Things That Are (Almost) Impossible To Do With Your Body

There are things that you think you should be able to do with your body. But if you’re like 99.9999% of people in the world, no matter how hard you try, you just can’t quite manage to do it.

Here is a list of things that are impossible to do with your body, and the few mutants who can do ‘em:

1. Raise One Eyebrow

I can raise both of my eyebrows in bewilderment on how some people can raise just one. In fact, I know only one person in my life who can do this: my mother-in-law, who said that her ability just came to her during the pain of childbirth - and that this superpower was very useful in raising kids. Well, her and of course Leonard Nimoy (Mr. Spock: "Fascinating, Captain"), Sean Connery, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, and Stephen Colbert.

Some people call this the eyebrow cock, and it is known as the universal sign of O RLY … I mean, skepticism. The ability to raising eyebrows may be an evolutionary trait: baboons, mandrills and cebus monkeys raise their eyebrows as a threat gesture. (Source: David Givens / Center for Nonverbal Studies).

For all of you who want to do this (and yes, geeks who want to imitate Mr. Spock: I’m talkin’ to you), it turns out that you can learn to raise one eyebrow. Here’s the trick, according to wikiHow:

1. Start by keeping one eyebrow down with one hand and holding one up with the other. Keep practicing this in the mirror so you can
detect the correct muscle movement to obtain one eyebrow up.
2. Once you are familiar with this and can do it quite well, try it with out using your hands.
3. Practice this in the mirror intil you get it just right
4. Scare and thrill people with your new talent!

Didn’t work for you? Try the methods in this Ask MetaFilter thread or this Yahoo! Answer.

2. Lick Your Elbow

Photo: Gussy (Luke) [Flickr]

I once read a trivia that said it’s impossible to lick your own elbow. And that 75% of the people told this immediately tried to lick their elbows.

Well! It’s obviously not so impossible for some people. Supposedly, Guinness World Records get about 5 claims a day from people who think that they are special just because they can lick their elbows (Source).

3. Gleeking

Patrick Ellison gleeking. Photo by Josh Devine [Wikipedia]

Okay, it is kind of gross but it’s fascinating. Gleeking (or gleeting / glicking) is like spitting - but not quite: the term means projecting saliva from the submandibular gland upon compression by the tongue.

Interestingly, the word gleek appears in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, where a character named Bottom says "Nay, I can gleek upon occasion." (The Bard meant it as "joke," though, not spit like a camel)

4. Twitch Your Nose

Y’know, twitch your nose like the witch Samantha Stephens of Bewitched.

Elizabeth Montgomery, the actress that played Samantha, actually got sick and tired of being asked to twitch her nose by her fans that she refused to do it after the series was over.

They should bring back Bewitched. I missed that show.

5. Wiggle Your Ear

Jeff Goldblum wiggling his ears [YouTube]

Your cat can do it. And so can the hippo and Jeff Goldblum. But only few other people in the world can wiggle their ears. It turned out that in 2006, scientists determined exactly why most people couldn’t wiggle their own ears:

"The mechanism behind ear movements is sophisticated," says Bastiaan ter Meulen, who led the ear wiggling study, accepted for publication in the journal Clinical Neurophysiology.

Unlike other facial muscles, ear muscles have their own accessory nucleus, a control area for muscle function, in the brainstem, says ter Meulen, a researcher at Erasmus MC, a university medical centre in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

"Compared to animals, especially bats and cats, this nucleus is rather small in humans," he says. (Source)

But fear not, non-ear wiggling people! You can train yourself to do it. WikiHow explains:

Isolate your ear-wiggling muscles. You may be able to wiggle your ears, but it won’t be that impressive if you have to raise your eyebrows or look awfully surprised every time. You may not be able to move your ears without moving your scalp, but you should be able to learn to move them without moving your eyebrows. Practice wiggling your ears without moving any other parts of your face.

6. Touch Your Nose or Chin With Your Tongue

This is much better than a photo of Gene Simmons sticking his tongue out!
Photo: floyka [Flickr]

I betcha Gene Simmons of the rock band KISS could do both easily, but most people can’t touch the tip of their nose or their chin with their tongue. Rumor was Gene had a cow’s tongue grafted onto his own. But Snopes, ever the party pooper, set the record straight:

But, as Simmons wrote in his autobiography, his unusual tongue was indeed the work of Mother Nature alone, a feature whose distinctiveness (and value) he first realized in his early teens:

I was oblivious, for the first thirteen years of my life, that I was endowed with a large oral appendage, my superlong tongue. It really was longer than everyone else’s, and I was soon to find out that having a long tongue came in handy with the girls.

7. Strange Tongue Tricks

While we’re still on the subject of tongues, there are a few tricks that most people can’t do (just don’t get a tongue cramp trying to do all these, mmkay?):

Tongue tricks by YouTube user tinasandwich [YouTube Link]

Just go ahead and try to to the last one, the smiley face, like YouTube user a51a did [YouTube Link, shaky video but still!]

8. Sneeze with Your Eyes Open

Nope, you can’t sneeze with your eyes open (well, without forcing ‘em open with your hands, anyhow). Why? Because when you sneeze, the "sneeze center" in the brain "sends coordinated motor impulses along nerves controlling muscles of the abdomen, chest,diaphgram, neck, face, eyelids and various sphincters, as well as the mucus glands and blood vessels of the nose. All this happens automatically." (Source) You can’t help it.

Now, if you did force open your eyes, would your eyeballs pop out when you sneeze? Adam Savage of The Mythbuster risked his eyes doing the experiment:

The Mythbuster: Will Your Eyes Fall Out From Sneezing? episode [YouTube]

9. Tickle Yourself

We all have a ticklish spot or two, which are never a secret from the ones we love. Gentle tickling is fun - so one can be tempted to "auto-tickle" to amuse oneself. But alas, you can’t tickle yourself, and scientists actually know why.

Sarah-Jayne Blakemore of the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience at University College London explains:

The answer lies at the back of the brain in an area called the cerebellum, which is involved in monitoring movements. Our studies at University College London have shown that the cerebellum can predict sensations when your own movement causes them but not when someone else does. When you try to tickle yourself, the cerebellum predicts the sensation and this prediction is used to cancel the response of other brain areas to the tickle. (Source)

10. The Paralyzed Finger Trick

Okay, give this one a try: bend your middle finger like the picture on the left shows and put your hand on the table. Then lift your thumb, index finger, and pinkie. No problem, right? Now try the ring finger.

Stepanie Weaver of Science Made Simple explains why you can’t:

The tendons in your fingers are independent from one another apart from the ones in your middle and ring finger. These tendons are connected, so that when your middle finger is folded down you cannot move your ring finger. It feels like your ring finger is stuck!

11. Draw The Number Six While Making Clockwise Circles With Your Leg

Think you can multitask? Try this: while sitting on a chair, lift your right foot off the floor and make clockwise circles. Then, while doing that, draw the number 6 with your right hand. You can’t help it: your foot will change direction.

Similarly: move your right leg in anti-clockwise circles and simultaneously draw the number 8 with your right hand.

Another tricky thing to do: simultaneously rotate the index fingers of both hands clockwise. Do it slowly at first, but then pick up speed. Try to go faster and faster, and pretty soon your two fingers will be going in opposite directions!

12. Toot Your Own Horn

I’m going to let Will Ferrell in the famous SNL yoga skit explain this one ("Look, I’ve done yoga everyday for three years … now I’ve finally reached my goal"). Or if you prefer something more literary: There once was a man from Nantucket …

All right, all right, this one’s only for the guys: Why do dogs lick their balls? Because they can. And apparently, so can 2 to 3 out of 1,000 men in the world, according to sex researcher Alfred Kinsey. (Source)

As stand-up comedian Bill Hicks once famously quipped:

"A woman one night yelled out, ‘Yeah, you ever try it?’ I said, yeah. Almost broke my back. It’s that one vertebrae, I swear to God, it’s that close. I think that vertebrae is going to be the thing to go in our next evolutionary step. Just a theory and a fervent prayer. Yeah, now all the guys are going, ‘Honey, I have no idea what he’s talking about. I think he’s a devil-child.’ That may be true, but guys, yoooo u know what I’m talking about. I can speak for every guy in this room here tonight, guys, if you could blow yourselves, ladies, you’d be in this room alone right now. Watching an empty stage." (Source)

Read all about autofellatio over on Wikipedia (warning: NSFW, obviously).

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10 Ways to Manage Stress

Stress is a normal part of life and usually comes from everyday occurrences. Here are some ways you can deal with everyday sources of stress.

1. Eliminate as many sources of stress as you can.

For example, if crowds bother you, go to the supermarket when you know the lines won't be too long. Try renting videotapes rather than going to crowded movie theaters. Clear up the clutter in your life by giving away or throwing away the things that get in your way. A garage sale is one effective way to do this.

2. Make a Time-Table.

If you are always running late, sit down with a pencil and paper and see how you are actually allotting your time. Say it takes you 40 minutes to get to work. Are you leaving your house on time? You may be able to solve your problem (and de-stress your life a bit) just by being realistic. If you can't find the time for all the activities that are important to you, maybe you are trying to do too much. Again, make a list of what you do during the day and how much each activity takes. Then cut back.

3. Avoid predictably stressful situations.

If a certain sport or game makes you tense (whether it's tennis or bridge), decline the invitation to play. After all, the point of these activities is to have a good time. If you know you won't, there's no reason to play.

4. If you can't remove the stress, remove yourself.

Slip away once in a while for some private time. These quiet moments may give you a fresh perspective on your problems. Avoid stressful people. For example, if you don't get along with your father-in-law but you don't want to make an issue of it, invite other in-laws at the same time you invite him. Having other people around will absorb some of the pressure you would normally feel.

5.Avoid Competing with Others.

Competing with others, whether in accomplishments, appearance, or possessions, is an avoidable source of stress. You might know people who do all they can to provoke envy in others. While it may seem easy to say you should be satisfied with what you have, it's the truth. Stress from this kind of jealousy is self-inflicted.

6. Keep Your Distance from Gadgets.

Laborsaving devices, such as cellular phones or computer hookups, often encourage us to cram too many activities into each day. Before you buy new equipment, be sure that it will really improve your life. Be aware that taking care of equipment and getting it repaired can be stressful.

7. Try doing only one thing at a time.

For example, when you're riding your exercise bike, you don't have to listen to the radio or watch television.

8. Learn to do Nothing.

Remember, sometimes it's okay to do nothing.

9. Try to remain Calm.

If you suffer from insomnia, headaches, recurring colds, or stomach upsets, consider whether stress is part of the problem. Being chronically angry, frustrated, or apprehensive can deplete your physical resources.

10. Seek professional Help.

If you feel stress (or anything else) is getting the better of you, seek professional help -- a doctor or therapist. Early signs of excess stress are loss of a sense of well-being and reluctance to get up in the morning to face another day.





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9 Amazing Ways to Overcome Laziness

Laziness = lack of desire = no productivity. Laziness is a perfectly natural thing. For some reason if we weren’t had to do offices, meet deadlines, we could have dozed the whole day, watch TV or just do nothing.

Laziness is the lack of desire to perform work or expend effort. What behavior is considered laziness varies according to personal and societal standards.

1. Have a good rest.

If we don’t get enough rest we could easily feel lazy. Don’t waste your time with those late night shows, hurry up to bed and have a good rest. During daytime you can take a nap for say half an hour or 20 minutes, enough to get back some lost energy.

2. Exercise.

Exercise is a great way to boost your energy levels and put you in a better mood. Its very easy for people to fall into the laziness trap if they feel low of energy. Make sure you have a workout in the morning every day, it will keep you fresh and active for most part of the day.

3. Motivation.

Its is very easy to forget the purpose of your work. Remind yourself why is your work so important, think for your satisfaction, family, money and so so. What if something happens to
me , family if I don’t start with my work? Think about the consequences.

4. Remove the distractions.

Laziness attracts distractions. Kids like watching TV while talking, yep we bloggers tend to browse others blogs when we are supposed to write on our own. If you remove those distractions, for example unplugging the Internet, lockup the TV, you’ll notice in couple of days how laziness is gradually leaving your life.

5. Reward yourself!

Reward yourself! You need to reward yourself for completing each task, in order to feel good about having stressed yourself in order to get the job done. Reward yourself to eat your favorite meal or watch movie if you complete the tasks.

6. Healthy diet.

Make sure you’re on a healthy diet ; junk or fast food doesn’t give your body the nutrients it needs to be active. You’ll only become fat and lazier if you don’t stop those chips, frys, pizzas etc. Fruit juices are great way to supplement your body with nutrients while working.

7. Divide the task into smaller chunks.

If the task at hand is big it can easily overwhelm anyone. In such cases, divide the task into smaller chunks, and go through them one by one. Remember, you can’t gobble an apple at one go, its much easier to eat if you take it bit by bit.

8. Set goals for yourself.

If you have goals set up for yourself, you have something to look forward to, it maybe your paycheck, a car etc. Create list of large and small things and prioritize. Its lot easier to overcome laziness if you have purpose in life.

9. Don’t stop.

Its easy enough to get lazy after completing task. Don’ t let your brain talk you into lazying. Once you have completed a task move over to the next one but make sure you reward yourself with something for accomplishing the latter task. If you really don’t have any work, head over to the gym, start jogging, help your kids with the homework, do anything to keep your hands and feet’s moving but say no to TV, internet, etc.





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10 Most Common Methods of Committing Suicide

[WARNING: This list contains adult content and images]

The unfortunate and depressing issue of suicide has become a staggering piece of harsh reality in today’s world. In the US, ranking 46th in the world of rates per capita, we experience 11,000 self-inflicted deaths per year, and the UK: 7,000. This has become a serious issue for many countries whether the factors be family issues, health issues, money problems, or relationship failures. The ways in which people decide to shuffle this mortal coil are numerous and varying. Ten of the most often seen are as follows.

10. Drowning

How it’s Done: Maybe a relationship tremor has caused you to rethink your life here on the planet, and the weight of it all has made you decide to drown yourself. Sometimes, driving or even convincing yourself to walk into a large body or water will do it, otherwise many perish in as little water as a slightly-filled bathtub.

Results From Failure: Oxygen deprivation can cause severe and permanent brain damage.

9. Electric Shock

How it’s Done: Sometimes the thought of continuing to live in a world inundated with problems and insurmountable issues results on one wanting to die by electric shock. Something as simple as jamming a utensil in a wall outlet, to the more notable dunking an appliance in an occupied bathtub, can result in death by electric shock.

Results From Failure: Deep burns from 500-1000 volts, ventricular fibrillation at 110-220 volts, and severe neurological damage.

8. Exsanguination

How it’s Done: Frequently the most obvious way to rapidly harm one’s self yet pass on relatively slowly, is to slit the wrists or the carotid, radial, ulnar, or femoral artery. Using a sharp implement is the easiest way to go. Razors or knives are popular. Contrary to popular belief, the effective method for this is not to cross the wrist, but to draw the blade up the forearm (as is evident in the photograph above). This is the same way Japanese perform Jigai (women) and Seppuku (men), although their’s is often for more spiritual purposes.

Results From Failure: Extreme loss of blood causing the heart to dramatically slow eventually depriving the brain of oxygen. Also, most often, deep scars and tissue damage.

7. Jumping

How it’s Done: Pondering the emptiness in one’s life can be a painful experience. Yet, when it all seems so overwhelming, you might decide to plummet from a significant height to your own death. Leaping from a building to the pavement below is quite lethal, and popular. However, romantics may choose to use a cliff over jagged rocks. Or bridges.

Results From Failure: Shattered femurs from impacting with water up to severe bodily harm from impacting with any solid surface.

6. Suffocation

How it’s Done: You’ve decided that your life is in disarray and you can no longer stand the pressure. One way to end it all is to encase your head in a plastic bag and asphyxiate yourself. Or, if you’re really ready to go, nitrogen or helium directly inhaled is useful.

Results From Failure: Turning back at the last minute before passing out can result in serious and long-lasting to permanent brain damage.

5. Carbon Monoxide Inhalation

How it’s Done: It’s all so difficult and the full weight of the world is seemingly square upon your shoulders. You’ve decided to go to the great beyond and you are going to lock yourself in a car, in a closed garage with the engine running and go to sleep. Or, if you have any appliance that puts of CO, that’ll do.

Results From Failure: CO molecules irreversibly attach themselves to human hemoglobin and the result is often fatal even if one backs out.

4. Poisoning

How it’s Done: Romeo and Juliet had it down when, once seeing the other presumably dead, the other fatally poisons himself. Taking a substance internally not meant to be done so can be considered poisoning: cleaners, industrial fluids, diazepam, cyanide, and the like.

Results From Failure: The toxic levels of poison required to kill one’s self are generally non-reversible. However, hospital staff can attempt it and often make one vomit or something similar. Lasting effects can include internal organ damage.

3. Hanging

How it’s Done: It’s all over. Nothing in life seems to make it worth living any more. You can acquire a length of rope and construct yourself a noose, which is, by the way, considered a deadly weapon if tied correctly. Once built, wrap one end securely around something high: a rafter or a ceiling fan, and leap, head fastened within the loop, from a chair. Or, if you’re short of rope, anything strong enough to support your weight from your neck can be employed.

Results From Failure: Brain damage from lack of oxygen, Often, failure to actually break your own neck may only yield strangulation and you can be saved, but damaged. Also, permanent rope burns or implement scarring can occur.

2. Drug / Alcohol Overdose

How it’s Done: The pressure and stress of daily routines has beaten you down for the final time. Within your medicine cabinet lies the answer to your extermination: prescription and over-the-counter meds. A huge mouthful can do you right in. Or, to speed along the process, couple your target pills with a few swigs of alcohol. Many of our favorite musicians have chosen this route. Even alcohol alone, in extreme excess can kill you.

Results From Failure: Severe to permanent organ failure if successful removal isn’t achieved, as well as impaired judgment. Often, clinical assistance is necessary if attempt is repeated.

1. Gun Shot

How it’s Done: One of the most often achieved forms of suicide is by gun shot. Generally a head shot is desired since its results are 99 percent effective, however a chest shot can be equally as devastating.

Results From Failure: Sometimes the blast isn’t enough to kill. In this case, severe to permanent bodily damage can occur as well as blood loss, organ and tissue damage, and brain damage.

Support

Suicide is never a solution. There is no problem so great that it can not be resolved with time and care. This list is meant not as an instruction guide, but a description of the most common forms of suicide. The following is a list of sites you can visit to get help if you are feeling beyond help. Please remember, no matter how bad things get, someone, somewhere is able to listen to you and help you through.

Suicide Awareness Voices of Education
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
The Samaritans UK

Additionally, here are some numbers to call:

United States: 1-800-273-TALK (National Suicide Prevention Hotline)
United States (Spanish): 1-888-628-9454
United Kingdom: 08457 90 90 90 (Samaritans)
Republic of Ireland: 1850 60 90 90 (Samaritans)

Notable Omissions: Leaping in Front of a Speeding Object

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10 Ways to Instantly Build Self Confidence

Self confidence is the difference between feeling unstoppable and feeling scared out of your wits. Your perception of yourself has an enormous impact on how others perceive you. Perception is reality — the more self confidence you have, the more likely it is you’ll succeed.

Although many of the factors affecting self confidence are beyond your control, there are a number of things you can consciously do to build self confidence. By using these 10 strategies you can get the mental edge you need to reach your potential.
Build Self Confidence



1. Dress Sharp

Although clothes don’t make the man, they certainly affect the way he feels about himself. No one is more conscious of your physical appearance than you are. When you don’t look good, it changes the way you carry yourself and interact with other people. Use this to your advantage by taking care of your personal appearance. In most cases, significant improvements can be made by bathing and shaving frequently, wearing clean clothes, and being cognizant of the latest styles.

This doesn’t mean you need to spend a lot on clothes. One great rule to follow is “spend twice as much, buy half as much”. Rather than buying a bunch of cheap clothes, buy half as many select, high quality items. In long run this decreases spending because expensive clothes wear out less easily and stay in style longer than cheap clothes. Buying less also helps reduce the clutter in your closet.

2. Walk Faster

One of the easiest ways to tell how a person feels about herself is to examine her walk. Is it slow? tired? painful? Or is it energetic and purposeful? People with confidence walk quickly. They have places to go, people to see, and important work to do. Even if you aren’t in a hurry, you can increase your self confidence by putting some pep in your step. Walking 25% faster will make to you look and feel more important.

3. Good Posture

Similarly, the way a person carries herself tells a story. People with slumped shoulders and lethargic movements display a lack of self confidence. They aren’t enthusiastic about what they’re doing and they don’t consider themselves important. By practicing good posture, you’ll automatically feel more confident. Stand up straight, keep your head up, and make eye contact. You’ll make a positive impression on others and instantly feel more alert and empowered.

4. Personal Commercial

One of the best ways to build confidence is listening to a motivational speech. Unfortunately, opportunities to listen to a great speaker are few and far between. You can fill this need by creating a personal commercial. Write a 30-60 second speech that highlights your strengths and goals. Then recite it in front of the mirror aloud (or inside your head if you prefer) whenever you need a confidence boost.

5. Gratitude

When you focus too much on what you want, the mind creates reasons why you can’t have it. This leads you to dwell on your weaknesses. The best way to avoid this is consciously focusing on gratitude. Set aside time each day to mentally list everything you have to be grateful for. Recall your past successes, unique skills, loving relationships, and positive momentum. You’ll be amazed how much you have going for you and motivated to take that next step towards success.

6. Compliment other people

When we think negatively about ourselves, we often project that feeling on to others in the form of insults and gossip. To break this cycle of negativity, get in the habit of praising other people. Refuse to engage in backstabbing gossip and make an effort to compliment those around you. In the process, you’ll become well liked and build self confidence. By looking for the best in others, you indirectly bring out the best in yourself.

7. Sit in the front row

In schools, offices, and public assemblies around the world, people constantly strive to sit at the back of the room. Most people prefer the back because they’re afraid of being noticed. This reflects a lack of self confidence. By deciding to sit in the front row, you can get over this irrational fear and build your self confidence. You’ll also be more visible to the important people talking from the front of the room.

8. Speak up

During group discussions many people never speak up because they’re afraid that people will judge them for saying something stupid. This fear isn’t real