The exchange below is worthwhile as much because one party was Henry Spencer, as for standing in buckets of icy water and drinking heavy water. But, if you are into heavy Christmas season drinking, it may help your stability. Interesting that you could (apparently) actually make an alcoholic drink that didn't cause drunken staggering. Russell __________ >> & no quotes = Henry > = Russell ( & David W at end) ________ From: "Henry Spencer" > In both birds and mammals, it's *mostly* the inner ear. > > Head-orientation > > performance isn't quite as good when blindfolded, but close. > > Stand in bucket of iced water. > Let feet numb. > Close eyes. > Standing is probably beyond capability. Interesting (do you do this often? :-)), but note that bipedal standing is a rather more complicated problem than head orientation -- it's as much a control issue as a sensing issue. > Usually visual, eustachian (ears) and contact point cues provide brain > with > enough input. > Any two will generally do. > Remove two and ... . Removing one will suffice, if it's the inner ear. That's what motion sickness is about. (For example, the balance problems of drunks come from the lighter alcohol diffusing into the fluid in the semicircular canals, causing a density imbalance that makes the fluid circulate. The proof is that drinking heavy water does the same thing... but if you mix alcohol and heavy water in the right proportions to zero out the density change, you eliminate the motion sickness. Yes, it's been tried; it works.) Henry Spencer ________________________ On Mon, 8 Dec 2008, David Weinshenker wrote: > Isn't drinking heavy water hazardous to one's health, though? So is drinking alcohol! :-) Neither is recommended in quantity... The experiments I know about (a number of years ago) were done in animals, precisely because the amounts involved were considered a bit worrisome for human subjects. Henry Spencer ___________________________ Ian W and David W > Isn't drinking heavy water hazardous to one's health, though? > (I thought that the equilibrium for various reactions came > out just enough different or something that D2O is not exactly > "chemically identical" to H2O for biological purposes!) Yes, but according to a recent New Scientist you have to have about 20% of your liquid bodyweight heavy water before you die. And somebody is even claiming that having/eating certain proteins containing heavy hydrogen might make you live longer, because it would make them less reactive and stabilise them. Incidentally, on the inner ear thing- when you've tested the rocket pump and verified too much of the -OH propellant this christmas and the world is spinning around, it's worth knowing that shaking your head fairly hard mixes up the alcohol in the inner ear and stops it doing that!!! -- http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist