reflexes?

did you guys know that relfexes has nothing to do with the brain?!

I saw an interesting clip today which proved it. It started off with a cane toad sitting on the table for a GOOD minute; just stting and croaking, or whatever frogs do..( breathing?) THEN a hand suddenly shows up, picks up the toad and starts pulling at the leg and pinching its foot which causes the frog to pull its leg back as a reflex ( I think the guy had a lot of fun doing it.) After several pulls, in the NEXT shot, the cane toad is lying on the table again, except this time with its HEAD missing. Wasn't expecting it &NOT the best sight either. So now the frog has no head, hence no brain. The man starts pulling at the leg and pinching its foot again => voila! it is still pulling its leg back in, therefore, reflexes have nothing to do with the brain. BUT he doesn't stop there; NOPE. To further prove his point, he grabs a needle ( or maybe a small metal stick not that sure) and sticks it down the spinal cord really roughly; jabbing it, stirring it, and any other movement possible to damage the spinal cord. Finally he pulls on the leg again. Nothing happens. THE END =)

Quite an interesting lesson. The lecturer also mentioned Mike the Headless Chicken. He didn't spend too much time on the story, so when I got home, I looked up the webpage (thanks to will who showed it to me last night) for further reading. Mike is a chicken who survived 18months without a head. At first when I heard about it, I thought it was pretty cruel - letting an animal with no head run around,it can't see anything! But after reading the story on the site, it sounds like the chicken had a pretty cool life. It seems pretty happy hehe and it even gained weight! During its 18months being a headless chicken it went from 1.5kg to 3.5kg.

"In the 18 MONTHS that Mike lived as "The Headless Wonder Chicken" he grew from a mere 2 1/2 lbs. to nearly 8 lbs. In a Gayle Meyer interview Olsen said Mike was a "robust chicken - a fine specimen of a chicken except for not having a head." Some longtime Fruita residents, gathered at the Monument Cafe for coffee, also remember Mike - "he was a big fat chicken who didn't know he didn't have a head" - "he seemed as happy as any other chicken." Mike's excellent state of health made it difficult for animal-rights activists to garner much of a following." - Mike the Headless Chicken, Mike's Story http://www.miketheheadlesschicken.org/story.html

Mike even got to travel around the states! Pretty cool life! He had one ear, and his brain stem remaining. - i forgot what the lecturer said, but i think thats what keeps the heart and lungs functioning. The owner fed the chicken grain and water using an eyedropper down his throat. I think he might have lived longer if he didn't choke.
*something I don't get is, why is the chicken named Mike when its a female?

Well I guess, since vincent mentioned it, I actually missed my stop on the way home today! I was reading a book (The Amulet of Samarkand, GREAT book) &i missed my stop. When I looked up I was watching the words SPRINGVALE moving away o_o (Yes I live there.)the lady sitting in front of me even laughed at me! she was chuckling >_____________<. Anyway I got off the next stop which was Sand Down Park. Its kinda a creepy place, theres hardly anyone there and awfully quiet. I only had enough coins to make a phone call back home; my phone ran out of credit >.< color="#00cccc">brother picked up the phone, and told me to wait for the next train (i wanted him to come pick me up -_-" it would have only taken him 5minutes dammit!) SO instead i waited. Around 21 minutes later I heard the most disappointing message ever! "the (time of train, forgot already) will not be comming, sorry for any inconveniences." something along the lines of that. O_O Finally my dad called me after awhile (THANK GOODNESS) and I started talking really fast. I don't think he understood anything I said, but I got the message through - COME PICK ME UP NOW!!! My dad came pretty fast :D

Well that was my exciting day -_-" HAHA I got Lyn and myself pretty lost. I kept forgetting to pay attention to the outside when we were on the tram. We ended up at flinders station like 3 times >.<> LYN! Lyn: lisa your sense of direction sucks I don't think she'll trust me in the city ever again. But at least we got to go to KOKO BLACK! YAY!! The drinks was sooooooooooo niiceeee. We ordered two hot chocolates and this chocolate platter thing. THAT was our lunch. By the end of it we felt so sick!
OH! we also saw ALAN and his friends. (hehe im taller than gimwah :D bwhahaha)They were on their way to see Memoirs of a Geisha. Dammit i really wanted to watch it but I was too scared of comming home late - my mum isnt a big fan of me staying out late.

omgsh, whoa what a LONG and boring post >.<>