An amazing phenomenon.
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He Phineas Cage case is a classic of neuroscience: A bar weighing five kilos, more than a meter long and 2.5 centimeters thick pierced his head, entered through his left cheek and exited through the top of his skull driven by a gunpowder explosion. Cage survived, but his character changed radically, becoming an extroverted and foul-mouthed person when he had been someone very shy and timid.
But it is not the largest object removed from a human skull (keeping the patient alive). That honor belongs to another bar of iron, namely a 46 centimeter drill bit, almost half a meter.
Objects removed from the body
On August 15, 2003, the American bricklayer Ron Hunt fell face down from a ladder a 46cm drill bit which passed through his right eye, through his skull and out above his right ear. The drill bit displaced Hunt's brain instead of penetrating it, saving his life.
The heaviest object removed from a stomach, however, was removed in November 2007, when a 10-pound trichobezoar (hairball) was removed from the stomach of an 18-year-old girl at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. . The Rapunzel syndrome that the patient suffered from is the result of trichophagia, the compulsive urge to ingest hair.
The largest collection of surgically removed foreign bodies corresponds to Chavelier Quixote Jackson, who over 75 years of profession, removed 2,374 objects from the throats, esophagus and lungs of his patients, which are stored in the Chevalier Jackson Foreign Body Collection of the Mütter Museum of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia.
The collection has objects such as a child's theater binoculars, a padlock and a miniature trumpet. It is difficult to imagine that a person could swallow a wristwatch, 3 squirrel vertebrae or a shoe buckle, but it is true.
One of the most terrifying cases he had to face was that of a woman, a psychiatric patient, who had exactly 1,446 objects removed from her stomach; among them 453 nails, 409 pins, 63 buttons, 42 screws, 5 thimbles and 3 salt and pepper dispensers. He died during the operation.
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The news
This is the largest object extracted from a human skull
was originally published in
Xataka Science
by
Sergio Parra
.
Electro, one of Spiderman's supervillains, can generate large amounts of electricity, theoretically up to about a million volts. In nature we cannot find something like this, but at least we can find a creature that can generate up to 860 volts.
This creature is the electric eel (gender Electrophorus), which is native to the river systems of the tropics of South and Central America.
Electrophorus
According to A study published in Nature in 2019, of the three known living species, E. voltai It is the one that generates the most electricity, with up to 860 volts in the case of a 1.2 meter long female.
The fish produces electricity with three pairs of organs throughout the body. The doctor William Crampton, one of the directors of the study, states, however, that size and electrical potential are not related:
Electric eels can reach enormous sizes, up to 2 meters, but these monsters often have less voltage than other smaller specimens.
The power of the Electrophorus voltai It could be explained as a way of adapting to its aquatic environment, located in highlands, where electrical conductivity is weak. About 250 species of electric fish live in South America. They all produce electrical current to communicate or orient themselves, but eels are the only ones that use it to hunt or defend themselves.
Electric eels, which despite their name look more like fish than real eels, fascinate scientists for their ability to produce electricity, managing to paralyze their prey through an electroshock mechanism. To get an idea: A Taser gun provides 19 high-voltage pulses per second, while the electric eel produces 400 pulses per second.. Eel I would be able to knock down a horse.
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The news
The most electric animal that we can find in nature generates up to 860 volts
was originally published in
Xataka Science
by
Sergio Parra
.
We tend to think that there are enormous creatures in the seas and oceans, but that in a river or a lake it is difficult to find massive fish.
However the Yangtze paddlefish (Psephurus gladius) is one of the largest fish: three meters long and 300 kg in weight.
However, in January 2020, the Chinese Academy of Fisheries Sciences and experts from the International Union for Conservation of Nature They formally declared it extinct.
It likely disappeared between 2005 and 2010 due to overfishing and habitat loss.
Other criteria
There are several species that aspire to the title of largest water fish, depending on the criteria we use. He arapaima (Arapaima gigas) from the Amazon basin in South America, can measure up to 4.5 meters long and reach 200 kg.
Arapaima.
He Mekong giant catfish and the thai shark from Indochina weigh around 300 kg, but do not exceed 3 meters in length.
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The news
The freshwater fish with the largest mass reaches 300 kg, but became extinct in 2020
was originally published in
Xataka Science
by
Sergio Parra
.
10 billion times faster than Google's.
This is incredible.
It's bigger than Earth.