraction of these texts are available here at Access to Insight, this collection can nonetheless be a very good place to start.

Major Differences

Major Differences in Buddhism

Major Differences in Buddhism: There is no almighty God in Buddhism. There is no one to hand out rewards or punishments on a supposedly Judgement Day ...read more

Problems we face today

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Of the many problems we face today, some are natural calamities and must be accepted and faced with equanimity. Others, however, are of our own making, created by misunderstanding, and can be corrected...