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Policeman cheated with MS Paint

In Hong Kong, there has recently been an incident of illegal, unwise and irresponsible use of the perfectly legal, clever and reliable software, Microsoft Paint. I believe everyone has witnessed the enormous potential of the program Microsoft Paint or MS Paint. There are some cyber artists who have maximized the almighty program.

But not all users know how to use MS Paint. In Hong Kong, a policeman who was too lazy for work forged doctor’s certificates using MS Paint. He obtained the digitized copy of certificates by scanning archived certificates with the digital scanners in the public library. He repeatedly did this in 15 days and obtained 50 days as sick leave. He pleaded guilty and received a sentence of three months.

The policeman edited the date and the complaint on the digitalized copy of the doctor’s certificate. However, his clever superior discovered there were obvious spelling mistakes. For example, the policeman wrote “headace” instead of “headache”. The missing letter “h” was actually the clue to the criminal behavior. So next time when someone is attempting to deceive others, the perpetrator might be using MS Paint.

Anticancer effects of turmeric

Turmeric, whose scientific name is Curcuma longa, is a daily cooking ingredient. The gold, deep yellow colour comes from its curcumin. Turmeric is often seen in the recipe of Southern Indian curry dishes. Turmeric is also seen in the array of Indian herbal medicine against ailments. Some doctors may presribe paste made from turmeric to treat insect bites such as mosquito bites. Turmeric can be intaken as anthelminthic to clear parasites and their debris in our intestines. Turmeric is also a cure for urinary diesases, liver diseases and jaundice. Some local Indians would apply turmeric onto wounds and bruises. For relatively more serious illnesses such as chicken pox and small pox, turmeric also yields some effects.

Most interestingly, in traditional Indian medical scriptures, turmeric was listed as a prescription drug. But without modern medical scientific experiments, its anti-cancer effects would remain a claim. So some scientists tested its effects on the suppression of cancer cell growth in mammal body. Some medical academics injected turmeric into mice as a treatment in order to test the effectiveness of turmeric in preventing leukemia.

Using different dosages of turmeric on mice, the scientists discovered that with a higher concentration of turmeric would be effective. By injecting a higher concentration dose of turmeric into mice, the mice would be benefitted from suppressed canceric cell growth. They would also gain lengthend lifespan when compared to the control subjects. But with decreased turmeric concentration in the dose, these therapeutic effects would diminish. In the experiments, the concentration of turmeric may be too high for human's daily consumption. However, the fresh or powdered turmeric from the market you could find would be safe for consumption. Also, in the experiment, turmeric was used as a preventive measure rather than for recovery from cancer. Therefore, I would say that we could include turmeric into our diet as an ingredient of culinary agent.

Please look at the medical experiment documented in this literature. Thank you!

Kuttan, Ramadasan, et al. "Potential anticancer activity of turmeric (Curcuma longa)." Cancer letters 29.2 (1985): 197-202.

Why can’t human eat grass?

Can we eat grass? We all know that our ancestors have practiced nomadic grazing in the past. It was a practice across the origins of human civilization. They brought herds of livestock from pasture to pasture. Then the meat from livestock was consumed as a vital source of nutrients. But one question arises. Why don’t our ancestors eat the grass directly? Why can’t we survive on eating grass? Why do we have to rely on the animals to digest the grass and transform the energy into more absorbable form for our consumption? Would it be more efficient if we can eat grass? Why aren’t we evolve to digest grass?

In fact, the question that why human can’t eat grass is not a rigidly posed question. How do we define grass? In strict biological sense, wheat, rice, barley, corn and bamboo are all grass, even though their appearance may not fit into our perceived image of grass. We consume their seeds. For example, when we eat bread or rice, we are surviving on grass but the seeds of it. So it is true that human can eat grass, but the seeds of grass. But our modern technologies help us extract the grain from the seeds. If you see seed-eating birds, they do the same with their thick beak. It is the same principle that a threshing machine works, removing the grain from the hulks.

To be more specific, we don’t eat the leaves of grass, which are the green parts constantly chewed by the livestock. In fact, when you are hungry and there is no sign of food but only grass beside you, the leaves of grass are surely an option. But inside the leaves, there are too little nutrients. Our digestive system has to work a long time in order to extract the feeble amount of nutrient from grass. More importantly, they do not taste good. So, over the years, humans learn to choose not to eat grass when presented the opportunity.

But grass knows that animals are eating it. So grass has already evolved and built their own defense mechanisms against their most direct enemy, the herbivores. There has been ongoing battle between the digestive system of herbivores and the defensive mechanisms of grass. For instance, the cells of the grass are becoming harder and harder to digest. Yet, throughout the evolution, animals have developed specialized multiple-stage digestive system to breakdown the cells and extract energies from grass. But we, human, have chosen not to compete with the grass. Yes, we gave up.

Therefore, the next time you are asked the question, why can’t we eat grass? Please dodge the question by saying that we eat the seeds of grass every day. But we do not eat the leaves of the grass because our bodies can only gain so little given the hard work.