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Hic Hic Hooray: Hiccups Explained
Anonymous Hero writes "Finally after millions of years (and zillions of hiccups) New Scientist gives us an explanation for this most annoying and least obvious of adaptations!"
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...try being taken seriously at work when you have the hiccups...
BlackNova Traders
Why do I yawn when I see someone else yawn?
punch Cowboyneal in the face. works every time.
and knowing is half the battle!
Let's get drunk and delete production data!
Smelly Linux hippies need to free up valuable space for more Mountain Dew and pizza.
Because basically, we are fish....
People who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.
i seem to suffer badly from hiccups. I've even gone to the doctor for them, because I get them so often. However for me, i only get one at a time. I'll hiccup once, and then 15 minutes later i'll hiccup again. It drives me nuts, and often gives me headaches.
If they found a cause, i'll be first in line when the fix is available.
Couldn't they just tell us how to stop them? I really don't care what and where in our evolution they come from....
How about a sure fire way to stop them, besides standing on my head while holding my breath and taking 10 sips of beer while counting backwords from 20.
So, people (hic) get hiccups (hic) because we used to (hic) have gills. Fscking wonderful...(hic) (hic)
Why didn't they (hic)come up with, or at least (hic) mention, a working cure (hic) for them... (hic) (hic) (hic)
Webmaster Wanted - Entropic Reactions
I was hoping they were caused by something cool like mass-hypnosis or alien mind control.
I'm starting to think this isn't the best place to promote my Anti-Sig Campaign.
That's the only cure for hiccups that i've seen work for (almost) everyone. Thankfully I'm always at a bar when i get hiccups - hmmm, maybe there's a correlation there...
Try a teaspoon of white sugar with lemon juice poured on top to soak in. Eat it. No more hiccoughs.
Works every time.
I'm sorry, where did that article provide the explanation? I saw theory, but no proven, scientific answer, as the last two paragraphs indicate...
I'd always thought hiccups were the natural reaction to getting royally tanked.
There are four boxes used in defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order.
The doctor also said that they have no clue why it happens, and that at least one study had shown that if you bring a baby out into bright light they will often start hiccuping. I keep pointing my daughter at the sun, but so far, nuthin. :)
www.HearMySoulSpeak.com
The article seems to indicate that this is a concept - something that may have arisen from brainstorming, and may not be backed up by any data at all!!
This "explanation" is apparently supported by the thinnest of threads in terms of evolutionary history, and hard evidence is not presented to back this claim. This does not stop the Slashdot editors from posting this as "stuff that matters."
Please let the brainstormers check their ideas with research, show correlation, then causation, then present their findings in a way that can be checked by others.
This hypothesis, if you can call it that, is not tested and is perhaps not testable.
Why this reflex motion a) exists at all, and b) why it persists, if it descende from the frog may only be fodder for spectulation.
Science requires more than mere speculation.
Phooey.
Anomaly
But Herr Heisenberg, how does the electron know when I'm looking?
I'm not sure how to take this
On one hand, it is an interesting development. Tracing the 'roots' of us all
On the other it seems quite a trivial thing to be searching for answers on. Why does it matter, really?
Perhaps there are more nefarious purposes for the information gathered. I don't like the sound of that
The article relates a new theory, nothing more. It's a promising theory, and one which can be disproven easily. If the test fails to disproove the theory, then it can be taken more seriously as an explanation. Still, it may never be PROVEN, per se.
Boss: take a look at this code, I don't know how long it's been around, but it must have some use right?
...
...
private class Brain {
try {
} catch(UnknownException e) {
this.hiccup();
}
"I only speak the truth"
Karma: null(Mostly affected by an unassigned variable)
You mean...*hic* the bag thing... *hic* doesn't work? *hic*
How much did it cost to figure this out?
Please tell me it cost less than it did to develop the square watermellon. Or Windows XP. Both useless products.
We'll meet a man who's been hiccupping for over 30 years.
"!Hic! Kill me. !Hic!"
Some men spend their entire lives trying to kill themselves for having been born. --Ross MacDonald
There is a trick to making them go away. It takes some concentration, but you can consciously prevent your muscles from doing that to you. I wish I knew how to explain it - it's like teaching someone to burp on command - I just "know" how to do it, but I'm not sure how to explain what to do.
You get hiccups when you've drunk too much.
These doofus scientists don't even watch TV or go to the pub, obviously. Boffins.
Blearf. Blearf, I say.
Anyone got any sure-fire techniques?
Score one more for the we came from a puddle of sludge team!
Not that I wouldn't prefer creation over evolution. Probably wouldn't have hiccups. Thanks a lot, natural selection.
like people coughing in a theatre, once one person starts the others follow.
:
My hypothesis
Falling asleep and/or coughing is a dangerous activity with predators around. So when one person coughs and gives the game away it would be prudent to get your coughing over and done with now rather than when it goes quiet again.
With yawning maybe it's a trigger to take an oxygen blast before it's necessary.
Will that do?
There are places where the networks are not touching,and there are places where they are-Boeing's Lori Gunter
I'll have to show to article to the wife. That way the next time I get the hiccups, she'll understand why I start going for, uh well, if you read the article you'll know.
Have you ever noticed hiccups in babies.
:)
My brothers just had a little girl. She quite a noisemaker - Cries almost all the time. Now I've noticed that sometimes in her rare quiet periods when she gets hickups - she doen't seem to care.
Now this is a child that uses high screaming as the first symptom of hunger, or any othe discomfort - but when she has hickups she doesnt seem to notice. She'll just go on watching our faces - or whatever little people does for fun. This is even though every hickup makes her little body jump.
While not even resembling proof for anything - it might suggest that the theory that suckling and hickups are related behaviour is not that far of.
I get the worst hickups myself. My little 100kg 190 cm body, shakes in cramps an my head and throat aches - and they last for a long time. We once threw a dinner party - and I had the hickups all through dinner - quite conversationkiller
Knowing why and how it happens is good, but what about healing hiccup?
For most of us, hiccups are just a small annoyance for a couple of minutes, but I remember watching a medical TV emission where people explained that they suffered from chronical hiccups. These persons could have hiccups for several days (night and day), and their life was not funny at all.
JB.
Perhaps by pointing out the obvious cycle I can avoid it (or perhaps because I mention it someone will reply saying it to get modded +3 funny). But every time a creationist posts their arguments some ignorant person replies by saying "you believe a fairy tale" or "if you like to believe myths that's your choice". Grow up. Of all places the slashdot community should try to be aware of these comments. Use logic, reason, arguments. Despite what you might think, the truth _is_ important to me, and I'm sure if I could meet you in person I would be able to impart that feeling to you - that I have thought about what I believe. That I have followed rational steps that lead to this conclusion.
Just to dispel a few myths. Any evolutionist who reads this and wants to quote his favorite "15 refutations of creationist arguments" I've already seen that website. It's simply arguing against positions only held by christians who also don't understand creationism or evolution. Creationists understand and agree with natural selection. If you don't understand how we can believe that and still believe creationism/not believe evolution, then you don't understand creationist arguments!
I do not think this attitude of "evolution is right" should be encouraged on slashdot. Lets acknowledge that just like there are some who vouch for vi and others who swear by emacs, there are some who think evolution is rational and some who think creationism is a better position. Lets deal with facts. All of us (well almost all) would agree that scientology is a deceitful institute that should be dispelled. Yet when you talk about creation vs evolution you are talking about something that many slashdotters are themselves split on. This only hurts the community as far as I can see.
Anyway, I'm not here to argue my position. I've done that many times, and invariably the above happens. All I'm asking is that we change this culture and start to respect opinions of each other. It is certainly true that no-one's opinion will be changed or opened unless there is respect for each other - and comments like this one eliminate all respect that a creationist might have for an evolutionist slashdotter. Please stop.
Having finished that research, they are now trying to determine the cause of slashdotting.
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
Rotenone?
or Rex Hunt?
Irene KHAAAAAAN!
If only I had known this in elementary school. It would have saved me from detention.
Remember how all of the school health books had a little blurb on hiccups? The Q&A form went like this:
Q: What causes hiccups?
A: Hiccups are a spastic contraction of the diaphragm combined with the closing of the windpipe. Drink some water...
I got in trouble for not accepting that. The teacher gave the class the same answer and I told him: "OK, so that's what they are, but WHY do we get them?" Same answer again. So I explained to the teacher and the class the difference between cause and effect.
2 hours after school...oh, the trauma! Freakin' great way to foster a sense of inquiry.
I know a way to prevent them....Try this...Fill water in your mouth and hold your nose with your hand...(such that you can't breathe)...Do this for a few seconds...and then release your nose...You will find them gone!! Try again for few seconds if the hiccups still persist!!
don't women hiccup when they get my 10cc delivered at 38mph? Are they just *that* good at closing off their glottis?
When I read the title, I thought maybe Taco was going to explain why Slashdot has been as stable as a Windows 3.1 box on a Packard Bell for the last few weeks.
I have to agree. I love that fact that on slashdot, everyone is all about respecting opinions of others, unless that opinion is one based on some sort of Christianity, at which point any respect disappears.
So you believe the earth is just 7000 years old?
I pigeonhole spicy food into five personal categories, with examples: mild (Korma), hot (Madras), hiccups (the hotter types of Indonesian Tom Yam), painfully fiery (Vindaloo), and too hot for me (Tindaloo and hotter).
... :-)
I'm prepared to accept the possibility of ancestry shared with fish, but I've never heard of fish eating curries
"The question of whether machines can think is no more interesting than [] whether submarines can swim" - Dijkstra
Newsfollow.com
next they can hopefully figure out why everyone does really stupid stuff to get rid of hiccups!
/me does a headstand and chugs a glass of water
[I can picture a world without war, without hate. I can picture us attacking that world, because they'd never expect it]
I have this argument with my significant other all the time. She gets hiccups fairly regularly - perhaps once a month. I haven't had the hiccups in over 15 years.
When I was young, I remember reading an article that suggested hiccups were purely psychological. Since then, I've been convinced that it was purely a matter of will.
Occasionally I'll get a single hiccup - usually after drinking a carbonated beverage of some variety. But I know that hiccups are psychological, and I never have a second hiccup. As I said, this has worked for over 15 years.
My significant other? She swears that it's some biological function. Her hiccups? They last for at least five minutes - sometimes up to half an hour.
Call me crazy, but at least I'm hiccup-free.
Close to 6000 but I do not know for certain.
Rotenone?
or Rex Hunt?
Displaying a pack of fish fingers?
Displaying a picture of a big shark, toothed whale, otter or seal?
Throwing a fishing net over the victim?
Electric shock?
Dynamite?
I guess we know why drinking water doesn't help.
they need to find out why we still use Outlook Express.
Karma: Bad due to google bombing - Robert Watkins woz 'ere.
I know a way to prevent them....Try this...Fill water in your mouth and hold your nose with your hand...(such that you can't breathe)...Do this for a few seconds...and then release your nose...You will find them gone!! Try again for few seconds if the hiccups still persist!!
The parent to my post was referring to having the hiccups while at work. I don't really suggest you try this while in a meeting!
No, that's alright, no thanks necessary.
I have discovered a truly marvelous sig, unfortunately the sig limit is too small to contain i
...that was interesting. But after years of experimentation, I'm still holding onto my theory that the primary cause of hiccups originates from the Guinness brewery. ;-)
I'd volunteer to be part of the suckling & hiccuping brain study. I'd be particularly interested in the suckling part.
Simple logic:
1. the beer bottle is the teat
2. you suckle it
3. suckling teats invokes hiccups
4. 1&2&3 -> you get hiccups
The only creationist arguments I have ever heard that weren't deeply seated in religion were really only arguments against evolution. Proving evolution as Darwin saw it wrong doesn't prove creation right. Evolution is a growing field that is continually changing and (without sounding punny) evolving. Creationism on the other hand is typically a statement of "facts" that are based on scripture and dogma.
My goal here was not to pursuade anyone of my position, but instead ask them to think that the people they talk to about this issue are real people that can think, and are a part of the slashdot community - not some outsider.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but the article seems to be a bunch of speculation.
It would be great if this research could help bring an end to Chronic Hiccups, a condition in some people which lasts for hours, days, or, in extreme cases, indefinitely, as a result of various illnesses of the lower abdomen. This could help afflicted people return to a normal lifestyle and regain their social life.
-
How does this undermine his position? It merely points out that SO Many of the "Open Minded" posters here are bigots. People seem to think that bigotry can be applied only to Christians, but that is just not true...
More useful would be figuring out:
a) Why we yawn.
b) Why, when we yawn, does it cause someone ELSE to yawn.
c) What can I do to STOP yawning.
I swear, every time I'm reading my toddlers their books, I start yawning like crazy. Irritating, that.
In response to the article though: fish huh? Uhhhhh... Ok, buddy. Back to the drawing board then?
- OrbNobz
Warning: Your sig has expired. Please enter a new one:
If you are curious there are plenty of resources available, but I'm not interested in walking in circles again.
Unfortunately, Creationists are anti-rational.(some might say that they are ir-rational, but I won't go that far.)
THe problem with Creationism is that it isn't Science, it is Religion. It isn't Science because it can't be disproved.
I have discovered a truly marvelous sig, unfortunately the sig limit is too small to contain i
UNIX can prevent hiccups in the first place with the nohup command.
nohup whoami
"UNIX: It sure beats drinking a glass of water while standing on your head!"
They didn't mention whiskey, even once! %)
Getting scientific information from New Scientist is like getting international news from USA Today.
postmodernsideshow.com
http://www.xenu.net/
Probably caused by guilt.
> There are many slashdotters who believe this and can argue quite coherently against evolutionists.
If that's the case, why do we always hear the same old schlock instead of those coherent arguments?
> Use logic, reason, arguments.
Add "evidence" to that recipe and you'll understand why most of us reject mythomagical explanations of how the universe works.
> Creationists understand and agree with natural selection.
Actually, some do, some don't. Some, usually called "theistic evolutionists", don't even deny evolution.
> I do not think this attitude of "evolution is right" should be encouraged on slashdot.
Let's instead encourage looking at the facts, and we'll get the same result.
> All I'm asking is that we change this culture and start to respect opinions of each other.
Even when those opinions are demonstrably idiotic?
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
I feel compelled to reply to this troll. Why do you have to make comments like this? There are many slashdotters who believe this and can argue quite coherently against evolutionists. I personally have not yet met a single evolutionist who _understands_ the creationist position. Especially on slashdot.
Indeed, I do not. I have never seen any evidence for Creationism. I just cannot take it seriously at all. Remember, shooting holes in "Evolution Theory" is not evidence for Creationism. It's not an either/or question, not a zero sum game. Just that some parts of evolution aren't yet understood well doesn't mean there is any evidence for Creationism.
I believe posters are recognized by their sig. So I made one.
I always feel like a little kid when I get them
Now you've spoiled it!
That was going to be Michael Jackson's defense.
> I personally have seen a great deal of positive evidence supporting creationism, and not just arguments refuting evolution.
OK, list your 10 best bits of evidence.
Or your best 3, if you prefer.
Or even just 1, if you'd like.
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
Ha, now instead of holding my breath, jumping up and down, drinking water, etc to get rid of hickups, I can just ask the closest female to let me suckle :)
...why do I get hiccups while smoking a cigar? Does that mean my 'inner fish' is a non-smoker?
Max
Woot w00t w007.
Articles
This article doesn't explain pr prove anything!
It's just theory and speculation.
I take nothing for granted untill proven to me.
And now, I want them to explain me why when people drink alcool, lots of time they will have hiccups.
I'm always amaze how "Team of scientists" can come with not so complete theory like that.
WHat are they doing all day?
There is however a large discrepancy between belief in creationism and evolutionary creationism. One belief states that the world and the human race is 10 000 years old (give or take) , and that both were willed into existance by God. The other states that world is several billion years old, and humans evolved from monkeys through mechanisms and in a universe willed into existance by God.
No one is going to change their mind on this issue because of a post on Slashdot, and I'm not trying to argue one side over the other. Just pointing out that this *is* a tech oriented community, so people are more likely to emphasize the emperical and quantifiable. While the debate on evolutionary creationism has factors which land strongly in the unknowable (ie is there a God?), creationism has some fairly strong evidence to the contrary (dinosaurs).
Regardless, I don't think it's worth getting *angry* about either way... personally that's always been one of my biggest problems with fundamantalists: if they know in their heart of hearts that they're right, why do they get *so* worked up if someone starts asking questions? I mean.. I think I'd have a hard time getting someone red in the face by refusing to believe in gravity...
The reason all of your arguments about evolution end up in circles is that you can invoke the "faith" hyperspace button to jump back to square one whenever you are cornered.
> I have to agree. I love that fact that on slashdot, everyone is all about respecting opinions of others,
Oh, please. On Slashdot you can get flamed for saying you're on Slashdot.
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
Of course, if you *don't* believe in evolution, this pretty much doesn't explain anything.
actually I would say that the fanatics only make up a tiny percentage of those who consider themselves religious... its just the fanatics are the loudest and they capture the attention, while the normal, peaceful "live and let live" religious people are quiet and don't need to raise a fuss to proclaim their faith.
But... most people are too lazy or just don't want to accept this fact and say things like 95% of the world are "self-righteous" and "religious fanatics."
A shame really.
sad robot making broken music
> Would you respect the opinion of someone that claimed the tooth-fairy created earth 38 minutes ago?
Hey, it's Thursday isn't it?
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
Check the Guinness book of world records... there's a guy who has had the hiccups for 60 years or so... Oh, the poor soul. C'mon scientists, he's waiting on you! ;)
"To confine our attention to terrestrial matters would be to limit the human spirit." -Stephen Hawking
Even though I don't know the biology behind it, I do know that a common cause for hiccuping is eating too fast. A drink of water always cures that for me. Is there a fishy explanation for that, too?
This is the real signature
(Beats those shadows on the cave wall, don't it?)
I don't know how scientific my technique is, but it's practical. :)
Place both of your fingertips so that you feel the "bottom" of your rib cage, about 2 inches above either side of your belly button. Then move your fingers down about an inch, and then finally push in about an inch. Basically, you're pushing on your diaphragm. Hold for about 30 seconds. (Basically two hiccup cycles.)
I discovered it after learning musicians should be breathing from their diaphragm. Has worked like a charm over the many years.
Cheers
This has only failed me once in the last ten years. YMMV.
1. Get a glass of water.
2. Take a deep breath and let it out, but don't push it out. Don't worry if you hiccup during that breath.
3. Without taking another breath, start taking *tiny* sips of the water; try to take at least one per second. Swallow each one. Keep your epiglottis closed as much as you can, in case you hiccup in the middle of doing this.
4. After 10-15 sips, the muscles in your mouth and throat will start to get tired, making it more difficult to do this. Keep going.
5. After a few more sips you won't care about the tired muscles, because you'll really REALLY want to breathe. Force yourself to take a couple more sips, then stop drinking and take that breath.
You should have no more hiccups after this. If you keep hiccuping wait a few minutes and try again. If it doesn't work on the second try, you're screwed. Also, this will not work if the hiccups are from being drunk and it may not work if they're a side-effect of medication.
I'll prove thier hiccupping is similar to sucking nipples. Send me a big-breasted 20 year old centerfold-type chick over, and when I start hiccupping, i'll put my mouth on her nipples. She'll tell me what she thinks it feels like. Damn, I smell grant money.... gotta go...
today is spelling optional day.
Besides, I've argued with you before, I still remember you. I remember being very frustrated at you failing to listen to what I was saying. No way I want to do that again.
Anyway, it's no different from the "We're talking about millions of years" portal. As Fry said (Futurama), "Time makes fools of us all."
Your behaviour is puzzling. You immediately post a link to a site that bashes Scientology, but seem very reluctant to post anything that would describe and support rational creationism. This sounds suspicious. Basically, what you say amounts to: "I am no mystic, I have solid facts and experiments to support my beliefs; but you'll have to take my word for this since I have no time and you are too dumb".
Actually, you're achieving the exact opposing goal. I think ANY rational person has mental alarms ringing all over as soon as he identifies this pattern. So your choice is simple. Either you describe and support your views, or you lose all credibility.
It would be nice to be sure of anything the way some people are of everything.
> actually I would say that the fanatics only make up a tiny percentage of those who consider themselves religious... its just the fanatics are the loudest and they capture the attention, while the normal, peaceful "live and let live" religious people are quiet and don't need to raise a fuss to proclaim their faith.
You got that right. Some of my favorite people are fundamentalists. Curiously, they aren't trying to have mythology taught in science class.
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
Anyone consider that this might spark up an evolution vs creation debate? I mean not like evolution needed any more supporiting theories/proof, but there are some people out there that can't accept anything.
"I'm a leaf on the wind. Watch how I soar."
-Hoban Washburn
Evolution is only a theory. The definition of the word theory includes:
"the analysis of a set of facts in their relation to one another"
and
"applausible or scientifically acceptable general principle or body of principles offered to explain phenomena"
So the problem with creationism include the following: Where are the facts. The Bible can not be stated as a fact as it is written by man. The moment you accept it as the Word of God then you have brough religion in to the frame. The plausibility is in doubt. The moment you bring in a supreme creator laying down dinosaur bones to test us religion rears it's ugly head again. Also using occams razon what's more likely that nearly every science known to man is wrong in some way or another (Physics, Geology, Zoology, Anthropology etc.) or the World really is millions of years old. Many people make the mistake of concentrating on evolution alone but there are many many theories which set the age of the Earth.
Its not bigotry that sets me against creationism merely an appraisal of the facts and their plausibility. Creationism just doesn't stand up scientifically. I am a Pagan by the way and so not totally against religion/faith.
> Besides, I've argued with you before, I still remember you.
Yes, I remember pointing out the folly of your arguments in the past as well.
> I remember being very frustrated at you failing to listen to what I was saying. No way I want to do that again.
Co-out noted, though I give you credit for being wise enough not to expose the bankruptcy of your beliefs again.
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
One belief states that the world and the human race is 10 000 years old (give or take) , and that both were willed into existance by God. The other states that world is several billion years old.. This is not necessarily true -- there are plenty of creationists who believe the earth is several billion years old (me included). The difference being what the word "day" means in the book of Genesis. Original Hebrew can show it to mean "period of time". Similarly, the Bible says to God "a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like a day" (i.e. human's time is mostly incomparable to God's time) Ergo, the 6 days God took to create the earth was actually a lot longer.
"Truth is not decided by majority vote" consensus gentium -- Norman Geisler
First off, from the subject line, no, this is not a post about how getting the hiccups during a job interview can kill your hopes and dreams.
From the article: another (theory is) that they prevent amniotic fluid entering the lungs (of babies). If their purpose is to prevent liquid getting into the lungs, points out Christian Straus at Pitie-Salpetriere Hospital in Paris, you would expect the closure of the glottis to be associated with the contraction of the muscles used for breathing out, as in a cough, not those for breathing in.
Would someone like to explain to Mr. Straus that there is a greater chance of aspirating amniotic fluid when one is breathing in, than when one is breathing out!?!
There's a problem for fighter pilots called photopic sneeze which affects them when they are suddenly hit in the eyes with bright sunlight and can cause loss of control at high speeds. Interesting that some guy here mentions a drinking buddy who used to both sneeze and hiccough when out drinking. Wonder how closely these two spasmodic reflexes are linked.
> Articles [creationresearch.org]
Is there one of those articles that you would particularly like to defend?
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
C'mon, that article was just a *theory*
I KNOW the real cause is that aliens have implanted the hiccup reflex as a form of study. By observing the hiccup distribution frequency and duration of all humans simultaneoulsy, they can tell how close we are to The Big Hic - then they come and get us.
to know how to stop them! I mean, knowing WHY we do it is kinda interesting, but an article that definatively tells how to end the hiccups...That would be worth a Nobel!
Always value the individual over the system. --Bruce Lee "I don't need a Sig - I have a custom 191" - me
Doesn't this sound like childbirth in reverse?
"The cup... the drop... it's a YES!"
If you are desparate for my to link to something, then I can link you to a book I have heard is good but have not personally read. Here it is if you like. I just don't really see the need to post links. There are people out there who have dedicated their careers to this. Their resources are readily available with google. Why do you need me? I'll happily direct anyone to resources in person, but on slashdot a person has to convince me they are genuinely interested - since every time previously I have ended up in circles. As I said I don't want to end up defending arguments on those websites or books. I'll leave that up to the people who have dedicated their careers to it.
I hope that clears it up.
I don't know about the rest of you, but I only get hiccups when I have air trapped in my stomach. I've found there are two ways to get rid of them (for me). Both involve burping. The first is to swallow more air by closing off the windpipe and sucking air into the stomach, which almost immediately causes me to burp and usually takes both the trapped air and the new air I swallowed with it. This is what I've always assumed that my hiccups were trying to make me do, so bully on the article that was posted. The second, which I prefer, is to tense my stomach muscles in such a way that at the next hiccup, the air is forced out of my stomach. Using these techniques, I rarely hiccup more than three times. In fact, the last time I couldn't get rid of them was right after I had my wisdom teeth removed (years ago) and I was still recovering from the effects of whatever valium derivative they used.
GreyPoopon
--
Why is it I can write insightful comments but can't come up with a clever signature?
I can induce about three large hiccups when I take the first few swallows of a heavily carbonated soft drink. The effect does not re-occur during the rest of the drink.
Might be a basis for some further research since it starts a hiccup. Does this happen to anyone else?
> I neglect to mention links because I don't want to be forced into defending them - it is a waste of time and results in going around in circles.
Yep, defending creationist Web sites is indeed a waste of time.
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
It seems like Darwin is under similar pressures to maintain backwards compatibility for gills that we no longer use as Intel and AMD are under pressure to maintain backwards compatibility for the x86 processors.
We can't get rid of that legacy reflex to exercise our gills because there's too much software written on top of it.
> If you are desparate for my to link to something, then I can link you to a book I have heard is good but have not personally read. Here it is if you like [amazon.com].
How funny. Just yesterday someone posted on talk.origins that the author of that book now has a new book that discards all the arguments from the old one, and now accepts common descent.
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
The only time I get hiccups is if I do something like eat too big a chunk of bread without adding enough liquid to get it down the pipe quickly. I'm only this stupid a couple times a year. I can kinda feel the food going down too slow, and I know a hiccup fit is coming, especially if I can't get water down there quick enough. And sure enough, it does. I continue to hiccup until the food passes.
Or isn't this a hiccup?
I guess it must be genetically programmed to surrender to the Germans every few decades or so...
How can anyone not read this and firstly not fall about in laughter at the poor research, then believe that just because it is written down that Jack P Lester has a PHD that it is actually true. Mmm, maybe creationists?
Used to be a pretty popular theory that the develpomental stages of an individual of some species (ontogeny) mimic its anchestral path (phylogeny). I'm going from vague memory here, biology people will no doubt correct me. But it is a wierd kind of time-shifting. For example, they'd say that babies look like and behave like some species that we evolved from, say, tadpoles. Everybody would use this to prove their pet misanthropic theory. For example, they'd say was less advanced here than because they behave like say chimps, so they're still as a race stuck in that stage. Hitler used this argument, for example.
Stephen J. Gould wrote a very nice book about it "Ontogeny Recapitulates Phylogeny." For a minute there, it seemed that the researcher was saying that human babies behave like tadpoles, but perhaps it's more like we just kept the same mechanism around as a building block.
Many cures for hiccups involve a contraction of the diaphragm and stomach muscles - scaring, drinking water, holding breath. As a kid, that led me to invent my own cure, which always works for me.
I theorized that, like blinking, sneezing or coughing, a hiccup was trying to clear some sort of irritating blockage. So I tried manually pressing in and slightly up just on and below the breastbone while trying to burp - basically adding a bit more strength and persistence to the action of the diaphragm. Now it may just be me - but when I've been hiccuping, this always causes a sort of foamy burp, and the hiccups end.
Now it could just be that the diaphragm gets stretched a bit and stops contracting (like stretching a cramping muscle). But my theory has always been that some foam has built up and feels like a blockage to the stomach. It wouldn't show up on any medical imaging, so it isn't surprising that it wouldn't have been detected. And since hiccups are commonly associated with eating or drinking too fast or drinking fizzy drinks - getting air into your stomach, it doesn't seem TOO improbable.
Anyhow - call it wacky if you want, but my hiccup cure has never failed me.
This is exactly what happens to me as well. I don't know what it is about having air trapped that triggers the hiccups, but it rarely lasts very long for me. I also get rid of them by drinking a large glass of water, or soda. Water forces out the air, and the soda adds more air, both causing a burp. When those aren't available, I do what you do. However, it only happens where there is a little air in there. When there is more, it's just a burp.
However, there is one kind of uncontrollable hiccup I get. It occurs when I eat something that is too hot, too fast, like biting into a jalapeno when I'm not expecting it. My family and friends laugh at me when this happens. It has nothing to do with trapped air. If I build up the heat before biting into that jalapeno, I don't hiccup.
What I'd really like to know is how to get rid of them easily and as fast as possible. Anyone got interesting theories? I've heard a couple like drinking a whole glass of water quickly. Standing upside down, holding your breath, etc. If you have a semi-scientific reasoning behind your theory it's even better.
Well - my main, and not really scientific reason to regard your arguments as silly:
:)
Religiopus masters have always stated things as being the truth without giving much evidence, but just making people saying otherwise look silly.
The earth is flat you said - it has shown no to be.
The earth is the center of the universe - it has shown not to be.
Several of these silly statements have come out of religion, and at some point religious masters have just lost their credebility(spelling?).
It is comparable to scientist that shout up and say that they have come up with some cheap way to produce endless energy - today, and it wont cost anyone anything.. They just need $10m to build the prototype and we will all be happy!
The fifth time he has failed to come up with this miracle machine, would YOU give him the money when he came and claimed the same thing once more?
But as you think - its not really worth discussing as none of us would probably change out minds!
The article seems to indicate that this is a concept - something that may have arisen from brainstorming, and may not be backed up by any data at all!!
This "explanation" is apparently supported by the thinnest of threads in terms of evolutionary history, and hard evidence is not presented to back this claim. This does not stop the Slashdot editors from posting this as "stuff that matters."
Please let the brainstormers check their ideas with research, show correlation, then causation, then present their findings in a way that can be checked by others.
This hypothesis, if you can call it that, is not tested and is perhaps not testable. Why this reflex motion a) exists at all, and b) why it persists, if it descende from the frog may only be fodder for spectulation.
Science requires more than mere speculation.
Phooey.
Anomaly
I've found that taking a gulp of coca-cola and letting it fizz in my mouth before swallowing usually does the trick. If no carbonated beverage is available, swishing water in my mouth really hard, then swallowing really fast also works.
Need a Linux consultant in New Orleans?
I see all sorts of weird techniques being presented all over this story, but I haven't see anyone present the most simple solution. I can't think of a time this hasn't worked for me. Just hold your breath. Usually you have to do it for at least 30 seconds. You have to hold it and almost be pushing the air down in your throat, if that makes sense.
Forget the whales - save the babies.
Okay, I don't know about most of you, but I ceased having problems with Hiccups. I used to hiccup all the time, or when I would get them, I couldn't stop for a while. I have finally figured out how to make myself stop hiccuping. I just have to swallow as soon as one comes up. 99% of the time I can stop it right after 1/2 of a hiccup. Has anyone else figured out this technique, or is it just me?
I guess that is kinda funny. New book called "Nature's destiny"? I'll be sure to remember that.
Thanks
... how do I get rid of them? And why aren't hiccups painful for children, but painful for many adults? And why do I get them after I've eaten too fast, but not after I've drank too fast?
If it turns out that this theory is correct, how will it help us get rid of them?
I'm so disappointed that it appears that the only point of the article/theory is to try and explain hiccups in utero.
Key to financial independence: Spend less than you earn. Save and invest the difference. Do it for a long time.
It seems that this is where staunch liberalism leads to.
There is nothing better to write about than hiccups - and look at the article!
Those guys have nothing to write about, full of "suggestions" and "Plausible idea" "hard to proove" is gradually passed from publicist to journalist until at "slashdot" it ends up beinf a hard scientific evidence.
Shame!
Where do I find some beter, conservative forum, which cares less about movies or computer games and more about technology?
Hiccups are terrible. But since my nose job last monday(of which I'm recovering right now and yes..it was for medical reasons) I learned that sneezing is terrible with an broken nose. Even more terrible dan hiccups in a conversation.
Oops...I failed surpressing it again...I'm afraid the screen of my ibook is covered (again) with a mixture of blood and slime...
Well I hope you can understand that many times in the past I have given links. I neglect to mention links because I don't want to be forced into defending them - it is a waste of time and results in going around in circles.
Well, I missed the previous discussions, so this does not help me. Also, once I have been provided with a relevant source of information, I don't need you (or anyone else) anymore in order to make my own opinion.
with a cursory search of google you can find a whole range of resources
You mentioned yourself earlier in this thread that some (most?) creationists are more or less religious bigots. You hint that you belong to "rational" creationists. I don't think Google will do the sorting and I don't want to spend hours finding diamonds among the muck. I guess that you have already done that work, so please do me a favor and help me save some time.
I can link you to a book I have heard is good but have not personally read. Here it is if you like [amazon.com]
I'd prefer a book that you HAVE read. Also, this book seems to poke holes into evolution far more than it advocates any competing theory. So it does not answer the initial question of what is it that you believe.
You know, many people feel that evolution is incomplete or even wrong in some parts, even though they buy the basics. Bashing evolution is useful only if it brings a better alternative. Your personal beliefs (earth is +/- 6,000 years old) are very hard to swallow. I'm willing to keep my mind open, but only if I see something worthwile to prove it. If I don't, I'll just store it in the "highly unlikely and unsupported" folder.
It would be nice to be sure of anything the way some people are of everything.
I think this deserves more research by me in the future, because a biologist who is convinced there are massive problems with evolution and then changes his mind would be significant indeed - and so would understanding his reasons why.
Especially considering this review:
At least one pro-evolution writer, Gert Korthof, has seized with delight Denton's apparent flip-flop on evolution. In Part 2 of Nature's Destiny that appearance is quickly dispelled, but Denton still deserves some of the blame for the confusion. Virtually every reference to evolution in Part 1 could be replaced with a reference to the survival of species, and the argument concerning the laws of physics would not be diminished. By using the word "evolution" as he does, Denton seems to be contributing to the obfuscation of that word, rather than clarifying it as Phillip Johnson seeks to do.
When we begin reading Part 2, it immediately becomes apparent that Denton is talking about something very different from Darwin's concept of natural selection acting on random changes. Denton proposes that evolution is true in a sense, but that it is not driven by random changes, but rather by intelligently directed leaps which involve significant changes in complexity. Further, he proposes that these directed leaps are not performed by supernatural acts of interference with the laws of physics, but instead were elaborately planned into the laws of physics from the beginning. Thus, Denton finds a point of common ground between pure naturalism and the intelligent design of higher organisms -- a remarkable feat.
Anyway, I'm off to bed.
...solving the one about hicups is the one I cared about the least. By far.
-- Contradictions only exist in thought - not in reality.
- Take a deep breath: This is not one of those long drawn out affairs. Sit or stand up straight. Lean forward just a little. Open your mouth. Open your throat. Inhale all the way. It should take less than a second to fill your lungs.
- Pause: about half a second should do it.
- Top off:Now draw in as much more air as you can. If you do it right you should feel some stretching in your abdomen.
- Pause
- Exhale normally.
- Take a normal breath. (You don't want to hyperventilate.
- Repeat 2 more times. If your hiccups persist repeat sets of two until they're gone.
Notes:If you're having trouble drawing a proper deep breath try sticking an empty toilet paper roll in your mouth and breathing through that.
At no time should you actually close your mouth nose or throat. Keep your airways open.
The Math Maestro Tutoring Services in Seattle
Wow... So at one time they actually taught health in health class? The last time I took it, it consisted of:
This was the required 10th grade health class at my EPHS (in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, USA). No way out of it. I actually had to take this class instead of the CompSci prerequisite course I wanted to take. So I ended up having a couple free hours later on in the year that, due to the prerequisite only being offered 1st quarter, could not be filled with any fun, non-stupid classes.
My little brother's suffering through "Health 10" right now. His teacher is really into "role playing" skits, and outright said that anyone who didn't enjoy doing the role playing crap was mentally ill or something (I believe "very low self esteem" was the precise words she used). Nice way of saying "anyone who isn't like me and doesn't like what I like has something wrong with them because I am perfect." I know plenty of people that have good self esteem and just don't like doing crappy plays. Hell, I remember some survey a while ago that said being in front of people was the #1 fear of Americans (death was #3). Last I checked we weren't killing ourselves off by the millions. Others maybe, but not ourselves.
It's all a matter of perspective. I consider anybody a fanatic who uses religion as a basic for any of their decisions. You'd be amazed how many people that is.
About 15-20 years ago, I happened to burp simultaneously with a hiccup. Since that time, I have NEVER hiccupped more than three times when I get them (I used to have those hour-long sessions).
So I suggest chugging a Pepsi and then trying to time a burp with the hiccup.
Thats pretty funny.
I would consider the arguments that you used to come just as much from SCIENCE as from Religion. Sure, the religous leaders of the time accepted these scientific "truths", and then saw it as blasphemy if anyone challenged them, but scientists came up with those theories in the first place. And I doubt many creationists will argue that that was a time of religious corruption. Religion also spawned the Crusades, wich was just as much a political reason for going to war as it was a desire to cram one's beliefs down anothers throat.
Science and Religion in their true forms are not opposites, but are the same. Both are the search for Truth. And there is only one Truth. Eventually, the differences will be reconciled and we will see that they are identical. Probably not in this life, though.
History is full of examples like the ones that you used. Scientists have a nasty habit of proclaming something as truth only to find out later that it was not the truth after all and must be revised into a new "Truth"
Religion, on the other hand, specifically biblical christianity, has never changed. And we are constantly making scientific discoveries that only solidify the biblical statements penned centuries ago.
New Scientist? You may just as well read Weekly World News.
I don't really suggest you try this while in a meeting!
Why not? It could get rid of the hiccups. I am sure the rest of the people in the meeting could relate. And if it didn't work, and you hiccuped with a mouth full of water, causing you to inhale a portion of it, and then invoulantarily cough and spew that water all over the conference table, well, that would just provide some comic relief that was probably sorely needed anyway.
Right?
Perhaps this is just a troll, but the teacher was right.
Conservation of energy applies to the entire system, not just to part of it. When compressing the piston, you give it some kinetic energy. Some of this kinetic gets transfered to the the gas molecules. In each collision between the piston and a gas molecule, the gas molecule gains KE and the piston loses it. Conservation of energy is not violated.
On the other hand, a collision between two molecules within the gas cannot give the gas as a whole any more energy than it had to start with, precisely because of the principle of conservation of energy. Answer A is therefore absolutely wrong.
Perfectly elastic collisions are not defined as those which conserve energy as all processes conserve energy when the whole system is considered. Elastic collisions are those which do not result in some of the KE being converted to some form of energy other than kinetic. Usually the other form is heat, but of course on a molecular scale, heat IS kinetic energy.
"The Milliard Gargantubrain? A mere abacus - mention it not."
A girl at work had the hiccups. She was plied with cures and sure enough eventually her hiccups subsided. It was a bit cruel, but I told her to cough into her hand, and sure enough her hiccups returned.
"And that's how you get them back" I said as she chased me up and down the stairs.
Environmentalism is the new Victorianism. Everyone ties on a green corset and pretends we're virtuous.
I actually reread this to make sure I had understood it right.
Sincerest apologies. And congratulations for convincing your teacher she was in the wrong.
"The Milliard Gargantubrain? A mere abacus - mention it not."
Examples, please
Religion, on the other hand, specifically biblical christianity, has never changed
Please compare what is known about 1st century christianity with your religion and tell us christianity has never changed.
Yet Another Web Site
When you yawn, you're readjusting the pressure inside your head. It's why your ears pop. When someone else yawns, they've just altered the pressure around your head so now YOU have to calibrate your pressure to match the NEW air pressure.
[The team]proposes that the brain circuitry controlling gill ventilation in these early ancestors has persisted into modern mammals.
Talk about legacy code persisting in later builds!
Take a pen or pencil and put it long-ways in your mouth. Now go to a faucet or water fountain and try to take a sip of water for about 5 seconds. Your hiccups will be gone. When I was in high school, my French teacher would shake a jar with change in it at you. She would give you some money for each time you hiccupped. Of course in front of a whole classroom of people, you hated to hiccup in the first place. Nobody ever hiccupped after she started to shake that jar. So, IMO there could be a scientific explaination, or it could be all in your head!?!?
When all else fails, piss on it. At least you will feel better in some kind of way.
OK, of course the real question we all have is how the hell do you get rid of them? Well, I'll tell you. At the risk of incurring aspersions from the little jonnie scientists among us, I now share with you my secret cure:
/.
Hold a paper towel tightly over a glass of water and drink the water through the towel.
There you have it. One of the world's most vexing problems solved by a doofus on
--Lawrence Lessig for Congress!
My dad had a stroke a few years back... and one of the side effects was that his gag reflex was gone. Now to the point...
Last summer, he had a pancreatic infection, which caused hiccupping (yes it does!). Not just hiccupping, but 24/7 hiccupping. The problem is that the gag reflex is one of the human body's main defenses against hiccups. Since he had no gag reflex, he couldn't stop. After a week of this, he looked like death warmed over. They finally figured out what drugs to give him to get him to stop. (Sorry, can't remember the name).
If you've never had 24/7 hiccups, believe me, it sounds funny, but it is no picnic at all...
Fascism starts when the efficiency of the government becomes more important than the rights of the people.
Here's what really pisses me off about hiccups.
Whenever I get hiccups, which happens frequently and is really uncomfortable, the only thing that works FOR ME is to drink a glass of water upside-down (ie bend over and drink from the opposite side of the rim).
Yet every time I start doing this people go "Why bother with that, you should just hold your breath" or "Why don't you just drink a glass of water normally" or "Try elecrocuting your gonads with a car battery" (OK, I made the last one up, but it would probably work).
People can get really argumentative about this as well. Everyone thinks they know the One True Answer To Hiccups.
If you are lucky, there will be a technique that works for you (preferably one that doesn't involve gymnastics or extensive preparation). It won't work for everyone else!!!!
"The Milliard Gargantubrain? A mere abacus - mention it not."
It's an interesting theory. But wrong.
We all did. That's one of the purposes amniotic fluid provides the fetus. (hey, I have 4 kids so I've been through this a lot).
I'm reminded of that scene in the Abyss where the navy seals provide the liquid oxygen to the diver. He says, "we all did it for 9 months. Your body will remember."
-- DuckWing
the common folk and perhaps in non-science professionals
Ah, the little people. But in reality I think this kind of reporting can have a much broader appeal. A hundred years ago an educated person with the inclination and free time could access, synthesize and have some grasp on a fairly broad and significant cross-section of most of the serious work going on in the science community. In this day and age it is totally impossible for even a serious science professional to grasp more than a fraction of the breadth and depth of scientific research. At a time when more and more "average" people have virtually no comprehension of the basic issues of science (while the potential impacts of science on our lives and ecology steadily increase) and when science professionals become more and more specialized, good popular reporting is important and relevant. And a little "oooh-aaah" factor is a valid way to make that reporting accessible.
It Is the Nature of Information to Transgress Artificial Boundaries
being memebers of the phylum Chordata, we all had gills at some point as all members of Chordata do. Ours just come and go while we are in the womb.
still hate hiccups. Pity those poor suckers in Guinness that hiccup for decades on end.
Sorry, but that doesn't make sense. It was much longer than 6000 years ago when South America and Africa were one continent. You do know about continental drift, right? Also, how long did it take the Colorado river to carve the Grand Canyon? How long does it take for oil deposits to form? Or diamonds? Do you also believe the universe is only 6000 years old? If so, how can we see objects farther than 6000 light-years away?
I suspect that most of the hiccup cures out there work to the extent that they induce a somewhat meditative state of mind.
My cure is fast and inconspicuous:
1.) focus your eyes on any fixed object. Hold your eyes steady.
2.) ignore your focal point and (w/out moving your eyes) "stare" at everything in your peripheral vision.
Usually works w/in 10 seconds. I don't think it's ever failed me except when I've been drinking.
The average "bizarre" hiccup cure probably requires or induces the same kind of concentration that my technique does. Some cures undoubtedly work only by virtue of being a novel experience and these you would expect to only work a few times (just long enough for you to tell someone else about them).
-Nick
Have you considered the possibility that *you* do not understand *evolution*? I used to be a creationist, and would refute evolution with what I thought were logical arguments. However, after educating myself on evolution, I have changed my mind. Evolution makes a lot of sense.
At least I believed in "old earth" creationism and not "young earth" creationism. YEC is refuted by an inordinant amount of physical evidence!
Even better: drink some water upside down. A few gulps and I'm cured every time, never failed. Of course, you look kinda funny with your head bent between your legs while feeding yourself a glass of water from around the back. ;-)
..., then believe that just because it is written down that Jack P Lester has a PHD that it is actually true
...
There's an answer to this.
Hmm, maybe I should read my spam more closely
> Sure, the religous leaders of the time accepted these scientific "truths", and then saw it as blasphemy if anyone challenged them, but scientists came up with those theories in the first place.
Sorry Dewd, but science didn't even exist before a few centuries ago. Don't blame scientists for neolithic mythologies.
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
> Just as a note, I avoid that hyperspace button except in cases where it is rational to assume. Eg, such as saying the floodwaters came up miraculously because that's what the Bible describes and that's where the Creationist model comes from.
So is it rational to assume something is true just because an ancient myth claims it is? E.g., that the first humans were licked out of ice by a cow?
What is your standard for rationality, other than that your religious sect happens to believe something?
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
I would like to state for the record that I believe in Deities and Demigods.
Specifically I take as my Holy Work the book "Deities and Demigods" TSR 2013 (first printing).
This means that I am in good company in believing in Vishnu and other Hindu entities, but it also means I believe in Great Cthulhu.
Not only do I believe in Cthulhu, but I believe he has AC 2, 400 HP and 80% magic resistance.
"Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wagh'nagl fhtagn."
graspee
Start with this simple method:
1) Hold your breath HARD for a full ten seconds (very deep breath).
2) Let the air out of your lungs very very slowly for a full 10 seconds (this is hard to do, actually)
3) Close your eyes and think of something boring or calming, like the color green, for a full 10 seconds.
Provided you don't get a hiccup between or during the steps (which means start over, by the way), you'll find they are gone completely. As you use this technique more and more, you can feel internally how hiccups stop (by smoothing out the twitches in the diaphram) and eventually you don't need this technique. Now if I get the hiccups all I do is change my breating rate and they go away instantly. I would never have learned how to do that if it were not for this simple, non-goofy, non-complicated technique. Thanks mom!
"Your superior intellect is no match for our puny weapons!"
My family has always recommended eating a tablespoon of sugar to cure hiccups. It actually works, which is the amazing thing.
If this article is correct, and hiccuping has to do with suckling, I wonder if the influx of sugar sort of "makes sense", in that the action of hiccuping is really a desire or need for sugar. Hmmm...
Anyways, try it out next time you've got a bad case.
Adam
I get the hiccups really bad, sometimes their really pretty painful so I've tried everything and this one works for me. For some reason, if I'm laying or even sitting down and get up too quickly, especially if I jump right out of bed in the morning, I get the hiccups almost every time.
Vote Quimby.
Yawns actually have no relevant impact on the oxygen levels in your bloodstream. A good deep breath is the equivilant of a yawn in oxygen intake capacity. However, the true meaning of a yawn is the subconscious use of the yawn as a sign of sleepiness of boredom. Also, to explain why yawning is "contagious" I must use this model. Imagine a classroom of some 30 kids. A boring topic is being discussed by the teacher. A single kid yawns. Other kids' brains, seeing the first yawn, registers the yawn. In the subconscious level the brain's gamma waves align with the yawner's. Thus the yawn is passed on. However, some kids may believe that the topic is interesting (us nerds) and therefore does not yawn as a sign of boredom. Others might not even see the yawners. Thus the phenomenom is explained in simple terms
I hiccup when I eat spicy food. Clearly this is caused by brain circuitry inherited from primaeval tadpole-like creatures trying to crawl their way out of the chilli-infested waters of the Amazon into a cool, fresh pit of naturally occurring yogurt.
-- Ed Avis ed@membled.com
And what he calls biblical Christianity is largely a 19th century American invention.
Yet Another Web Site
Everyone knows that the main cause of hiccups is beer. I have been studying this phenomenon for years. I should know.
Modest doubt is called the beacon of the wise. - William Shakespeare
I've found that forcing myself to vomit usually cures hiccups.
"Would it kill you to put down the toilet seat?" -- Maya Angelou
... then why doesn't my dog hiccup? Or my cat? Why am I the only one in the house who retains this behavior from our common mudskipper ancestor?
Pardon the pun, but this sounds fishy.
One man's -1 Flamebait is another man's +5 Funny.
Straus thinks the real test of theory will be to look at the specific neurons that control hiccups and suckling. If the team is right, he says, most of the nerve cells that are active during suckling should also be active when we hiccup.
So, they just came up with a wild hare-brained idea, and they could very well be completely wrong, because nobody's actually tested it yet. Or am I missing something?
Since I personally believe in Creation rather than Evolution, I'm skeptical anyway. It was once thought the appendix was an evolutionary leftover and no longer served any useful purpose, until we figured out what it was for.
$x='S24;r)>63/* h@<5+oZ)32"5cz';$me='phroggy'x$];
$x=~y+ -xz+\0-Tx+;print$_^chop$me for split'',$x;
Well - In my eyes a real scientist would never ever say that he had the complete and final answer(Except if it was 42!) - thats the whole point of science - you cant prove beyond any doubt that a given theory is valid.
Religions on the other hand often claim they have the fonal answer(And its never "Sorry for the inconvenience)
I know a girl in college who couldnt NOT yawn when she saw someone else do it. A couple of frineds of mine started yawing in front of her for about two hours. She kept yelling at us to stop. Kind of cruel, but she started by yelling at us when we just happened to yawn naturually.
All Troll + "offtopic" mods are meta moderated as "Unfair", because you abused the system.
--
|-_-| . o O ( bEef!)
Have a crazy redheaded chick sneak up behind you and stick a finger in your ear id hiccup. Works like a charm.
All Troll + "offtopic" mods are meta moderated as "Unfair", because you abused the system.
So let's get Haeckel's embryos out of science classes. Since you have previously said you don't want non-scientific things taught in science class, I'm confident we're in agreement on that. For those tuning in late, Haeckel's embryo drawings were completely faked - ask your nearest friendly embryologist, or check out this writing by Stephen Jay Gould, who was a leading evolutionist (revived Goldschmidt's punctuated equilibrium theory)
And while we're at it, let's get rid of some other absurdities that are very commonly taught in science classes. Like the Miller-Urey experiment. Textbooks with that in them do not mention that the experiment produced only racemic amino acids, and only three of them at that. They also do not mention that the experiment assumed a nearly oxygen-free atmosphere, an atmosphere in which the ammonia (NH3) would not exist (without oxygen, there would be no ozone; without ozone, there would be lots of hard UV; with hard UV, two NH3 would rapidly dissociate into N2 and 3 H2 molecules).
I'm ready to join with you in the campaign to remove these myths from science classes. When do we start?
This has always worked with me too.
It helps if you've had any relazation training. The best way I've found to describe it is to concentrate on your chest and try to relax the muscles that are unusally tense. It takes some practice to get it right but it usually works.
Feminism is the radical notion that women are people.
To cure someone else: Simply bring the tip of your index finger to the tip of their nose, just barely making contact. Hold still and wait. Try not to laugh. Within 30 seconds, their hiccups should be gone.
I'm not sure why it works; I always assumed that it tends to make one's breathing more shallow, or something like that. Now that I've read the article, though, I wonder if it has something to do with the nursing instinct. An infant's nose is usually touching the mother while nursing.
It's probably too late to get a response, but...
I almost always get a single hiccup after around 3 gulps of bubbly beverage. Soft drinks, beer, or anything will bubbles will cause me to hiccup exactly once, or twice if I gulp several times without breathing. It does not cause a fit of hiccups to follow. Water, juice, milk, and anything else without bubbles does not cause this reaction. I have never seen this behavior in any other person. Does anybody have an explanation or other examples of this?
Duffy
"This wound is beyond my ability to heal. We need Elvis medicine!"
Wow, my grandmother told me that tip for hiccups a LONG time ago. She told me to breath in, tilt my head back, and drink. It always worked for me, until recently.
Now I just breathe in enough air to really fill my lungs in and wait. It usually works. My thought on this was the lungs, being so full of air, hold the diaphragm down (so the contraction is not as major), and it will cause the spasms to stop.
Rob
-----
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I used to own that computer. Always wondered what happened to it. Curse you, Commander Taco!
Your mom always gets the hiccups when she blows me. Right after I shoot a hot steamy load down the back of her puss-coated throat, actually.
So let me get this straight, hiccups are a suckling reaction. So, to get rid of the hiccups the best thing to do must be to suck on a woman's breast. All I can say is ... "hic."
Yah me too. I think the hiccup is due to my stomach (the inside) feeling ticklish or not fully comfy. It could be the same for other people, but I'm not doing much research in this field ;).
If I bend forward and burp the air out, the hiccup usually goes away.
Of course if the tickle is due to something else then that won't work.
I mean many people move involuntarily if they are tickled, so what happens if they are tickled from inside? I figure a hiccup is one possible response.
To get air out of your stomach you just have to practice and you don't have to be hiccupping. Draw in your stomach and press the air upward. You will evenutally be able to get all the air out pretty quickly and easily when you have developed a sense for it.
I learned how when taking martial arts. It was much more uncomfortable to get kicked in the gut with air in your stomach. Most of the fighters I knew would spend a few seconds clearing the air out before sparring.
I can condense this part of the class into "don't do stupid shit." Of course the school prefered spending 3-4 weeks on it rather than my 5 seconds.
I agree "don't do stupid shit" takes fewer than five seconds to say, but I predict the inevitable next question: "What is stupid shit?" The school spent 3-4 weeks on explaining to the little children exactly what "stupid shit" is.
Will I retire or break 10K?
How can Anyone read that I have hiccups because some fish nerve left over from 5 billion years ago is having jactitations and not fall out of the chair laughing?
Mmmm, maybe a bigot, who has been taught all his life in his "mind expanding" public school that the theory of evolution is true, and, inspite of the lack of evidence to prove that theory, insists upon bashing and attempting to make every person who doesn't agree with him look like an idiot?
Here is a cure, that has always worked for me, and is very simple (I don't get hiccups very often, so the sample size is small).
Just take a heaping spoon full of sugar (or a couple packets of sugar), and swallow it all at once. My mom is a nurse and she taught me this. She told me that it stimulates your gag reflex and thus stops your hiccups.
It is kind of nasty swallowing this huge pile of grains, and I guess it's 50+ empty calories, but if you've got the hiccups and other remedies have not worked (or are too complicated/too much work), give this a shot.
Computers don't make mistakes. What they do, they do on purpose.
You're not here to argue your position, fine. Neither am I. Actually, I am only reluctantly posting as a non-AC because I'd actually like you to read what I've got to say.
The problem is that there are a large number of different positions that can be lumped under the "creationist" title. In one point of view, it forms a continuum:
Young Earth Creationist to Old Earthers
6000 years old ala Archbishop Ussher, the earth is flat, pi is exactly 3, rabbits chew their cud, etc. uber-strict literalism(yes these people exist)
6000 years old ala Archbishop Ussher, literal 7-day creationists
~10,000 years old earth, literal 7-day creationists
~10,000 years old earth, "God's Time" 7-days; ie not using our notion of time, aka Day-Age
10,000-millions years old, with either day-age or literal 7-days
Billions of years old, often using day-age terminology for creation events.
Except for the first group all of the above might incorporate evolution or big-bang theories in some modified form. Common modifyiers might be that God created "kinds" of animals (the term "kinds" usually nebulously defined, if at all) and that they evolved into the current species we see today. Stricter I suppose would be those who agree with "kinds" being created and that they adapt via microevolution (never macro-) or that they can differentiate to some degree, but only through degeneration. Big bang might be incorporated as how God created the universe, stars, planets, etc. but with some different rate than the mainstream accepts or using day-age terminology for God's forming the stars and planets, etc.
After the more or less literal creationists come different positions in theistic evolution. People here might range from "God made everything look the way science tells us to test our faith" to "evolution happens but God made people with some day-age thingie" to "evolution happens, but God guides it" to "evolution and big bang yeah, but God's so friggin smart he coded it all into the laws of nature at the start" or "I don't mix my science and religion." The first group might prefer to be called creationists whereas the others would find the term insulting.
There are of course many other variants, but that's kind of the point of this: creationism applies to a lot of different points of view which directly contradicts what you've been saying. Also, you're calling the more literalist positions ignorant the same way evolutionists call creationists of all stripes ignorant. Pot. Kettle. Black.
For a history of the creationist movement in America and how the different camps relate to each other try Ronald L. Numbers' "The Creationists." It's a little dated now (1992) but is an excellent read. The guys' an evolutionist, but Gish (of Institute for Creation Research and one of those more literal guys you'd call ignorant) gave it the thumbs up, if memory serves. As for me, I like my religion and science seperated.
I can't hold my breath for more than 20 if I really try. How the hell do people hold their breath for that long? Or is it just they think it's 45 seconds, but it's really only 15-20?
I wonder how old your ferrets are.
According to a FAQ that's posted at many animal hospital sites, "It is completely normal for a puppy to have hiccups off and on throughout the day."
What's interesting is that it concludes, "Eventually puppies grow out of them." (That explains why my adult animals don't hiccup.) The question, then, is why do humans not grow out of it? It is apparently neotony (adult retention of juvenile characteristics) but to what advantage? Or did it 'come along for the ride' with something else that does help us? If so, what?
One man's -1 Flamebait is another man's +5 Funny.
hiccups explained
catchy title...too bad it's krunk. Should've read hiccups given yet another theory by yet another crackpot
There are many similarities between hiccuping and gill ventilation in animals like tadpoles
Sure, and there are many similarities between the way the Straus takes a crap and the way a lab rat takes a crap.
Did anyone else here ever get hic-burps? A really nasty hiccup, you know, the sort that steals all your air and makes your chest feel like someone was having a bit too much fun with an vice grip, followed by a powerful, painful buuuuurraaap that just kind of tears it's way out? They weren't any fun. Rather embarassing, really. Especially when they reduced me to tears. It's not funny! Really!
Well, ok. So it kind of is. But only because it doesn't happen to me anmore. Be a great weapon though...
Smell you later, Smell you later forever is brilliant! and who can forget "China, you used to be cool." "China still cool! You pay Lata, LATA!" Not that I go to EW for an informed opinion on the simpsons anyway.
It's about the changing state of your physical body. Yawning aids in the relaxation of your physical and emotional state, preparing it for the nights sleep, or when you wake up.
:)
Ever had a morning or night right before bed when you didn't yawn?
Yes, this is why. O2 count has nothing to do with it. It's been medically proven.
In reference to cop-outs, answer this reply to your previous post in this thread. Or perhaps what you attack as bankrupt is not in fact bankrupt at all, and you are merely name calling.
"We'll be meeting the man who's been hiccuping for the last 30 years!"
"[hic] Kill me. [hic] Kill me. [hic] Kill me."
== Jez ==
Do you miss Firefox? Try Pale Moon.
hiccups and gills weren't in our past,
they are our future.
think about it, same with webbed feet and hands
not genetic mutations, they are our next evolutionary step
We spend our lives learning, if you like learning life is hard. it can never be only the ups the downs will always co
Try to hiccup If you do it right, you won't hiccup. Pass on this information will ya. It seems that this is one cure that really works but isn't in the general hiccup cure lore. Nothing better than seeing a big goofy grin spread across a cured person's face.
Did anyone else have a strange inclination to hickuping while reading that article? Sort of like reading something on respiration/breathing, how you're suddenly conscious of your own breathing.
I close my eyes, slow my breathing and relax. It's worked every single time... it has occasionally taken a couple of goes but it's always worked. No wierd remedies... no standing on head... or drinking water backwards.
that the New Scientist article really doesn't have a clue why we hiccup and is just proposing another naff hypothesis. The thing about gills is Weekly World News quality thinking.
Hiccuping is probably due to some unstable interneuron connections that do something useful sometimes but can become irritated and go into spurious oscillation.
Heart palpitations are conjectured to have a similar cause: external stimulation (physical pressure, mostly) of the vagus nerve, which otherwise should be getting information only from the brain stem.
I'm surprised these guys didn't try to link it to reverse-sneezing in dogs.
Very well, how about you e-mail me? msaward at bigpond dot net dot au and I'll let you know some of the stuff I have read.
Give it up, friend. Black Parrot is a well-known troll and liar. He claimed that his company was "destroyed" by Microsoft, but when challenged, he clammed up immediately and hasn't said a word about it since.
Black Parrot is just your garden-variety troll, wrapped up in a little bit of education.
That has got to be the dumbest piece of inane material I've ever seen posted in a semi-intelligent forum. I shudder to think how many people are dumber for its submission. Thanks for nothing, Slashdot.
South America & Africa: These were one continent likely around 4500 years ago, but during the great flood were separated.
Grand Canyon: This would have taken perhaps 4500 years, maybe less, to carve.
Oil deposits & diamonds: I'm not sure about how oil is made (I'm ignorant here), same with diamonds - but out position is that they were formed quickly (relatively speaking), probably within the last 4500 years.
Space and vision: we believe that light may not have always travelled at the same speed, and that current measurements of the distance of galaxies may be inaccurate. So yes, we believe the universe is around 6000 years old too.
You may be surprised that we can make such claims, but you may be surprised to find out how faulty many dating techniques are. What is especially curious is that these techniques have never been tested. We have not had them for long enough to date something we know for certain is, eg, 5 million years old. We only know it is 5 million years old by using a particular dating method.
Anyway, if you are more than just curious I suggest you check out, say www.creationscience.com, www.answersingenesis.com, etc. But please don't post any comments about stuff there, I won't defend it on slashdot.
The Colorado river did not carve the Grand Canyon, God did, skillfully laying substrate over substrate, so that geologists would believe it was formed over millions of years, an thus make themselves look silly.
Oil deposits do not "form", they are created by God, for the explicit purpose of making us believers be able to drive our SUVs from home to church, and back.
Created by God, so we believers could listen to LPs, and to make the Holy Matrimony more appealing for the ladies.
That's even easier. See, 6K years ago, God carefully arranged photons all over the Universe, with the precise speed and orientation for them to reach the Earth as if they were sent millions of years before, from millions of kilometers afar. Again, this was only to make scientists look silly. The old Lord has a sense of humour, you know?
I hope you were enlightened, and refrain from such silly questioning in the future.
Even the "scientist" say its not even proven and would be very hard. Yet already im sure theres thousands of people out there claiming its FACT!
Lies spread faster then truth...
What exactly did you find objectional? And I'm curious to see your response to this.
> > How long does it take for oil deposits to form?
> Oil deposits do not "form", they are created by God, for the explicit purpose of making us believers be able to drive our SUVs from home to church, and back.
Dood, that's Old Testament. If you followed the news you'd know that Jesus is against SUVs.
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
> Oil deposits & diamonds: I'm not sure about how oil is made (I'm ignorant here), same with diamonds - but out position is that they were formed quickly (relatively speaking), probably within the last 4500 years.
Just curious, but why do you have a position on something you admit you know nothing about? Since you're pretending to hold a scientific position, shouldn't you say instead "I don't know how oil and diamonds are made, but if it takes more than c. 4500 years then my hypothesis about the age of the earth must be discarded"?
> You may be surprised that we can make such claims
No, you couldn't possibly make a claim that would surprise me, given those that I've already heard.
> but you may be surprised to find out how faulty many dating techniques are. What is especially curious is that these techniques have never been tested. We have not had them for long enough to date something we know for certain is, eg, 5 million years old. We only know it is 5 million years old by using a particular dating method.
Actually, a variety of independent dating methods converge on an age of 4.5 billion years for the earth.
> But please don't post any comments about stuff there, I won't defend it on slashdot.
A well-advised policy indeed.
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
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esp. after noticing myself last night & this morning
There are places where the networks are not touching,and there are places where they are-Boeing's Lori Gunter
This has never failed me during the last 35 or so years:
:-)
1. Get a glass of water (or another favourite drink)
2. Take a mouthful of water but don't swallow it yet.
3. Shut your ears with your fingers.
4. Swallow
5. Repeat Step 1-4 2 or 3 times
6. Be happy
Dunno why. YMMV.
open (SIG, "</dev/zero"); $sig = <SIG>; close SIG;
And as the glottis blocks your throat, increase the pressure in your mouth as is you wanted to force the water out of your ears. That old fish nerve thinks the water is going through your gills, and the hiccup is cured.
I read a while back that hiccups are simply a stray signal sent down the phrenic nerve that causes the diaphragm to spasm. Stimulation of the phrenic nerve often relieves the hiccups and that is why some of the sipping and gulping water techniques are employed (and also why hiccups are often triggered by gulping food or beverages). It's easier just to manually massage the phrenic nerve. It lies on the right side of the windpipe, deep in the muscle groove and is easiest to access just above the collar bone. I've used this technique on myself and others with only one or two failures over the last several years.
--
As a matter of fact, I am a lawyer. But I play an actor on TV.
About your statements on the Grand Canyon formation, catastrophism as a cause is gaining favor even among old-earth geologists. See when Mt. St. Helens blew up in 1980, there was a mud dam between part of the remnants of Spirit Lake and the Toutle river. That burst and in a period of about four hours, a small canyon was formed complete with multiple layers of sedimentary rock that look remarkably similar to the Grand Canyon on a smaller scale.
A small extrapolation based on the waters from a worldwide flood easily explains the Grand Canyon.
Next you talk about oil deposits. Yes, they are a great argument for a young earth, thanks for bringing that up. See oil seeps into the surrounding rocks at a rate that would mean no pools would be around after (depending on the deposit and the rock) 50,000 to 250,000 years. No way millions of years would leave the deposits in the condition we find them now. That goes even more emphatically for natural gas deposits or for helium in deep granites. And you're probably unaware of the patent for forming oil from organic deposits in about half an hour. It does not take millions of years to form oil.
For an explanation of distant starlight, there are a number of possibilities. I personally favor white hole cosmology. If you'd like to learn more, I'd be glad to provide more details.
For me yawning also works for pressure adjustment (don't know the english term): it makes my ears 'pop' (yeah i learned scuba diving and know of other ways too, but yawning also works for me). Sitting in a plane i wondered if you couldn't help people by making them yawn during starting and landing. This might work especially well with babies, since you can't explain to them how to adjust the pressure, but you might make them yawn by yawning in front of them.
"By the way if anyone here is in advertising or marketing... kill yourself." -- Bill Hicks
Sorry for mailing this article, I've obviously made a typo (168!=186) ....
that's the price for being up all night and doing some "quick"
checks before you go to bed
-- Herbert Rosmanith
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