the process of laser eye surgery

just a few seconds ago, i was watching the king of queens and the episode was about carie getting laser eye surgery but was blind for a few days instead. i literally paused the video and googled about it. what it laser surgery? how much is it? and what could go wrong? read on to find out.

basically, the cornea is sliced from the side to create a flap by using a high-tech cutting instrument. the laser is then put over the eye and blasts for a few seconds to correct the eye. after that, the flap is put back into place, which heals back really fast. and a few days after that, perfect 20-20 vision.


from BBC news:

How does this improve vision?

People need to wear glasses for different reasons. Some people are said to be short-sighted or myopic. This is due to the cornea being too steeply curved or the eye longer than normal.

Therefore, light rays fall in short of the retina - the area at the back of the eye that interprets the image - and results in blurred distance vision.

Other people are long-sighted or hyperopic because their cornea is too flat or the eye is too short. This means that the light rays focus too far beyond the retina.

Others have a condition where the cornea is oval shaped rather than spherical, called astigmatism. This produces two different focal points which can blur images at all distances.

Laser surgery to reshape the cornea can help to correct these problems.

Will it help with age-related vision loss?

No.

Laser surgery will not be able to cure age-related presbyopia and the need for reading glasses that people often develop in their mid-40's.

This is because presbyopia is not to do with a problem with the cornea. Instead, it occurs when the lens becoming less flexible with age.

Where can I get it?

Private treatment usually costs £1000-1500 per eye and is available at some NHS hospitals.

What are the risks?

Complications occur in less than 5% of cases, according to the Royal College of Ophthalmologists.

Some people have a problem with dry eyes in the months after surgery and artificial tear supplements might be needed in the long term.

Many patients have experienced glare or halo effects when night driving, particularly just after treatment. This is more likely the higher the correction that has been made, but is rarely severe.

In rare cases, excessive thinning of the eye wall can cause the shape of the eye to be unstable after treatment. Severe loss of vision is very unusual, but some patients could require corneal surgery or hard contact lenses to restore vision, it said.

Can both eyes be done on the same day?

Yes, but your consultant should outline the risks. In order to reduce the risk of cross contamination should complications arise, each eye should be treated as separate procedure.

How long will it take me to recover?

Most patients have a reasonably comfortable period after surgery and are back at work within a few days to a week.

Depending on the vision correction attempted, driving may be unsafe for one to two weeks. Tinted glasses with ultraviolet protection are needed when out in the sun for the first three months.

here's a video of the whole procedure. the patient does not feel any pain because of the eye drops that numbed the eye. the only discomfort in the whole process was the night after.. but the pain went away quickly.

giant squid found

source: dbTechno.com
Boston (dbTechno) - In New Zealand, scientists have been working all week to defrost and study a 1,000-pound giant squid. The squid is the length of a school bus. Upon studying her, they have found that she has the largest eyes in the world, and is also a female.

Scientists in a lab at the Te Papa Tongarewa, New Zealand’s national museum, have been studying the squid all week.

They have concluded that the giant squid is, in fact, a female. They do not believe that she was fully-grown as her beak is between 1.6 and 1.7 inches.

They have also found that the eyes of the giant squid are 10.6 inches, making them the largest eyes ever recorded from any animal.

To put it into perspective, the eyes are about the size of a soccer ball according to reports.

The giant squid was caught by accident in Antarctica’s Ross Sea back in February 2007.

The squid was frozen in a block of ice until scientists could join to study it.

Once they are done studying the giant squid, they will display it in a natural position at the musuem.

It is possible that as fishing continues in Antarctica, more of these giant squid will be found.

a pretty cool news if you're into weird unknown animals. i forgot the scientific word for it.. freaky-animal-zoology?

10 fun facts about our moon

the geek inside me loves watching documentaries. a long time ago, i was into ocean science. the deep sea creatures astonished me. one time, i was captivated by the history of the Roman Empire and when it became the a great superpower until it's untimely demise. now, however, my interest is not on this Earth but at close proximity - our moon. history channel has been showing a series about the Universe. how it theoretically began and even an episode on how it'll end. but that's another very long topic, which if you're interested go look for the series on tv.

anyway, on to our moon and some really cool facts about it.
ref: space.com

1. The Moon was created when a rock the size of Mars slammed into Earth, shortly after the solar system began forming about 4.5 billion years ago, according to the leading theory.



2. Perhaps the coolest thing about the Moon is that it always shows us the same face. Since both the Earth and Moon are rotating and orbiting, how can this be?

Long ago, the Earth's gravitational effects slowed the Moon's rotation about its axis. Once the Moon's rotation slowed enough to match its orbital period (the time it takes the Moon to go around Earth) the effect stabilized. Many of the moons around other planets behave similarly.

What about phases? Here's how they work: As the Moon orbits Earth, it spends part of its time between us and the Sun, and the lighted half faces away from us. This is called a new Moon. (So there's no such thing as a "dark side of the Moon," just a side that we never see.)

As the Moon swings around on its orbit, a thin sliver of reflected sunlight is seen on Earth as a crescent Moon. Once the Moon is opposite the Sun, it becomes fully lit from our view -- a full Moon.

3. More than 400 trees on Earth came from the Moon. Well, okay: They came from lunar orbit. Okay, the truth: In 1971, Apollo 14 astronaut Stuart Roosa took a bunch of seeds with him and, while Alan Shepard and Edgar Mitchell were busy sauntering around on the surface, Roosa guarded his seeds.

Later, the seeds were germinated on Earth, planted at various sites around the country, and came to be called the Moon trees. Most of them are doing just fine.

4. The Moon's heavily cratered surface is the result of intense pummeling by space rocks between 4.1 billion and 3.8 billion years ago.

The scars of this war, seen as craters, have not eroded much for two main reasons: The Moon is not geologically very active, so earthquakes, volcanoes and mountain-building don't destroy the landscape as they do on Earth; and with virtually no atmosphere there is no wind or rain, so very little surface erosion occurs.

5. The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. Right? Maybe not. In 1999, scientists found that a 3-mile- (5-kilometer-) wide asteroid may be caught in Earth's gravitational grip, thereby becoming a satellite of our planet.

Cruithne, as it is called, takes 770 years to complete a horseshoe-shaped orbit around Earth, the scientists say, and it will remain in a suspended state around Earth for at least 5,000 years.

6. The Moon is not round (or spherical). Instead, it's shaped like an egg. If you go outside and look up, one of the small ends is pointing right at you. And the Moon's center of mass is not at the geometric center of the satellite; it's about 1.2 miles (2 kilometers) off-center.

7. Apollo astronauts used seismometers during their visits to the Moon and discovered that the gray orb isn't a totally dead place, geologically speaking. Small moonquakes, originating several miles (kilometers) below the surface, are thought to be caused by the gravitational pull of Earth. Sometimes tiny fractures appear at the surface, and gas escapes.

Scientists say they think the Moon probably has a core that is hot and perhaps partially molten, as is Earth's core. But data from NASA's Lunar Prospector spacecraft showed in 1999 that the Moon's core is small -- probably between 2 percent and 4 percent of its mass. This is tiny compared with Earth, in which the iron core makes up about 30 percent of the planet's mass.

8. Our Moon is bigger than Pluto. And at roughly one-fourth the diameter of Earth, some scientists think the Moon is more like a planet. They refer to the Earth-Moon system as a "double planet." Pluto and its moon Charon are also called a double-planet system by some.

9. Tides on Earth are caused mostly by the Moon (the Sun has a smaller effect). Here's how it works:

The Moon's gravity pulls on Earth's oceans. High tide aligns with the Moon as Earth spins underneath. Another high tide occurs on the opposite side of the planet because gravity pulls Earth toward the Moon more than it pulls the water.

At full Moon and new Moon, the Sun, Earth and Moon are lined up, producing the higher than normal tides (called spring tides, for the way they spring up). When the Moon is at first or last quarter, smaller neap tides form. The Moon's 29.5-day orbit around Earth is not quite circular. When the Moon is closest to Earth (called its perigee), spring tides are even higher, and they're called perigean spring tides.

All this tugging has another interesting effect: Some of Earth's rotational energy is stolen by the Moon, causing our planet to slow down by about 1.5 milliseconds every century.

and i leave the best fact about our moon for last..

10. our moon is moving away from us! It is expected that in 15 billion years, the Earth day will be 55 days long equal to the time it will take the Moon to orbit the Earth. but don't worry, in less than 7 billion years, the Sun will have evolved into a red giant star and engulfed the Earth-Moon system, thereby incinerating it!

curious about the death of our Sun? click here.

dirtiest job in the world

are you feeling down about the job you're doing or about to do in the future? and every day you go for work, do you feel like just going up to the big boss man and make a scene before quitting your dead-end job? well, after you finish this post, you might just thank the stars that you have the job that you have.

10 dirtiest job in science

By Candace Corner
CareerBuilder.com -> link

Manure Inspector

What they do: Wade through farming manure, inspecting different kinds of animal waste to make sure it is free from contaminants. By checking the manure, these scientists make sure that the harmful materials do not spread to infect vegetation, animals or consumers.

Orangutan-Pee Collector

What they do: Collect and analyze ape urine to study factors that effect their reproduction. The work involves tracking down apes and laying down large plastic sheets or attaching plastic bags to poles in hopes of catching adequate samples to analyze.

Hot-zone Superintendent

What they do: Perform maintenance work for bio-safety labs that study lethal airborne pathogens, for which there is no known cure. Their work enables scientists to study the nature of disease-causing organisms, such as anthrax.

Extremophile Excavator

What they do: Sift through the smelly fumes of arsenic-saturated mud areas in blistering heat in order to gather samples containing arsenic-eating extremophiles. The purpose is to find microbes that could possibly assist in the decontamination of the nation's freshwater sources.

Dysentery Stool Sample Analyzer

What they do: Study stool samples from diseased humans who have experienced diarrhea from a disease-causing microbe. The analysis allows these scientists to develop intestinal diagnostics to ease those suffering from the disease.

Semen Washer

What they do: Take semen samples under microscopic observation to study their sperm count, then spin, separate, add preservatives and freeze the samples for in vitro fertilization.

Volcanologist

What they do: Monitor volcanic regions to determine when they'll erupt next. In addition to dodging hot magma, these scientists mountain climb their way through the heat and fight their way through fogs of sulfur dioxide gas, ash, rocks and debris.

Carcass Cleaner

What they do: Clean corpses for display using one of a variety of cleaning methods. This may include immersing the body in boiling chemicals, placing maggots or beetles on the carcass, or picking off the leftover flesh.

Fistula Feeder

What they do: Study how the insides of cattle work. To do this, they deplug the fistula, an opening to the bovine intestinal system, and take samples from the forestomach to test their digestion and reaction to food additives.

Corpse-Flower Grower

What they do: Grow and tend to a towering, foul-smelling plant called the corpse flower. Similar to the way pleasant-smelling flowers attract honeybees, the corpse flower attracts its own bugs, Sumatran carrion beetles and flesh flies. These scientists are competing to grow the largest blooming plant in cultivation.

so, i hope this'll put things into perspective and make you appreciate what you do more. if doubts about your career resurfaces again, remind yourself of these dirty jobs and repeat these words in your mind: 'i love my job, i love my job, i love my job..'