sciencesoup:

There are no dumb questions on this blog, my friend! I’ll bet a bunch of people are currently reading this thinking MAN I’D REALLY LIKE TO KNOW THAT TOO.

So, let’s talk CHEMISTRY. When onions are grown, they absorb sulfur from the earth, which creates a kind of volatile, organic molecule called amino acid sulfoxides. These form sulfenic acids in the onion cells, and they’re kept separate from enzymes (complex proteins that cause chemical changes). By cutting an onion, you’re actually breaking its cells—so enzymes are now free to mix with the acids. Together they form a sulfur gas called propanethiol S-oxide, and this wafts right up towards your eyes without mercy.

When it reaches them, the gas reacts with the water in your eyes and forms a mild sulfuric acid, which is what causes the REALLY irritating pain. As a defence mechanism, you reflexively tear up to wash the irritant away.

So when you cry, it’s not due to being emotional about cooking, it’s because you have SULFURIC ACID IN YOUR EYES.

That’s pretty badass.

Obscure Color Words 

Obscure Color Words

ecstaticforevermore:

gabyyyx:

crystallify:

frowl:

fue-go:

Don’t stop chasing.

I think that one of the biggest reason why relationships do not work out in the long run is because at one point, one side (or both) stops trying. Before one claims another person as their significant other, they would do anything to make that person happy. They would chase, they would flirt, they would be charming. They would send daily morning and goodnight texts every time you wake up or go to sleep. They would write corny messages and pick up lines just to make sure that there is a smile upon your face. But once they claim you as theirs, all of those things eventually stop. The 5 page texts slowly turn into 1. The constant calls turn into not calling at all. And the lovely endearments turn into daily arguments. In order for a relationship to work, don’t ever stop chasing. Just because the person you want is now consider “yours”, it does not mean they deserve anything less than the time when you’re trying to win them over.

gabyyyx:

crystallify:

frowl:

fue-go:

Don’t stop chasing.

I think that one of the biggest reason why relationships do not work out in the long run is because at one point, one side (or both) stops trying. Before one claims another person as their significant other, they would do anything to make that person happy. They would chase, they would flirt, they would be charming. They would send daily morning and goodnight texts every time you wake up or go to sleep. They would write corny messages and pick up lines just to make sure that there is a smile upon your face. But once they claim you as theirs, all of those things eventually stop. The 5 page texts slowly turn into 1. The constant calls turn into not calling at all. And the lovely endearments turn into daily arguments. In order for a relationship to work, don’t ever stop chasing. Just because the person you want is now consider “yours”, it does not mean they deserve anything less than the time when you’re trying to win them over.

want want want

☆

:(

exactly! 

lettucefetish:

i basically assume that people don’t like me unless they explicitly tell me they like me and then periodically remind me

this 

"

Do not fall in love
With people like me.
people like me
will love you so hard
that you turn into stone
into a statue where people
come to marvel at how long
it must have taken to carve
that faraway look into your eyes

Do not fall in love with people like me
we will take you to
museums and parks
and monuments
and kiss you in every beautiful
place so that you can
never go back to them
without tasting us
like blood in your mouth

Do not come any closer.
people like me
are bombs
when our time is up
we will splatter loss
all over your walls
in angry colors
that make you wish
your doorway never
learned our name

do not fall in love
with people like me.
with the lonely ones
we will forget our own names
if it means learning yours
we will make you think
hurricanes are gentle
that pain is a gift
you will get lost
in the desperation
in the longing for something
that is always reaching
but never able to hold

do not fall in love
with people like me.
we will destroy your
apartment
we will throw apologies at you
that shatter on the floor
and cut your feet

we will never learn
how to be soft

we will leave.
we always do.

"

— Do Not Fall In Love With People Like Me, alonesomes (via oofpoetry)

scienceyoucanlove:

For those who’ve never experienced this phenomenon, eye floaters are little oddly shaped objects that appear in your vision, often when one looks at bright light such as a blue sky. Their shapes vary greatly, but will often appear as spots, cobwebs, or randomly shaped stringy objects. These are not optical illusions, but rather something your eyes are actually perceiving. There are a few different things that can cause this, but in most cases these eye floaters are caused by pieces of the gel-like vitreous breaking off from the back portion of your eye and then floating about in your eye ball.

The vitreous humor, or often just “vitreous”, is a clear gel that fills the gap between your retina and lens, helping maintain the round shape of your eye in the process. This gel is about 99% water and 1% other elements; the latter of which consists mostly of a network of hyaluronic acid and collagen. Hyaluronic acid ends up retaining water molecules. Over time though, this network breaks down which results in the hyaluronic acid releasing its trapped water molecules. When this happens, it forms a watery core in your vitreous body.

As you age then, pieces of the still gel-like collagen/hyaluronic acid network will break off and float around in this watery center. When light passes through this area, it creates a shadow on your retina. This shadow is actually what you are seeing when you see the eye floaters.

Children and teenagers almost never experience these types of eye floaters as there must first be some deterioration of the gel-like substance in their eye, creating the watery core, for these floaters to appear. However, they do still sometimes experience a certain type of eye floater that often appears more like a crystallized web across their vision. These floaters aren’t found in the vitreous humor like the above floaters. Instead, they are found in the Premacular Bursa area, right on top of the retina. These floaters are microscopic in size and only appear as big as they do because of their proximity to the retina. Unfortunately, their microscopic nature makes them almost impossible to treat in most cases.

Bonus Facts:

Interestingly, if the eye floaters would just stay still instead of floating around, your brain would automatically tune them out and you’d never consciously see them. Your brain does this all the time with things both in and outside of your eyes. One example of this inside your eye are blood vessels in the eye which obstruct light; because they are fixed in location, relative to the retina, your brain tunes them out completely and you don’t consciously perceive them.

The reason you can see floaters better when looking at, for instance, a bright blue sky, is because your pupils contract to a very small size, thus reducing the aperture, which in turn makes floaters more apparent and focused.

Individual floaters often won’t change much throughout your lifetime, typically retaining their basic shape and size.

The perception of eye floaters is known as myodesopsia.

The reason the floating specs never seem to stay still is because floaters, being suspended in the vitreous humor, move when your eye moves. So as you try to look at them, they will appear to drift with your eye movement.

Eye floaters are examples of entoptic phenomena. Entoptic phenomena are things we see where the source is within the eye itself.

If you ever see a ton of floaters appear out of no where, possibly with some light flashes, you should get to an eye doctor immediately. There is a chance (1 in 7) that your retina is about to detach from the back of your eye. If that happens, you have very little time to get it fixed before it effectively dies and you go blind from that eye.

Floaters can damage the retina by tugging on it, sometimes producing a tear. When a tear happens, vitreous can invade the opening in the tear, which will ultimately widen the gap and in 50% of these cases will result in the retina eventually becoming fully detached if not repaired via surgery.

“Light flashes” not caused by actual light, also known as photopsia, will often occur when the photoreceptors in the retina receive stimulation from being touched or from being torn. This produces an electrical impulse to your brain, which your brain more or less interprets as a light flash. This physical stimulation is often caused when traction is being applied while the vitreous detachment is taking place. The flashes should subside when the vitreous finally detaches.

These flashes will also often temporarily occur when you get a sharp blow to the head. The sudden jarring causes pressure on the retina; this in turn creates an electrical impulse to the brain which the brain interprets as a flash.

Yet another potential cause of these flashes is with migraine headaches, usually caused by a spasm of blood vessels in the brain. In this case, you will experience the flashes in both eyes at the same time, often followed by an extreme headache, though this doesn’t necessarily have to follow with a headache. Basically, if you are experiencing these flashes in both eyes at the same time, it is likely caused by either severe head trauma, which resulted in damage to both of your retinas, or more likely by some form of ophthalmic migraine.

About 50% of all people will have a vitreous detachment by the time they turn 80.

If you have had a vitreous detachment and you’ve experienced light flashes with that, you have about a 15% chance of developing a retinal tear. From there, you have about a 50% chance of having your retina eventually become fully detached from the back of your eye.

Nearsighted people have a much higher chance of experiencing vitreous detachments due to their often elongated eye shape.

Surgeries do exist for getting rid of eye floaters, if they seriously hamper your vision. This is typically done by replacing the gel-like substance in your eye with a saline liquid.

Read more at http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2010/06/what-causes-eye-floaters/#l6qzhS3QSRk3zrok.99

source

Troughs 

always with the tears and curly hunch of feelings deep down the chest, huh? always with the sadness, and heartaches. when will my heartstring ever hum a happy melody long enough for me to perceive the harmony?

and then poof, nothing. emptiness

if it hurts to keep everything you’re feeling bottled up inside, let it out

if you’re clinging onto someone that doesn’t treat you like you’re worth the world, let them go

Just a random fact, the heart beats over 100 000 times a day. In all those 100 000 times, mine beats only your name. And it will continue to do so, a million times over.