Zuma Fact: #110: Time zones in Russia!

 

Although on March 28, 2010 the Russian Federation reduced its number of time zones, it still stretches through nine time zones (previously eleven). This means that when morning is on the west, on the east is already evening.

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It's nothing wrong with you!

Heart palpitations, skin changes, trembling hands... Many symptoms can simulate a serious disease, but they are actually harmless. 

Our bodies have an incredible capacity to scare us. Because of a single twitch you can easily think that you have multiple sclerosis, and for a minor change on your skin that you have cancer. You can spend days studying those symptoms on the internet. But now you can finally step away from the keyboard. Most bumps on the skin and body changes are actually harmless.

Skin changes

Skin changes, in the form of small thickening which is in some parts darker, is usually developing in areas where skin rubs on skin or clothing, as well as in the armpits, neck, under breasts, even on the eyelids. It is not entirely clear why some people are more prone to these skin changes. The good news is that these spots on the skin are virtually never cancerous and can be easily removed with a help of dermatologist.

Consult your doctor if these spots on the body do not quickly disappear, become rough, or darker and redder than the skin. It could be wart, keratoses (benign tumor of the skin) or even skin cancer.

Redness

These small, round, red spots and bumps on the skin (if you have problematic complexion and you’re over forty, they can be more frequent) are likely surface blood vessels that are not absorbed into the skin. The body naturally produces new blood vessels and replaces the old ones. But, with years, our body produces more blood vessels than can be absorbed, and then these little red dots appear. 

Consult your doctor if you want to remove them (a dermatologist can do it with laser treatment). But if you find a place where they are asymmetric, or if the dots are changing size, shape or color, begin to itch or bleed, or look completely different from any other place on your body, consult a dermatologist to make sure that they are not cancerous.

Trembling hands

Trembling hands (especially after 40’s) may be a hereditary thing. It can also be a sign that your blood sugar level is low and that you need a snack with proteins. But, very often, trembling hands are a symptom of stress or anxiety. Trembling hands can be more pronounced if you drink or eat something that contains caffeine, or if you are taking medicines that contain stimulants or certain types of medications for attention disorder or thyroid disease. Trembling usually stops as soon as you eat, or reduces or completely stops after stopping using stimulants.

Consult your doctor if trembling isn’t stopping. He can prescribe you beta blockers, type of medication for blood pressure that can calm your hands by blocking the stress response. Trembling hands may mean that you have Parkinson's disease. Weight loss, increased heart rate and changes in bowel habits are often a signal of an overactive thyroid gland.

“Midges” in the eyes

Within the eyeball is a gel, a substance composed of water, collagen and hyaluronic acid. Occasionally, especially as we age, collagen clumps coagulate and create shadows on the retina, which manifest as dots, distorted lines, or other strange shapes. This can be very irritating, but it is harmless.

Consult your doctor if a light that flashes, blurs or distort your vision, appears in front of your eyes. This could mean that eyeball gel is pressuring the retina.

Eyelid twitching

The cause is stress, fatigue, a lot of time spent in front of computer, excess of caffeine and alcohol. Separately or in combination, these things cause muscle twitches in the upper or lower eyelid. These twitches usually stop soon, but if they don’t, try to relax with warm pressings on the lids muscles or with artificial tears (twitches can appear because of the dryness of the eye).

Consult your doctor if you have twitches for several weeks. That may be a sign that your eye area or membrane is irritated. In rare cases, twitches may completely close your eyes or even appear together with twitches in your mouth.

Easy bruising

Some of us are naturally inclined to easily get black and blue marks on our skin, especially if we take aspirin, ibuprofen, or any other medicine. They prevent blood coagulation, which can easily cause bruising. Collagen protects our blood vessels from deterioration and bleeding in the skin, which is resulting with a bruise.

Consult your doctor if unexplained bruises are appearing all at once. This may be an early sign of blood disorders such as leukemia.

Joint crunching

That itself should not be a problem. If you are in the 30's or 40's, the snapping sound is most likely the sound of ligaments and tendons gliding over the joints. Even the "noisy" knees and ankles are commonly the result of cartilage abrasion and soft tissue. If these sounds are boring to you, then stretch regularly.

Consult your doctor if you have redness, swelling, pain and reduced mobility, along with the joints crunch, because it may be a sign of an injury of ligaments or tendons. Osteoarthritis may also be the cause, especially if you have it in a family history, or if you are running often (according to one research, you belong to a group of high risk). If you are over 50, crunch is most likely a sign of osteoarthritis.

Heart palpitations

In most cases, occasional, transient palpitations are just a side effect of medicines: antihistamines, decongestants, antidepressants and medicines for thyroid gland. Heart palpitations can be caused by stress and anxiety, especially if you consume alcohol, cigarettes, or caffeine. Often, it is not so much because of stress, but because of refusing to deal with your stress.

Consult your doctor if you have any unusual cardiac symptoms, including palpitations in an unusual way which you have not previously experienced, especially if it is accompanied by other symptoms such as shortness of breath with exertion.  This may be a sign of heart disease.

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Zuma Fact: #109: The smallest pippete in the world!

 

The smallest pipette in the world, made of a carbon shell, within which is an alloy of gold-germanium, has a volume of 0.000 000 000 000 000 000 001 liter. It is called Zeptoliter pippete.

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Sculpted Archipelago – Hạ Long Bay

This place of an unusual beauty, and of great importance to us for the understanding of our planet, is under the protection of UNESCO as World Heritage Site. It is a result of unique geological evolution that lasts for millions of years.

Great Gulf of Tonkin, in North Vietnam, is known for the tragic wars that French and later Americans led in mid-20th century. But this corner of the South China Sea is a magical and mysterious place, firmly connected to the Vietnamese history and culture. It is also geological museum in the open.

In Ha long Bay, which borders with the Gulf of Tonkin, over 1600 islands of limestone rocks are scattered.  For millions of years, the rain and the wind have sculpted them into extraordinary shapes, thus, creating an archipelago of natural sculptures.

Due to weather conditions, the erosion is constant at this place for about 60 million years. It is continually shaping the surface of soft limestone rocks, and over the last 5000 years, the erosive power of the sea has also interfered. This erosive power has carved wonderful caves on the islands, which, for geologists and biologists, give the opportunity to travel in the past of our planet.

The origin of island-sculptures is ancient and unique: a layer of limestone rocks was created several hundreds of millions years ago, when the ocean covered the area that is now the ending part of continental Asia.

Island-sculptures of limestone sediments are, therefore, rich in remains of organisms which, at that time, lived in a vast ocean. These organisms are now the main source of discovering and interpreting geological and biological development of this region.

In addition, some of the most important archaeological sites of the whole Asian continent are located in this bay - there are found traces of ancient civilization that existed more than 4000 years ago when this area became a crossroad of first trade routes in Asia.

Ha Long Bay Islands are what is left of a giant "warehouse" of limestone sedimentary rocks, about a thousand meters thick, after washout and gouging by the rain and wind. This rocky layer, mainly made of calcium carbonate, is sedimented about 240 to 340 million years ago, when the bay was laying, for 100 million years, under the ocean.

Then, 60 million years ago, the movement of tectonic plates lifted the land above water, and about 10,000 years ago, the sea returned to its old passage inside the bay. Along with rain and wind, the sea definitely made its "contribution" to the carving of Ha Long limestone islands.

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Zuma Fact: #108: Great Barrier Reef!

 

 

Great Barrier Reef in Australia is the largest "structure" in a world that consists of living organisms. It stretches for over 2600 kilometers, and its "construction" lasted about 800 million years.

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