Science, Art, Litt, Science based Art & Science Communication
Qs people asked about science and my replies to them -Part 237
Q: Why don't people transfer salt from one person's hand to another person's hand? Some people told me that salt removes negative energy from the body. That is why we use it to remove 'disti' ( nazar). We also keep our feet in salt water to remove the pain ( negative energy) in the body. If you transfer salt from one person's hand to another person's hand, the negative energy of that person also gets transferred. Is this correct? Isn't this Eastern science?
Krishna: Science is science anywhere. There is no Western science or Eastern science. Science is universal and that which strictly follows scientific method.
Negative energy is a concept used in Physics to explain the nature of certain fields, including the gravitational field and various quantum field effects. There are no other negative energies.
When added to hot bath water, the magnesium sulphate in the salt acts as an electrolyte. Soaking legs in this bathwater helps in regulating nerve signals in them. An Epsom salt soak helps in minimising inflammation, pain, and swelling. That is science. Everything else is nonsense.
Stop propagating pseudo-science and superstition in the name of science.
( After reading the above answer, a person sent me this Q: Does table salt contains magnesium sulphate ? Because magnesium sulphate itself is different from table salt.
Krishna's reply:
" magnesium sulphate itself is different from table salt"
Don't get confused.
MgSO₄- This is magnesium sulphate
NaCl - This is sodium chloride.
In their pure forms.
But commercially available sea salts on the market today vary widely in their chemical composition. Although the principal component is sodium chloride, the remaining portion can range from less than 0.2 to 10% of other salts. These are mostly calcium, potassium, and magnesium salts of chloride and sulfate with substantially lesser amounts of many trace elements found in natural seawater. Though the composition of commercially available salt may vary, the ionic composition of natural saltwater is relatively constant).
Q: Why Indian people are facing shortage of oxygen in their blood, what is the main reason?
Krishna: Anybody, why only Indians, can face this problem.
Hypoxemia is when you have low levels of oxygen in your blood. Hypoxemia can be caused by a variety of conditions, including asthma, pneumonia, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). It's a serious medical situation and requires prompt medical attention.
I think you asked this Q because you saw media coverage of oxygen shortage in the country in the present situation.
Oxygen is a crucial treatment for many patients with severe Covid-19, since the disease affects lung function. One of the tell-tale symptoms is shortness of breath, which can be followed by pneumonia, as the lungs fill with fluid. In some coronavirus patients, it’s thought that the infection first damages the lungs, rendering parts of them incapable of functioning properly. Those tissues lose oxygen and stop working, no longer infusing the blood stream with oxygen,
Feeling breathless with COVID-19 usually means the lungs are infected. If the coronavirus has caused pneumonia, then — depending on how serious it is — the lungs may struggle to get enough oxygen into the bloodstream. This is a problem because oxygen is an essential nutrient for every organ in the body.
The rapid deterioration in the health of COVID-19 patients is caused by an overreaction of the body’s immune system. The body produces small proteins called cytokines at a much higher rate, which leads to a ‘cytokine storm’ and triggers massive inflammation. Immune cells invade the lungs, where they disrupt gas exchange.
Q: A prominent scientist said that the 3rd wave of the Covid-19 pandemic is inevitable in India. How should we prepare for it?
Get vaccinated. Wear a tight fitting mask. Keep physical distance. Stay home as much as possible. Don’t visit crowded places. Wash your hands frequently. While shopping, choose outdoor shops. Boost your immune system. Reduce your weight. Cooperate with the scientists and doctors.
Need I repeat it?
While some can imagine strange things, others can’t!
Q: What does science have to say about the Mali woman who gave birth to (non-uplets) nine babies?
Krishna: It is very unusual for such pregnancies to occur naturally - often it is the result of fertility treatment - they really only occur when this has been the case.
It seems in Africa fertility drugs are prescribed when a woman comes off a hormonal form of contraceptive and it takes a while for these women to ovulate again. This can then result in the release of several eggs, instead of one, during a woman's monthly cycle.
It depends on how many of these eggs get fertilized. In this woman’s case the number ‘s nine (nonuplets). But such pregnancies are a risk factor for both babies and the mother.
It is not known if this woman carried her babies full term, but most pregnancies involving large numbers of babies end prematurely. And premature babies - those born before 37 weeks - are at risk of developing problems as they have immature lungs and are prone to infections such as sepsis because of their weak immune system.
Longer term, children born in multiples are also more likely to develop cerebral palsy - which affects movement.
It is very rare that all the children in such cases can be healthy and can have a healthy future.
Let us hope for the best as medical science has advanced now and can provide the best assistance to these babies.
Q: Is SARS-CoV2 man-made and is being used as a biological weapon by China or some other country?
(Links to some videos were sent to me by this person but I don't want to post the fake news here)
Krishna: I read hundreds of these conspiracy theories. As a person of science (I am a Microbiologist myself), I trust the scientific method and genuine scientific evidence, not journalists' stories.
The proximal origin of SARS-CoV-2
The COVID-19 Virus May Have Been in Humans For Years, Study Suggests
How we know the COVID-19 coronavirus wasn't made in a lab
https://www.businessinsider.in/science/news/how-we-know-the-covid-1...
You see world as it is if you get your information from the above source.
Science touches almost every field now. So you don’t miss anything if you follow this route.
Several people ask me why not books. People think books are a good source of knowledge. That is an old thinking. Why?
- Books are not peer-reviewed. Anybody can write anything in them without providing genuine evidence. It can be even pseudo-science and stories that have no base in reality at all.
- Reading books is like seeing the world from somebody else’s perspective which can even be irrational.
Some ask me why not internet. Net is a mixed bag. We get lots of misinformation on the net (1). Internet mostly provides half truths. Anybody, irrespective of his/her knowledge base can talk/write here. Sorting it out wastes my time. Googling doesn’t give you the right information. Wikipedia, the online encyclopaedia, contains errors in nine out of 10 of its health entries (1). Infodemic is one thing I dread as a person of science.
And there is also another source for me. When I critically think (2) about something, using my knowledge and analytical power, I get several insights into things around me.
Footnotes:
Q: What benefits does China aim to gain from sending viruses to the world?
Do you have any solid evidence that China really did this?
This is mere speculation, disinformation, just a theory, allegations, and disinformation.
There are two theories now under consideration in scientific circles:
1. lab leak of the virus from a biosafety lab of Wuhan
2. jumping of the virus from animals to human beings.
Unless we get solid evidence, we can't establish a fact now.
If the world suffered, even China suffered. Using such weapons is stupidity beyond imagination and therefore, we don't think it is deliberate.
Without establishing the facts, don’t presume things.
Q: Please clarify on this conspiracy theory:
https://www.heraldopenaccess.us/openaccess/coronavirus-is-a-biologi...
Krishna:
The paper you mentioned is very low grade and is not worth considering. The authors used words like 'belief'. In scientific papers if one uses the word, it is a gone case.
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