Brenda was over tonight to start Season 12 of America's Next Top Model. Afterward, as girlfriends are wont to do, we chatted about a myriad of topics. Somehow we got onto the subject of how awesome Google is, and she mentioned that she googled something the other day that actually returned no real results. Her search:
Why doesn't your brain fall out your ears?
After the requisite hysterical laughter and my promise (or threat, I suppose it's your viewpoint) to blog that, we moved on.
But after she left, I Googled it ("brain fall out ears"). [The first result was awesome, a question on Yahoo: A dog licked my forehead will my brain fall out.] But most of the results were concerning tubes placed in the ears, which often fall out (the tubes, not the ears). I also saw several references to your brain *leaking* out of your ears, so I googled *that*, which returned lots of results, mostly to do with horrible music.
BUT, there was actual real knowledge to be discovered! I found out that your brain does not fall out of your ears because it is surrounded by several layers of membranes that cushion it, along with the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) that is constantly produced by and drained from the brain. (Drained *where* was my first thought--turns out it drains primarily into the blood through a fairly complicated process that I lost interest in) I did learn that the CSF is completely replaced ("turned over") about 3.7 times a day. And that a trauma to your skull can lead to the rupture of the membrane and the leakage of the CSF, which can open up the possibilities of all kinds of nasty conditions, like meningitis, which is an infection of the membrane around the brain.
SO. The reason, dear Brenda, that your brain does not fall out of your ears, besides the fact, as we discussed, that the brain is solid and larger than the ear canal, is that it is contained within membranes that hold it in place.
Ta-DA!
And now perhaps there will be a helpful result for the next person to Google that question. ;) mk
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1 comment:
...and all I did was drive home and go to bed?!
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