Tidbit #15 - April 10, 2011

Lots of you have probably heard of David Feldman's puzzling series of books called "Imponderables," all with different titles. As a reminder, I have not utilized any of his imponderables.. Until now. I'm using one of his most famous questions, and summarizing it in my own words:

Question: How does Aspirin find a headache?


Answer: I looked it up, and I found someone on uh.edu who found his book and typed up Mr. Feldman's answer:

Try that aspirin question: I always thought aspirin just entered the blood and reduced pain wherever the blood went. Aspirin does enter the blood, but then it acts selectively on pain and inflammation. Not 'til the 1970s did pharmacologists figure out how it did that. Aspirin attacks a certain fatty acid that serves as an early warning system by increasing the sensitivity of pain receptors. Aspirin turns those painful warning bells off.

And, as always, my condensed summary:

When you take Aspirin, the pill dissolves into the blood and attacks a fatty acid that causes pain receptors to tell the body something's wrong, shutting it down.

Tidbit #10 - April 5, 2011

"Ohh.. My head. I feel like there are people hammering my skull in. I really shouldn't have drank so much last night."

If you've ever had an overnight in Vegas, you know what that's like. Hangovers are the worst immediate pains of drinking, and many people say that it's karma getting back at you. Unfortunately, during your hangover, you're in too much pain (or too numbed by the Aspirin) that you never think about why it's called a hangover; only sober people do.

Question: Why is it called a hangover?


Answer: See, this question doesn't have any confusing etymology or disputes between what it was. That's why it was so easy to find out. Wikipedia magic, my friends.

Anyways, strictly speaking, the word hangover was used in the 19th century to describe unfinished business (i.e. something you haven't done that you hang over for later). In 1904, people began using the term to mean directly: "something left over from the night before" -- in this case, the leftover party.

So, basically, a hangover is so named because people began using the term to refer to the "leftovers" of the party-that is, the remnants of it.