Is Blood Blue Before It Hits Oxygen?

Did you know?

Are you pumped for today’s colorful Wonder of the Day? We hope so, because it’s a real life saver. What are we talking about? Blood, of course!

All parts of your body need blood. The movement of blood through your heart and around your body is called circulation.

When blood leaves your heart, it moves through tubes called blood vessels. There are three types of blood vessels: arteries, veins and capillaries.

Arteries carry blood away from the heart to other parts of your body. As they get farther and farther away from the heart, arteries transfer blood to tiny blood vessels called capillaries. Capillaries transfer the oxygen and nutrients in the blood to cells that need it.

As cells use the oxygen and nutrients in blood, they also produce waste, including carbon dioxide. The capillaries take the carbon dioxide and other waste materials and transfer them to veins, which carry these items in the blood that returns back to the heart.

When the blood returns to the heart, the heart pumps it to the lungs. In the lungs, carbon dioxide is taken out of the blood and exhaled back into the air. With each new breath, oxygen enters the lungs and restores the blood before it is pumped back out to the body’s cells. Then the process starts all over again.

How long does this whole process take? Not long at all! Your heart can pump blood to all the cells in your body in less than 60 seconds. That’s under a minute!

Since arteries carry oxygen-rich blood away from the heart and veins carry oxygen-depleted blood back to the heart, some people believe that veins appear blue because blood without oxygen is blue. But it’s not true!

Blood is always red. Oxygen-rich blood is bright red as it leaves the heart. When it returns in veins without much oxygen, it’s still red, but it’s a deeper, darker red. So why do veins look blue?

It all has to do with the science of light. The colors we see are the result of which wavelengths of light are reflected back to our eyes. Veins appear blue because blue light is reflected back to our eyes.

This may seem odd, since veins contain deep, dark red blood. Scientists believe there are several factors that lead to our seeing veins as blue rather than red.

Blue light does not penetrate human tissue as deeply as red light does. As a result, veins that are close to the surface of the skin will be more likely to reflect blue light back to the eye.

The oxygen-depleted blood that veins carry also tends to absorb red light more than blue light. When the dark red blood absorbs more red light, blue light is more likely to be reflected back to our eyes.

Scientists also believe that blue light tends to scatter and reflect more easily when it passes through human tissue. This also contributes to veins appearing blue despite the dark red blood within them. 

NOTE:

Human blood is actually dark red that looks black. We see it as red, because once air hits it, it turns red. But in the body it so deep red that it is black. 

 There is a lot of speculation of the colour of blood in our bodies. The colour of our blood is infact red, some people believe that its blue because thats the colour of our veins. The blood in our veins are a deep red, which is why when looking at our veins it looks blue.

What does Diwali mean?

The word "Divali/Diwali" is a variation of the Sanskrit word "Deepavali" which means "a continuous line of lamps" (The word 'Deep' means "light", and 'avali' means "a continuous line"). Thus,Diwaliis the time to celebrate withlights.

Hindus and Sikhs alike regard it as a celebration of life and use the occasion to strengthen family and social relationships. One of the most important Hindu festivals,Diwalimarks the beginning of a new year in some Hindu calendars. For Hindus, the festival is not only the time to make merry but also the time to worship divine beings considered sacred in Hinduism like Lord Ganesha, Goddess Lakshmi and Lord Mahabali. It is also a significant festival for the Sikh faith. For Jains, it is an occasion to remember Lord Mahavira.In Nepal,Diwaliis celebrated by many Buddhists as Tihar or Swanti.

Why isDiwalicalled the "Festival ofLights"?

Diwaliis known as the "Festival ofLights". This is probably because of the manner in which it is observed. The festival is traditionally celebrated withactivitieslike bursting crackers, lighting rows of candles and diyas (earthen lamps) around individual homes, holding dazzlingfireworks displayand igniting colourful sparklers.

What happened duringDiwali?

Known as the "Festival ofLights,"Diwalicommemorates the time when the Lord Rama returned to his hometown Ayodhya after defeating the evil demon king of Lanka, Ravana. Lord Rama was the king of Ayodhya who had, by his father's orders, went away from his country to live in the forest for fourteen years. But the people of Ayodhya loved their king very much and waited for years to meet with him again. And so, when news of Lord Rama'sreturncame to them again, the people of Ayodhya, in the honour of their king and to celebrate his victory, burst crackers, lit up their houses with earthen lamps (diyas), anddecoratedthe entire city in the grandest manner. Year after year this homecoming of Lord Rama is commemorated onDiwaliwithlights, fireworks, bursting of crackers and merriment. The festival gets its name Deepawali, orDiwali, from the rows (avali) of lamps (deepa) that the people of Ayodhya lit to welcome their King.

TodayDiwaliis celebrated across the world as the "Festival of Light," where thelightsor lamps signify victory of good overthe evil withinevery human being .

Read more athttp://www.kidsgen.com/events/diwali/about_diwali.htm#ZLDKQDwisYXR0mXg.99

A Soul-Freeing Guide to Get Your Life Back

Taking Advantage of Your Life — Your Action Plan

1. Know your five things — where you want to go.

Every one of us is different, and our goals are as unique as our personalities. Most times, our daily activities are overwhelming and tedious. The problem is that they may or may not line up with what we actually wish to achieve and feel each day.

This helped me make the decision to step back.

To figure this out and get back on track with what I really want to do, I take some time every few weeks to list out the five core things that I want to feel and what activities I am partaking in to create those feelings in my life. Activities that don’t match up with my five probably should be eliminated.

For example, the core five things that I’m striving for in my life are:

1. Freedom

2. Safety
                                     
3. Connection

4. Value

5. Meaning

My five are probably extremely different than what your list might look like — and that’s okay. But you have to come up with your own list to figure out whether your life is on the right track and what activities will lead you to your own five.

2. Write out each tiny step — how you will get there.

Once I have my list of five, I add a column and start planning out what I can do to achieve those five emotions, states of being, or accomplishments. I plan out exactly what I will do tomorrow, the next day, and every single moment up until I’m there. It may be tedious, but it keeps me focused. It keeps me focused on what contributes to my life, not what detracts from it. Usually, my first reaction is to feel appalled at how distracted I have become in my activities and endeavors. I’ll never forget the first time I sat down to make my list of five and realized that almost none of my day-to-day projects and activities were leading me anywhere near where I wanted to go!

The magic is that, after a few revised lists and more self-reflection, I find myself more satisfied and focus with my projects with each passing day. It appears as if scheduling regular check-ins with myself to hone in on my deepest desires and emotions has helped steer the ship to a better place all on its own.

3. Get it done and smile

In the words of Henry David Thoreau, “All endeavor calls for the ability to tramp the last mile, shape the last plan, endure the last hour’s toil.” 

There is something we all must face — the work. It won’t be easy, but it’ll be worthwhile.

The choice of how to get the work done is all yours, and that is beauty behind the decision-making ability you hold in your power. You can choose to do the work and enjoy the process — or resent it and walk away frustrated and beaten down.

Most days, I choose to take each challenge (sucky as it may be) and re-frame it as a liberating experience.

STEM CELL HEART GENERATION: 

Stem Cell Heart Generation– For the first time, a human heart has been created using stem cells, a major step forward in organ generation. A couple years ago scientists rebuilt the heart of a rat using stem cells; the same team is behind the latest breakthrough. If all goes as planned, the heart will continue to grow and eventually begin beating automatically. The implications of this development are huge, including overcoming the problems of transplanting donated hearts.