While you are reading this post, somewhere in Japan a capybara is enjoying its life in an onsen hot spring.
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Youโve probably seen charming videos of big lazy rodents basking in water with fruits floating around them. Most likely, that fruit is yuzu โ citrus with a strong smell, a hybrid of lemon and tangerine. Bathing in an onsen with yuzu is a traditional Japanese ritual thatโs performed on the day of the winter solstice in order to strengthen health and wash away problems.
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How did capybaras end up in these hot springs? At home, in South and Central America, they are used to soaking in warm water. Now that these rodents are found in many zoos around the world, however, not all climates are suitable for them. Experts at a Japanese zoo have noticed that capybarasโ skin becomes dry and rough in winter. As an experiment, capybaras were placed in onsen baths and their condition was monitored for three weeks. Scientists monitored not just their external appearance but also their psychological comfort.
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The researchers made a table in which they assessed the animalsโ level of comfort based on their eyes and ear position. When a capybara feels comfortable, it closes its eyes and pulls back its ears.
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As a result of the experiment, the subjectsโ skin became tender and soft, like in the summer. The desired effect was achieved!
Now, moving on to the main question: How do we stop being envious of capybaras? Scientists have yet to find the answer.
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The color of your eyes depends on the pigmentation of the iris. For example, brown eyes have more melanin, and blue and grey eyes have less. This is the result of a mutation that occurred about 6โ10 thousand years ago.
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Today, you can choose to change the color of your eyes for various reasonsโfor example, for aesthetic purposes. But initially, it was developed to treat heterochromia (when a personโs irises are different colors) and other congenital eye conditions.
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In 2006, ophthalmologist Alberto Delray Kahn patented the artificial iris implantation technology. This is a surgical procedure, so it can be unpleasant; besides, there are risks of developing an infection and other complications.
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In 2005, Dr. Gregg Homer of Strลma Medical received a patent for the Lumineyes technology. It is based on the fact that โunder a brown eye is a blue eye,โ meaning that there is a thin layer of melanin โcoveringโ the blue iris in brown-eyed people, and it can be โremovedโ using a laser.
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The procedure lasts no more than 20 seconds: a thin laser beam gently burns melanin from the anterior layer of the iris, and after a while, the eyes turn from brown to blue. The company also attempted to turn brown eyes into green, but this option proved more difficult.
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The company claims that the technology is completely safe, but clinical trials are still ongoing. Would you go through an eye color change surgery?
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Spy satellites: can they see us from space?
A pleasant december prediction
