I fell off my motorcycle

As said in the blog description, you should probably expect randomness in this blog.
As such, this post will be nothing more than me lamenting over my most recent epic misfortune.

Yeah, I fell off my motorcycle.

For a really, really dumb reason.

A.
Freaking.
Cockroach.

Yes, one crawled over the visor of my helmet and landed over my eyes. I was on fairly high speed at the moment. Luckily, the road was rather deserted so I didn't hit another motorcycle or crash into a car (and perhaps break my neck or lose my life lol).

I hit the brakes.

Sadly for me, the road was slippery after rain, so I lost my balance and fell on the ground next to my motorcycle.

This isn't the first time I lost balance while riding. Only last time, I was quick enough to jump off my motorcycle and then walk away unscathed.
This time, however my instincts did not react fast enough. I was too distracted by that damn cockroach blocking my vision. And thus, I ended up falling on my right hand and sprained my wrist.

Guess what's worse?

It's in the middle of the SEMESTER FINALS WEEK. And the next day's test was MATHS.

Haa~
Just my luck, right?

In the end, I lost motivation to continue studying maths at home (I somehow still managed to ride safely home lol) and I DIDN'T PASS HAHAHAHA.

HA
Ha
ha
ha
ha...

Nice job, cockroach...

Anyway, the finals are over and I probably should start on writing blog posts again.
I have a new blog here: http://covertknight.wordpress.com

Be sure to check it out tomorrow!

Cov out


~Covert Knight

When Serra Talks About Sleep

Ciao! Serra again here (of course, duh).

I have just been attacked by cannons of tests and assignments, so I really tired and do not want to think about this blog. But many people are exhausted than me, and I am curious (and before my curiosity kills a cute cat), I plan to know why. And solve it of course.

My friends called me Serra, a.k.a Serotonin for a quite good reason. Among Hormones’, I am the one who most alert and generally happy, and I thought it was because I am an early riser. For those who do not know, in Indonesia we have to go to school really early; thus sending Melanie a.k.a Melatonin to her beauty sleep every day.

And because we already have Octavia a.k.an Oxytocin, my ‘tagline’ of promoting Serotonin is ‘wake up’. Which is kind of ironic, considering the one who wakes you up is Corrine a.k.a Cortisol, the gloom and stressing people out hormones.

But it’s alright. She’s not much for an early riser (rather, she is a night owl), so let me take the credit. Mwahahahaa.

Back to the topic; everyone in my class (well actually, most classes I visited) were having a sleep deprivation attack. I do not know if Melanie is just being awesome or what, but that is rather....startling for me. Well, I am serotonin, what can you say?

So here, I am going to share tonnes of tips and trick on having a good night sleep. And finding time to sleep. Check it out.

First, sleep in total darkness. Forget about being afraid of darkness and stuff, it’s time for you to sleep. You may ask, why? Because of melatonin, a.k.a Melanie’s campaign product is only produced in the dark. When you are exposed to light, melatonin goes inactive. Do not fight the natural part of our life.

According to https://sleepfoundation.org/sleep-topics/melatonin-and-sleep , a key factor in how human sleep is regulated is exposure to light or to darkness. Exposure to light stimulates a nerve pathway from the retina in the eye to an area of the brain called the hypothalamus. There, a special centre called the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) initiates signals to other parts of the brain that control hormones, body temperature and other functions that play a role in making us feel sleepy or wide awake.

The SCN works like a clock that sets off a regulated pattern of activities that affect the entire body. Once exposed to the first light each day, the clock in the SCN begins performing functions like raising body temperature and releasing stimulating hormones like cortisol. The SCN also delays the release of other hormones like melatonin, which is associated with sleep onset, until many hours later when darkness arrives.

You may want to curse me. Haha blame me, but I am going to introduce you about melatonin (because apparently, the representative has fallen asleep, duh).

Melatonin is actually a hormone that involves in regulating your physiological functions. According to Wikipedia, in animals, melatonin is involved in the entrainment (synchronisation) of the circadian rhythms of physiological functions including sleep timing, blood pressure regulation, seasonal reproduction, and many others.

Melatonin also plays an important role of becoming a Jedi (a cough) to protect the nuclei and mitochondrial DNA. Melatonin is secreted by the pineal gland, under the chemical N-acetyl 5 methoxy tryptamine, and almost found in most organisms. Melatonin is inactive in the day, and wakes up when darkness occurs (that’s kind of explained, though. Melanie is a night owl, and she is into ‘dark’ stuff. Jk, Melanie). In the daytime, melatonin is barely detectable and mostly inactive.

Second, turn off your bloody smartphone. But don’t throw it away. Haha, because your phone actually emits some kind of radiation that preventing you from sleeping. Not to mention, your applications are always ready to tempt you and lead you to succumb to ‘the world’. And you forget to sleep. Which by Mel’s standard, is not so awesome.

Third, drink water before you go to sleep. NOT COFFEE. Water is going to make you more relaxed and refreshed you when you wake up. You will feel more rejuvenating because your body is actually hydrated, and believe me, water does wondrous things.

Fourth, adjust your bedroom temperature, not too cold, and not too hot. Anna Vital says, the best temperature for sleeping is between 16-21⁰ C.

And fifth, do not let the stress take you on. It is as far, the most difficult among the fourth. If you keep being stressed and anxious and stuff, you WILL NOT get a good sleep. Trust me, Corrine is a horrible wake up-er, and it sends you to the gloom state which was not awesome at all. Do not procrastinate, believe in yourself (and God), and if you fail, do not go to Celeste’s state; just be ‘Meh’ and you’ll be Octavia.

So that’s all my little pet project fighting sleep deprivation. For more information, you can just Google it (actually) and find more interesting sciencey stuff about SLEEP. Thank you so much for those sites I visited and cited and for more read learnandearnalot.wordpress.com for more science stuff.

If Teachers Become Superheroes

Hello there! It's me, Octavia! I've told you before that some of us loves to draw, right? One of them is Noradrenaline or Meh, whatever you call her. I'll just go with Meh since it is shorter. Although we have opposite personalities, both of us do have something in common, drawing cute stuff! This picture below is a result of our collaboration. 

"If Teachers Become Superheroes"

Meh designed the characters and did the coloring, while I traced it (well, I didn't do much). Those three are our religion teachers : a pilot, a doctor, and a saint. Yeah, none of them looks like superheroes, or should I change the title into "If Teachers Have Superpowers"? Meh, just ignore it anyway.

So, our reasons to give them these names is that two of our teachers wanted to become a pilot and a doctor, but failed to do so and ended up being what they are now. And what about the saint? He is just too kind and frequently smiles, which gives us a calming and soothing effect, like a saint.

Meh and I hope that we can make this a series, so don't forget to check for more upcoming "If Teachers Become Superheroes" post. Ciao~

Bioterrorism - can't make good titles -

Yo! The one with the unpronounceable name is back! I'm feeling good since I have some time to spare, so I'll talk about something. Here's the backstory. Captain went on reconnaissance yesterday and came back with an amusing story. That story will be the basis of this post. I'll be talking about.... Bioterrorism! (not gonna yay)

Bioterrorism logo

Basically, bioterrorism is terrorism using biology. CDC defined it as an attack that uses virus, bacteria, or other germs (agents) that are used to cause illness or death in people, animal, or plants. Imagine a bomb with invisible explosion... well, something like that. A virus is released into the environment, gets inside your systems, kills you, and spread fast like a shockwave. Still can't imagine? Ever seen Resident Evil? Something like that. (Should've mentioned it earlier)

You're probably not scared because we're surrounded by germs all the time and haven't died yet. Outbreaks happen and so far things aren't that bad. But stay here for a minute, now, and I shall explain.

Now, of all germs, I'll be using a virus as an example, just because it sounds scarier. Let's use a rabies virus. Why rabies? Because it has a vaccine to stop it, but has a death rate of 100%. A simpler explanation is, if you failed to get yourself a shot after being bitten by a rabid animal and the symptoms have begun, you're dead. Like, totally dead, unless you're lucky enough like the very VERY few people who survived (not without consequences, including huge hospital bills), and by few I mean less than ten, compared to the 55,000 people who died from rabies each year.

You wouldn't want to get rabies.

So, say some mad scientists modify the virus' genes. They edited the genes so the virus are resistant against vaccines. Then, he released the virus to the environment. Then, you're doomed. Wait, no. Kill all the infected dogs, cats, and other animals close to home, and we'll be safe! Hmm... how about making the virus spread not only by animal bites, like say, by air too?

Thing is, once we know which genes are responsible for what and how to edit DNA or RNA of germs, we can technically create a super strong and resistant virus that can create doom situation. Easier said than done, I know. It would be more efficient to use already existing and dangerous germs.

Wait, what? There already are germs that can be used for terrorism?

CDC has a list of agents that can be used for bioterrorism. It's not that long (thankfully) so you don't have to be paranoid. (Sorry if I make you paranoid) However, the crime is still a threat.

Diseases has an incubation period. Incubation period is the time span between infection and symptoms' appearance. For example, rabies' incubation period in humans is generally 20-60 days, according to Oxford Journals. Incubation period means that it takes time before anyone noticed an attack has been launched, and the culprit can spread the agent far and wide as needed during this time span, since no suspicions will be raised. (See more here)

Actually, according to this, an attack doesn't need to be fatal to be effective. In fact, if the attack looks to dangerous, it may cause alarm which slows down the attack. The goal is to cause panic and distress, not necessarily killing. The best way to do it would be to strain the health care system, since there are limited amount of isolation beds, medicine, and other needed supplies. Furthermore, nonfatal diseases would cause less alarm, and thus the victim is less likely to be quarantined. The agent can then spread easier.

So yeah, my end of the world scenario might be waaay too dramatic. It won't be as easy as buying a ticket to a zombie apocalypse movie, but it's not an impossible situation. One day, we might be able to create a catastrophe by doing some extreme lab work. Please don't ever do that, though. Nobody will like it.

I hope no one is being paranoid here. I kinda have some fun writing this. Some distraction it was though... haven't done all of my homework yet, heheh.... Well, I'm not as awesome as the captain, but I hope you enjoyed this.

Now, I'll be back to my homework... see ya!

Fish & Fat Pun

Hello! I’m Octavia a.k.a oxytocin, the bonding hormone, and supposedly the happiest in the group. Imagine the sunflower in Plant vs Zombie, that’s how I look.

I love fish and I look fishy (we like puns so bear with it). The others describe me as a yandere who will stab a knife in your back at any possible time. It must be joke, isn’t it? Some of us love drawing, including me. Since I can’t make proper drawings with proportions , shading, and those complicated things *sobs*, I doddle cute stuff ! Some of the paper sketches are redrawn in Adobe Illustrator. Here’s one of them. It was drawn maybe a year ago, after we study about digestive system in biology class. 

Did you get the pun? If you don't, let me explain. The picture is a part of the small intestine and those hanging things are villi which absorbs nutrients (find out more at Wikipedia). Since fat has bigger particles than the other nutrients, it is too 'fat' (in this case, means big) to diffuse into villi. At least, that's what I remember. I don't know what happened to the fat after that, too lazy to google it. 

So, this is the end of this post. I'll upload some pictures again someday, maybe. Bye~      

I will make you fall asleep, for I am Melatonin

Sleep...sleep... go to sleeeeeeep....

Naaah, just kidding. Stay up, folks. You can fall asleep later after you've read this post.

Anyway, hello y'all!

As the title says, I'm Melatonin, the hormone that controls your sleep pattern (if I recall correctly). Oh well, you can also call me Covert Knight or Lastika, since that's what I usually go by around the 'net.

Emphasize on usually...

My friends don't call me "Melatonin" for no reason. You see, I fall asleep a lot in class, even though I've had enough sleep the night before. I just... fall asleep a lot, for reasons that are rather unclear.

Though, oddly enough, I can stay up till dawn working on a fanfiction, drawing, or playing video games.

I'm the second oldest of the bunch, about uh four-five months younger than the oldest. Not that it matters that much. I can be pretty damn immature at times.

I'm an aspiring artist and creator. I'm in science program for no particular reason other than curiosity (and my curiosity came back to bite me in the rear via failing so many exams hahahahaha!), and my uh... sort-of enthusiasm for science that has taken root deep down.

My artist pseudonym is Skolastika Auberta. You can find my artwork on my Instagram: @skolastika_detya

It's mostly Star Wars fanart. Because I'm a huge Star Wars fangirl. Yes, huge. Very huge. No, I did not enjoy The Farce Force falls asleep Awakens. You see, I'm a Star Wars Legends fangirl, which is, frankly, a very rare specimen among Star Wars fans in Indonesia, especially one that is a wee schoolgirl.

It feels lonely sometimes but, oh well... I'm part of a lightsaber combat group in Jakarta and they respect me a lot for my knowledge, so there's that.

I'm also a proud A Song of Ice and Fire booksnob and Sansa Stark defender who gleefully sings the "Booksnob Sing-Along" by the MetroGnomes as she trashes over the continuously devolving TV series.

I'm a schutta and I admit it. I can be a super-insensitive jerk too. Soo... beware and sorry in advance?

Oh well.

I guess... see y'all later! Stay around, folks!

Now you can fall asleeeeeeeeep.....

~Covert Knight

BNQSHRNK ZQQHUDR!!!

BNQSHRNK ZQQHUDR!!! What, what is that, you ask? I wonder.... decipher it if you will. Caesar cypher, -1, because I can and I like caesar salad. (Yes, I like salad.)

Who am I? Look at the contributors. See the one unpronounceable name? That's mine. A more pronounceable name? Not gonna give ya.

About me, just look at Celeste's post. Our personality are practically polar opposites, except for her interests. Why? because I'm too lazy to write.

Seriously, Serra has made a super awesome post about serotonin, and here I am, sitting between two fanfic writers when I have only written one stupid fanfic my entire life and barely read anything but science articles on Flipboard. My SAT essay only got 5 at its highest! (new SAT, btw.) So, forgive my writing. Trust me, I get better on my TOEFL test.

I have nothing else to say... So bye!