Cocktail Celebration Physics: by the sword
We’re again! All tanned, rested, and able to sort out no matter life chooses to hurl our manner. It was robust to pull ourselves away from the palm bushes, sandy seashores, fruity tropical drinks by the pool, haute delicacies, and opulent on-site spa, to not point out our personal personal butler (who appeared upset that we did not want him very a lot). However the sound of a lonely cat, meowing within the empty Los Angeles residence, drew us again — that, and the very fact that there have been bugs. Large ones, small ones, and (most distressingly) bitey ones. After waking up two mornings in a row with contemporary raised welts on my arms, I discovered to maintain the home windows closed, despite the fact that I appreciated listening to the waves crashing on the shore at night time.
I don’t know what sort of bug was doing the biting whereas I used to be blissfully slumbering, however I will wager Johanna E.M.H. van Bronswijk of Eindhoven College of Know-how within the Netherlands would know. She was honored final week with the 2007 Ig Nobel Biology Prize for her work taking “a census of all of the mites, bugs, spiders, pseudoscorpions, crustaceans, micro organism, algae, germs and fungi with whom we share our beds every night time.” Apparently there’s an entire teeming ecosystem of bugs in Netherland beds, not less than those van Bronswijk studied. Her analysis wasn’t alone in being, um, honored with an Ig Nobel Prize. As an example, the Chemistry Prize went to Mayu Yamamoto of the Worldwide Medical Heart of Japan “for growing a technique to extract vanillin –vanilla perfume and flavoring — from cow dung.” A Cambridge ice cream store referred to as Toscanini’s created a brand new taste in Yamamoto’s honor: “Yum-a-Moto Vanilla Twist.” No phrase on whether or not the vanilla flavoring was derived from cow dung.
However by far my favourite of this 12 months’s Ig Nobel honorees was the Medicine Prize, awarded to Brian Witcombe, a consulting radiologist at Gloucestershire Royal NHS Foundation Trust in England, and Dan Meyer, who heads the Sword Swallowers Association International, primarily based in Antioch, Tennessee. They had been honored “for his or her penetrating medical report, ‘Sword Swallowing and Its Facet Results,'” which was published to virtually no fanfare final December within the British Medical Journal — perhaps as a result of it was Christmas and other people had been too busy swallowing Yorkshire pudding and opening prezzies to pay a lot consideration to the findings.
For all its lengthy historical past, only a few revealed stories exist of associated accidents from the apply of shoving sharp metal blades down one’s throat — maybe there are solely just a little greater than 100 sword swallowers worldwide, out of a inhabitants of some 6.6 billion folks. So Witcombe got down to discover the varied methods and unintended effects of sword swallowing, with Meyer’s assist. Forty-six SSAI members participated within the examine, having swallowed a mixed 2000 swords over the prior three months. Greater than half (25) had swallowed a couple of, 5 managed to swallow not less than ten swords at a time, and one individual achieved the whopping feat of swallowing 16 swords concurrently.
This type of factor cannot presumably be freed from peril. A news release final December reported that Witcombe and Meyer discovered, “Sword swallowers usually tend to maintain an damage — similar to a perforation of the esophagus — if they’re distracted or are utilizing a number of or uncommon swords.” Largely, the respondents suffered from a sore throat (or as they name it, “sword throat,” such wags, these guys), usually from the a number of sword stunts, or swallowing odd-shaped blades similar to curved sabers moderately than straight ones. Decrease chest pains had been one other frequent grievance — the one treatment being not swallowing any swords for a couple of days. Sixteen had suffered some type of intestinal bleeding, and three had undergone surgical procedure to restore accidents to their necks. One lacerated his pharynx, one other slashed his esophagus — he claimed to have been distracted by a misbehaving macaw on his shoulder — and one unlucky stomach dancer suffered a significant hemorrhage when three blades lodged in her esophagus unexpectedly “scissored,” after an appreciative bystander shoved some greenback payments in her belt. His donation did not come near protecting her medical bills, which got here near $70,000. Not surprisingly, most sword swallowers have larger than common well being care and medical prices. All it takes it one tiny slip-up, in any case.
These accidents are fairly actual, and fairly critical, as a result of not like many different sideshow novelty acts, sword swallowing will not be a magician’s phantasm — though there’s a trick to it (extra on that later). Because the x-ray at left attests, sword swallowers actually do maneuver that sharp steel blade down the hatch, previous all types of important organs. (You possibly can see a extremely cool in-real-time x-ray here, and watch Meyer do his factor here and here — on the latter hyperlink, he swallows seven swords directly! My throat hurts simply eager about it.)
Sword swallowing is an historical artwork relationship again to India earlier than 2000 B.C., the place it was used primarily as “an indication of divine union and energy,” per Wikipedia. Trendy-day Indian fakirs nonetheless carry out such feats, together with consuming burning coals, swallowing snakes, and stopping their very own pulse or elevating their physique temperatures by way of sheer will — though not all such feats are real; many are illusions.
The artwork unfold to China within the eighth century, then to Japan, the place it discovered a house in Sangaku, that nation’s acrobatic theater. It additionally discovered its technique to Greece and Rome, and at last into Europe within the early Center Ages, the place it grew to become a fixture of avenue performers. It languished a bit in the course of the Darkish Ages, partly because of persecution from the Inquisition, resurged briefly within the early 1800s, after which died out once more as folks misplaced curiosity in avenue theater. However a featured exhibition of sword swallowing on the 1893 World Columbian Exposition in Chicago introduced sword swallowing mania to America, the place an entire new era of performers emerged, making some fascinating improvements alongside the best way: a number of swords, bayonets, sizzling swords, and glowing neon tubes, amongst different feats. Meyer is among the best-known modern sword swallowers.
It takes apply, generally over a few years, to develop adequate
ability for protected (comparatively talking) sword swallowing. The time period is a little bit of a misnomer, since swallowing is definitely the very last thing you wish to do with a pointy blade, because it includes contraction of quite a few muscular tissues; as a substitute, the concept is to fully loosen up the throat and switch it into one lengthy “dwelling scabbard.” Primarily,
sword swallowers have to determine easy methods to fastidiously align a sword with
their higher esophageal sphincter — a hoop of muscle on the high finish of
the throat– and straighten the pharynx, generally achieved by hyper-extending the neck by
tipping the top waaay again.
The practitioner should then transfer his tongue out of the best way and consciously loosen up his throat as he “swallows” — not a straightforward factor to do due to our involuntary gag reflex, the physique’s protection mechanism towards swallowing international objects. Mainly, there are nerve endings lining the again of the throat that may detect any intrusive, non-chewed-food objects, producing nerve impulses which neurons carry to the mind stem. The mind responds through the use of motor neurons to instruct the throat muscular tissues to contract. The top consequence: you retch, generally vomiting, because the physique makes an attempt to power the undesirable object out of the throat and mouth.
On the best way down, the sword straightens out the curve of the esophagus and nudges sure organs out of the best way. Per the e-book Weird Medical Abnormalities, revealed in 1897:
“The
instrument enters the mouth and pharynx, then the esophagus, traverses
the cardiac finish of the abdomen, and enters the latter so far as the
antrum of the pylorus, the small cul de sac of the abdomen. Of their regular state within the grownup these organs should not in a straight line, however are so positioned by the passage of the sword. Within the first place they head is thrown again, in order that the mouth is within the course of the esophagus, the curves of which disappear or turn into much less because the sword proceeds; the angle that the esophagus makes with the abdomen is obliterated, and at last the abdomen is distended within the vertical diameter and its inner curve disappears, thus allowing the blade to traverse the larger diameter of the abdomen.”
The identical e-book additionally notes that sword swallowers proved very important to learning the human digestive system within the nineteenth century. Particularly, a Scottish physicist named Stevens had an assistant sword swallower down small steel tubes with holes in them, crammed with items of meat. After a set interval of time, the acrobat would “disgorge” the tubes, and Stevens may examine how a lot the meat had been digested. Additionally, in 1868, a sword swallower visited Freiburg, Germany, so impressing a neighborhood physician named Keller that he examined the person’s throat with a laryngeal mirror. His colleague, one Dr. Muller, is credited with first suggesting that such acrobats would make terrific topics for esophagoscopy, due to their potential to voluntarily loosen up all of the muscular tissues within the throat on the identical time. One other colleague, Adolph Kussmaul, really carried out the primary profitable esophagoscopy on the visiting sword swallower utilizing a rudimentary endoscope (principally a straight tube), mirrors, and a fuel lamp for illumination. The outcomes had been a bit disappointing due to the poor illumination, but it surely did result in additional enhancements within the method.
A famous sword and snake swallower of the mid-1800s, referred to as
Sallementro, claimed he discovered his artwork at 17 from a pal; it took
him three months. He tried beginning with full-sized swords, however found “it made my swallow sore, very sore, and I used lemon and sugar to treatment it.” Apparently he was unable to eat something, and subsisted on a liquid food plan for 2 months till he’d mastered the trick. Knives, he discovered, had been simpler than swords due to the shorter size. “It was tight at first, and I stored pushing it down additional and additional.” He really useful resisting the urge to cough (duh), and likewise oiled the blade to cut back the abrasion because it slides down the throat. 
Snakes proved much less tough, though Sallementro was cautious to “lower the stingers out, ‘cos it would damage you.” He used 18-inch serpents, cleaned by scraping them with a material as a result of in any other case the issues tasted nasty. Not like swords, snakes are fairly useful to the method, naturally inclined to hunt out a darkish gap down which to vanish — except the swallower coughs an excessive amount of, by which case the snake seeks to flee again up the hatch. Sallementro stated that swallowing snakes “tickles just a little, but it surely do not make you wish to retch.” Communicate for your self, buddy.
Like Sallementro, Witcombe and Meyer’s examine discovered that lots of the respondents had desensitized their gag reflex by beginning with smaller objects and rising the dimensions over time. They began with their very own fingers, then upgraded to spoons, paint brushes, knitting needles, bent wire coat hangers, and so forth, earlier than trying quick knife blades and, lastly, swords. Per Cecil Adams of Straight Dope fame, I discovered that Dan Mannix, a retired carnival sword and flame swallower, wrote a memoir of his experiences in 1951, and reported that he positively threw up the primary few occasions he tried to beat the involuntary gag reflex. Then he struggled with getting a sword down his throat as a result of he could not… fairly… loosen up. (Hmmm. Marvel why?) Finally he succeeded, however stated that he needed to bend ahead a bit midway by way of the sword’s passage to get it previous his Adam’s apple. He additionally sometimes struck his personal breast bone with the sword, which apparently felt like a blow to the photo voltaic plexus, from the within.
Many have emulated Sallementro and found out that lubricating the blades with saliva or butter made it simpler to slip them down their throats, though one admitted to retiring from the game after growing a continual “dry mouth” situation. The edges of the swords aren’t sharp, however the ideas are, as those that suffered ruptured stomachs (with the ensuing peritonitis) can attest. Adams — recognizing that there is at all times somebody silly sufficient to do this type of factor at dwelling, regardless of cautionary phrases — recommends wiping the blade earlier than and after swallowing: the primary, to take away any mud which may set off the gag reflex, and afterwards to take away abdomen acid, which may corrode the blade’s steel. (Neon tubes, by the best way, have an added threat of shattering contained in the throat, with severely disabling and generally deadly results.)
The gag reflex can also be an obstacle to aspiring competitive eaters, generally referred to as “gurgitators.” (This is a video clip on the subject.) Again once I lived in New York Metropolis, each fourth of July, on Coney Island, Nathan’s held its annual sizzling canine consuming contest, which garnered a superb share of TV protection. Possibly it was a fascination with the sight of all these folks stuffing sizzling canine of their faces in such a brief span of time, as a result of for 5 years’ operating, the result was virtually a given. The winner all 5 of these years was Takeru Kobayashi, an internationally famend gurgitator who holds the world report for consuming sizzling canine: 53-3/4 sizzling canine with buns,consumed in a mere 12 minutes. That is a staggering 12,500 energy in a single sitting. Evaluate that to the USDA really useful caloric consumption for an grownup male: 2300 energy. Kobayashi gained the occasion from 2001 to 2006, solely being deposed this previous summer time by some man named Joey Chestnut. However there are many different consuming competitions held everywhere in the world yearly, a lot of them sponsored by the International Federation of Competitive Eating (IFOCE).
Gurgitators have some particular methods, similar to dipping contest meals in a glass of water, thereby softening and lubricating it so it does down that a lot simpler — much like how some sword swallowers lubricate their blades earlier than swallowing. It is also advisable to interrupt meals into smaller items earlier than consuming it, so you possibly can match extra in your mouth and lower down on chewing time. Kobayashi breaks a sizzling canine in half and stuffs each halves into his mouth directly (buns are at all times eaten individually). However finally, one of the best aggressive eaters appear to have an innate potential — if such is the phrase — for over-eating, because of suppression of the gag reflex, higher abdomen elasticity, and (extra mysteriously), suppressing the standard alerts the abdomen sends out to point it’s full.
Like sword swallowers, competitive eaters are in a position to loosen up all of the muscular tissues that line the esophagus concurrently, turning it right into a hole pipe. One other secret is abdomen elasticity: it is not the dimensions of somebody’s abdomen, however how a lot it may broaden with the intention to adapt to the massive quantity of meals coming in. So gurgitators usually “prepare” by chugging gallons of water in a brief time period to stretch the abdomen, or eat large quantities of cabbage (low-calorie, high-fiber) as a result of it stays within the abdomen longer earlier than breaking down. Thats additionally why fatter is not essentially higher. The prevailing concept is that extra fats pushes towards the abdomen and
limits how a lot it may broaden. So one of the best aggressive eaters are likely to
be on the thinner aspect. It should not be stunning that, as with sword swallowing, there are inherent risks to aggressive consuming: vomiting (which damages the esophagus and tooth enamel from the abdomen acids that come up), heartburn, fuel, and excessive threat of choking, abdomen rupture, or swallowing bones, which may injure the intestines. The IFOCE discourages “coaching,” partly as a result of ingesting these large quantities of water can perforate the abdomen lining, or result in a probably deadly situation often called water intoxication.
When meals empties into the small bowel, this triggers a hormonal stimulus telling the mind that it’s sated, making it very uncomfortable to proceed consuming past that time — except you will have a pure (or discovered) potential to dampen or block these alerts. That appears to be the case with one of the best aggressive eaters, which is why gastrointestinal specialists are excited by learning such folks in hopes of making use of the brand new data to fight over-eating and weight problems. It may additionally result in breakthroughs in remedy for continual dyspepsia, by which folks really feel bloated and in ache after consuming solely a modest meal as a result of one thing triggers the abdomen to ship a discomfort sign to the mind prematurely. and it may assist with treating extra critical compulsive consuming problems, similar to that featured in an episode of C.S.I.: a person feels so compelled to eat that he have to be stored chained to a chair and watched always, as a result of as soon as he begins consuming, he’s incapable of stopping. Sooner or later he escapes, and after putting second at a neighborhood consuming competitors, finds his technique to one of many many Vegas on line casino buffets, and actually eats himself to dying: his abdomen distends a lot that it crushes the remainder of his inner organs, and he dies in a again alley — with, it have to be stated, an enormous smile on his face. Sated finally, albeit in dying.
I eagerly await an Ig Nobel worthy examine of the gastrointestinal results of aggressive consuming; it would be a pleasant complement to the entire sword swallowing factor. However within the meantime, congrats to physicists Albert Fert and Peter Grunberg for successful this 12 months’s bona fide Nobel Prize in Physics for his or her discovery of the giant magnetoresistance effect — about which we will likely be running a blog about within the subsequent couple of days.