The true explanations are unobtainable; they just are!

 

You just can’t spend too long thinking about some things without getting a headache.

Some people call them imponderables, and some just don’t have a complete answer.

Some are relatively simple but intriguing. For example, why do paper cuts hurt so much or our skin itch? Many people ask, “What do wisdom teeth do?” It feels like they just help dentists earn money when they’re taken out, but this question may deserve a deeper investigation.

Here are half a dozen that I can’t think of without getting a sore head. They drive me crazy! See how you go.

#1 How do we remember things?

Scientifically, it is all about connections made in our brains. Neurons are special cells in our brain and nervous system. They connect through tiny bridges known as synapses.

How alert we are affects how our brains connect and share information. When we focus, different parts of our brain communicate with each other. During sensory registration, the brain collects information. It connects neurons to form pathways in a specific way.

When we want to remember something, the brain reassembles the pathways.

It’s all good, you say. But now try to imagine all the different pathways going on in your brain. It’s mind-boggling (excuse the pun!).

I see an old-fashioned telephone exchange. An operator is struggling to plug the proper connections into the switchboard.

When we forget, it is because the connections between the neurons are not strong enough.

#2 How come our skin does not leak?

Your skin is porous, allowing fluids in and fluids out. For example, when you rub lotion on your skin, it is absorbed through the skin. When you sweat, you leak fluid through tiny pores in your skin.

Unless you cut yourself, your skin is a watertight barrier.

Humans lose 200,000,000 skin cells every hour. In a 24-hour period, a person loses almost five billion skin cells.

That is almost a trillion cells in a week.

Our skin holds water well and is also permeable. This is because of specially designed cells arranged in a unique pattern. Collagen fibers act like elastic bands. They can be tight, which makes them waterproof, or loose, making them water transparent. Covering them, however, is a layer of oil or sebum that is hydrophobic and repels water.

Combining the two means that our skin can leak and absorb water and fluids. What is amazing is that all this happens right under our noses, so to speak, and we don’t even realize it.

Don’t start thinking about it too hard, or you will start to leak!

#3. How do we talk to someone four thousand miles away as if they were just next door?

Alexander Bell was one smart cookie. Who would have thought your voice could travel as electric signals to someone 4,000 miles away?

OK, so his version was not like that, but he was the catalyst. These signals go through phone lines or data connections to get to the other person. When you talk, your words hit a small diaphragm. This diaphragm vibrates and changes your voice into an electrical signal. Then, a speaker at the other end decodes that signal.

It all makes sense, but consider this: Billions of tiny messages float in space. They seek out your specific caller like a homing pigeon in the dark. That’s amazing!

What is even more amazing is that it all happens as if they are next door to you.

#4: Did we evolve from a frog?

It’s a frightening thought unless you love frogs. The short answer from scientists is ‘No’. But it comes with a caveat. Looking at the evolutionary tree, you’ll see that all animals came from amphibians. These creatures lived in both water and on land. They evolved from fish. (Maybe they got bored swimming around and developed limbs and basic legs.)

So yes, we did share an evolutionary pathway that, at some point, included frogs. Humans and frogs share a common ancestor who lived around 375 million years ago. That ancestor was the first tetrapod, an animal with four limbs.

A curious scientist, likely a PhD student, discovered that 1,700 human genes are very similar to those of the African clawed frog. Now, there is a great party starter.

 

#5 How does what we eat become so many different cells?

It is a three-step process, which sounds simple when you say it quickly. Food is digested into its most basic elements. It is then absorbed into the bloodstream in the small intestine. Various parts are put together inside cells to create the building blocks for each cell type.

Interesting fact: You cannot taste food until it is mixed with saliva. Saliva is the starting point of digestion. How the body (and certain cells) produce it, in itself is amazing.

Scientists estimate there are about 200 different cell types in the human body. Next time you enjoy your ‘meat and three veggies’ meal, picture it as muscle cells or neurons. These cells help you think and remember. That will make your head hurt!

#6 Where and what is the cloud exactly?

When you save your precious photos and stories “to the cloud,” you might picture them floating in endless space. There, countless pieces of data float freely. While that is partly correct, they need to land somewhere.

The truth is, the cloud isn’t what you might think. It’s a complex network of physical data centers. The major cloud service providers are AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform, own and manage the infrastructure needed for cloud computing services.

Several factors determine the location of data centers. What if the data center where your data is stored blows up?

Cloud storage architecture emphasizes scalability and redundancy. Data is spread across many servers and virtual machines. This setup helps cloud storage providers adjust resources and keep data available.

When you consider how much data you create, it adds up fast. Multiply that by everyone in your country, and you get a massive amount of data. It’s amazing how your data moves through space on a fiber connection. It travels with everyone else’s data and still reaches your computer. Truly, it makes your head hurt.

Many other things are difficult to imagine, believe, or process. We end up just accepting them and moving on with our lives - unless you are like me and stop to think about them.

Now, where did I put those headache tablets?

Till next time,

Calvin