Mind Soup

Almost all of the following images were captured using a scanning electronic microscope. Incredible details of 1 to 5nm (nanometer) in size can be detected 1. Red Blood Cells They look like little cinnamon candies here, but they're actually the most common type of blood cell in the human body - red blood cells (RBCs). These biconcave-shaped cells have the tall task of carrying oxygen to our entire body; in women there are about 4 to 5 million RBCs per micro liter (cubic millimeter) of blood and about 5 to 6 million in men. People who live at higher altitudes have even more RBCs because of the low oxygen levels in their environment. 2. Split End of Human Hair Regular trimmings to your hair and good conditioner should help to prevent this unsightly picture of a split end of a human hair. 3. Purkinje Neurons Of the 100 billion neurons in your brain. Purkinje (pronounced purr-kin-jee) neurons are some of the largest. Among other things, these cells are the masters of mot...

1. I’ll Be Right Back – Godot 2. You Have To Draw The Line… 3. I Have A Window Seat 4. Gone To Work 5. Toy Story 2 Was Okay 6. I Just Wrote On The Wall… 7. I Feel Like This Is The Only Real Mark… 8. Everything You Do Matters 9. I’m Feeling Pretty Good About Myself Tonight 10. My Teeth Are Better Than Your Teeth

When you're sick you may feel that certain body parts are more trouble than they're worth. And in some cases, you'd be right. While the human body has evolved and adapted significantly since the caveman days, a few biological traces of our prehistoric ancestors still remain with us in the form of freeloading body parts we lug around with us, but have no use for. Take a gander at the top offenders! 10. Plica semilunaris You may not know it, but you have a third eyelid. Pull open the two more noticeable eyelids and take a look -- it's located right in the corner by the tear duct. This small third eyelid is left over from what's known as a "nictitating membrane," which is still present in full form in some animals including chickens, lizards and sharks. 9. Body hair No doubt we were once hairier. Up until about 3 million years ago, we were covered with body hair. But by the time Homo erectus arrived, the ability to sweat meant we could shed our woolly ways. 8...

A giant rat with one-inch-long teeth has been caught in the southern Chinese province of Fujian. The rat, which weighed six pounds and had a 12-inch tail, was caught at the weekend in a residential area of Fuzhou, a city of six million people on China's south coast. The ratcatcher, who was only named as Mr Xian, said he swooped for the rodent after seeing a big crowd of people surrounding it on the street. He told local Chinese newspapers that he thought the rat might be a valuable specimen, or a rare species, and had to muster up his courage before grabbing its tail and picking it up by the scruff of its neck. "I did it, I caught a rat the size of a cat!" he shouted out afterwards, according to the reports. Mr Xian is believed to still be in possession of the animal, after stuffing into a bag and departing the scene. The local forestry unit in the city identified the nightmarish creature as a bamboo rat from initial photographs, but said that it would nee...