"If you really believe something is going to do you some harm, it will."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6914492.stm

Dozens of people who believed the masts trigger symptoms such as anxiety, nausea and tiredness could not detect if signals were on or off in trials.

But when they thought the signal was on they reported more distress, suggesting the problem has a psychological basis.

However, the Environmental Health Perspectives study stressed people were nonetheless suffering "real symptoms".

"Belief is a very powerful thing," said Professor Elaine Fox, of the University of Essex, who led the three year study.

"If you really believe something is going to do you some harm, it will."

The study was funded by the Mobile Telecommunications and Health Research programme, a body which is itself funded by industry and government.

I just wanted to draw attention to 'placebo'.

Nail-cutters and inverted airplanes.

Arrite. So I had a dream last night (today morning rather) and I actually remember what it was about.

I visioned this interesting lotion which my dad was rubbing onto his fingers and nails. The effect of this lotion (or whatever) was that the long ends of his nails (the dead white ends that you would normally clip off) just dissolved away. In the dream, it was a natural alternate to clipping nails.

I am not sure if there IS such a product available in the market. If there isn't, I am "WOOOOHOOOO!". If there is, i want to try this product myself.


By the way, dad doesn't have long nails...no idea why he was the subject trying out the product.

ALSO,
in the same dream, by some weird continuation, I was wondering how some airplanes can fly inverted. I thought the wings were supposed to give them LIFT when flying normally...so when inverted the planes are supposed to be pushed down towards earth..innit? :S


Just to let you know, I have been having sleep trouble lately and i was on sedatives last night (didn't really get good sleep even so :( )

Top 10 reasons to date an engineer.

TEN TOP REASONS TO DATE AN ENGINEER

10.- The world does revolve around us... we choose the coordinate system
9.- No "couple" enjoy a better "moment"
8.- We know how to handle stress
and strain in a relationship
7.- We have significant figures
6.- EK301: The motion of rigid bodies
5.- Projectile motion: Do we need to say more?
4.- Engineers do it to specification
3.- According to Newton, if two bodies interact, their forces are equal
and opposite
2.- We know it's not the length of the vector that counts, but how you
apply the force
1.- WE KNOW THE RIGHT HAND RULE

Top 10 reasons to Date an Engineer

10. They are used to all nighters
9. They are always willing to experiment
8. They know how to increase and decrease friction
7. They know all about heat transfer
6. They do it with more torque
5. Engineering couples have better moments
4. They know how to deal with stress and strain
3. They know how to test their rigid cantilevers
2. "Lubrication, friction, and wear" is a class
1. They design and build large erections

Sunrise from Campus 2

It's almost 5 am as I write this. We have been studying ODEs (Math 263 - Ordinary Differential Equations and Linear Algebra) since last afternoon. I went home in the evening for a few hours nap.

As the night grew older, the pace of work decreased (perhaps exponentially). We (Nasser and I) went to Tim Horton's for a coffee break. Had quite some fun there with random blabbering and whacked out humour. This hyperactivity brought about by the prospects of flunking an exam is quite extraordinary. Nasser, after tiring himself out with incessant politically incorrect (often biologically negative) jokes, has now passed out. He has collected four chairs in this computer lab, put his backpack on one end, and hence made a bed for himself. As of now, he has snored 230947 times. 230948 now!

So...the exam is at 2 pm...and I am still trying to figure out how we solve systems of differential equations using eigen values and vectors. It would have been most fascinating if I wasn't doing this for an exam. Le sadness.

I also realised that I can post to both my MSN Space and blogspot page at the same time...so I am much pleased by the discovery.

Ok. Back to work...30 minutes till I wake Nasser up and reassure him that we are positively screwed for this exam. Cheers!

Sunrise on campus.

I kinda overslept last day because my body couldn't really function otherwise. I needed the sleep badly. Unfortunately though, with just a day left before my two exams on consecutive days, that marathon sleep was a big loss of time. To make up for it, I have decided to run a marathon study session. And of course, to keep me from falling asleep, I have decided to do that here on campus. Currently, it has been just about 9 hours since I have come here. I am going to be here till around 10 pm in the night I think. Have an exam tomorrow on Properties (of materials in Electrical Eng).

What prompted me to write this, taking a break from my studies, is the sight that I am beholding out of the windows of this computer lab. It's about 5 30 am in the morning and the light of day will be here soon enough. This is definitely not the first time I am witnessing the sunrise in the morning. In fact, I probably see the sunrise more often than I see the sun set these days. What makes it kind of special is the fact that I am on campus as this is happening. And unfortunately, I seem to be the only one still here on this side of the campus at least. I wish I didn't have to struggle so much while others fared better. Sigh^infinity.

Another reason for writing this blog is to warm up this new blogspot page and also, it's an excuse for getting away from the academics for a while. Heh.

So..I am looking forward to a breakfast at Tim Horton's soon.. and then it's back to the work as usual. Oh crap. I just yawned. Not a good thing to be sleepy so early in my scheduled day of work. Arrite..I better head back to my work then. Good day to you all!

Cheers!

Birth of the cranium.

And so begins the journey on blogspot. Will update as I can. No promises regarding frequency of posts. No promises regarding worthiness of content. This page might be empty forever.