F-ing and blind-ing helps ease pain
In a 2009 experiment, Keele University researchers Richard Stephens, John Atkins and Andrew Kingston asked two groups of subjects to hold their hands in ice water. One group was asked to swear while they did so and the other was asked to say neutral words. The swearers were able to hold their hands in the water twice as long, and these subjects reported feeling less pain. No one's quite sure why this works — perhaps swearing activates the amygdala, which leads to a release of adrenaline, producing natural pain relief. Stephens said, "I would advise people, if they hurt themselves, to swear." Interestingly, Stephens later found that people who reported swearing every day reported a lesser pain-deadening effect than those who swore less often. Perhaps people who seldom swear place a higher emotional value on these words, which triggers a stronger chemical response. "Swearing is a very emotive form of language and our findings suggest that over-use of swear words can water down their emotional effect," Stephens said. "Used in moderation, swearing can be an effective and readily available short-term pain reliever if, for example, you are in a situation where there is no access to medical care or painkillers. However, if you're used to swearing all the time, our research suggests you won't get the same effect."
False teeth story too good to be true
The story of Paul Bishop's false teeth swept around the world last month. Nobody could resist the story and it made for catchy headlines. "Shocked Brit Gets False Teeth in Post 11 Years After He Vomited Them into Bin," says The Mirror. "Fangs for the Memories!" exclaim the punsters at the Daily Mail. However, as Matt Reynolds, senior writer for Wired writes, "The tooth . . . was not exactly as it seemed." Back in 2011, Bishop and some mates traveled to Benidorm, Spain. After drinking all day, he felt the urge to vomit, and so he did, in a trash bin. His upper dentures went out with the rest of the regurgitation, but he was too drunk to care. Over a decade later, Bishop received an unexpected package from Spain. "It turned out my teeth went to some landfill, and because it's classed as body parts, the Spanish Government won't allow them to be destroyed," he explained to the Independent. Evidently, a lab tech in Spain eventually discovered the dentures and was able to match them to their owner using a DNA database. Unfortunately, the only truths in the story were that Paul Bishop wears dentures and likes to party in Spain. Such databases do exist for use by law enforcement, but not for lost dentures.
