Vampires Pt.4- Why Vampires Can't Exist (second part)

I've been hearing a lot about Vitamin D deficiency recently and how it works to cause osteoporosis and then it came to me... a reason why vampires can't exist. Vampires technically still have the skeletal system of a human. Or they should. There is no real reason why they wouldn't. So wouldn't they still be affected by osteoporosis as well? You get your vitamin D mostly by the sunlight. Vampires don't go out in the sun. So why is there not more vampires with osteoporosis. If you think about it, it's not like they are drinking milk. The only other explanation would be for them to take supplements the rest of their life, otherwise, they'd fall apart.

Just a random thought...

Vampires Pt 3-- Why Vampires Can't Exist

Recently, iO9 came out with this very interesting article on why vampires can't exist. If you haven't read it, check it out. The article talks about a new discovery found about mosquitoes. Also check out the original research article, 'Wolbachia Infections are Virulent and Inhibit the human Malaria Parasite Pkasmodium Falciparum in Anopheles Gambiae'. Very interesting read.

In the iO9 article, the writer spins what is found by the researchers who found a type of bacteria that kills of the mosquito that carries malaria by saying that because of this bacteria, it means that there will never be a "plague of vampires".

This bacteria, Wolbachia, although not found to be carried by the type of mosquito that carries malaria, the researchers thought that it could be fatal to them. Mosquitoes were infected with two of the different strains of the bacteria to see if it would kill off the carriers, therefore stopping the spread of the disease. What they found was that the bacteria not only spread quickly and took control of the immune systems of the mosquitoes, but it also inhibited the growth of malaria. The mosquitoes, however, didn't die. What happened was that while the mosquitoes lived on the sugar fed to them, given blood, they died.

Now, just imagine what a writer could do with information like this?

Movies have shown that vampires need a stake to the heart or sunlight... or whatever. But what the researchers have shown is that there are other ways to go about stopping vampires. With a bacteria. (Unless they mutate first, but let's not go there.)

iO9's spin on the research article is brilliant and brings new readers in to the scientific community.

The Myth of the Easter Bunny

With the Easter holidays just ending, I thought that it would be appropriate to go on a bit about the mythology behind the Easter bunny and how he was created. When we think about Easter we think about chocolate bunnies and coloured eggs hidden for children to find. But how did it all start?

The holiday was named after the Saxon goddess Oestre or Easter. Bringing an end to winter and having a passion for creating new life, she brought an end to winter, making the days brighter and longer. Wherever she went, plants flowered and babies were born-- both animal and human. The rabbit, known for its rapid reproduction, was her sacred animal.

One year, after feeling guilty about arriving late one spring, Easter came across a bird whose wings had been frozen in the snow. Saving its life, it became her pet, but it could no longer fly. She turned him into snow hare and gave him the gift of being able to run incredibly fast to protect himself. In order to remind him of his earlier form as a bird, she gave him the ability to lay eggs in all the colours of the rainbow, only one day a year.

One day, he angered the Goddess. She cast him into the skis to become a constellation (what we know as Lepus-- the hare), right below the feet of Orion. He was allowed to return to earth once each year, but only to give away his eggs to the children who attended the festivals held in her honour each spring.

And thus explains how the story of the Easter bunny began. What do you enjoy most about the holiday? Is it the chocolate? The gathering with family? Or is it the hunt for candy eggs?