Are hot peppers good to eat?

I have always found spicy stuff to be good, like probably many others too. But what makes hot peppers so good? First of all, the chemical capsaicin is responsible for the heat. The capsaicin damages certain kinds of cells in the mouth, which sends pain signals to the brain. Eating spicy stuff will cause a tolerance to be developed, allowing the consumer to eat hotter food. This is because the more time is spent eating spicy food, the more the brain blocks the pain signals, which causes a natural painkilling effect. In turn, whoever consumes spicy food may get addicted. According to Wikipedia, hot peppers decrease skin temperature. To anyone who isn't used to eating any hot peppers, mild peppers like the Jalapeno (at least 10,000 scovilles) and especially the Serrano (at least 15,000 scovilles) are incredibly spicy. The chemical causing the heat is Capsaicin. People who handle pure capsaicin need to use gloves and masks. Whoever inhales one drop of it would rather be dead. The Scoville heat scale measures how many drops of water are required to dilute one drop of a given hot extract.  However, some chemicals are far stronger than Capsaicin. The strongest is found in a certain species of cactus and is named Resiniferatoxin. It rates at an unbelievable 9,000,000,000 scoville units, which makes capsaicin pale in comparison. Consumption causes desensitization. The pain caused by it is so extreme that it destroys neurons by overworking themselves. In effect, the pain leads to lifelong numbness, which is why it's used as a painkiller.
I want to talk about chocolate, since it's related. The reason is, chocolate contains a substance called theobromine, which increases the amount of capsaicin needed to induce coughing. Theobromine is most concentrated in dark chocolate. Too much can cause problems for people. However, this may indicate that chocolate is good for relieving heat.

Severe weather outbreak

Today there is a large high risk of severe weather in the great plains. This is only the second time since high risk of severe has been predicted for more than a day in an advance, and Nebraska and Kansas have an 80% chance of tornado happening within five miles of any area. Today is a good day to watch the storms live at this website: http://live.tvnweather.com/. I will make sure to watch the dominator live today and we'll see how the day unfolds. Tomorrow the severe weather will move into Michigan where I may get to make some photos of lightning and nice clouds. If I do, I will try post my photos onto the blog.
Update: The storms in kansas reached a height of 50,000 feet. In Iowa, Tornadoes touched down as well as in Oklahoma and Kansas and the hail in Iowa was at least 4 inches in diameter- the radar showed the storms in Iowa reached a reflectivity of 75 dbz, which is the highest possible. Despite spending all day watching the dominator live, I didn't see it go into a tornado, but I did see it racing towards one as night fell. I saved a radar image of the insane storm in Iowa, and I have yet to figure out how to upload it here. Between April 14 and 15, over 135 tornadoes were reported with 124 warnings.

March 15, 2012

I will blog about this date because it caused some unusual weather. March was unusually warm this year, with temperaures in the US being over 30 degrees above the previous record high for March. This unseasonable warmth caused a massive storm here in Michigan March 15. It caused 1.75 inch hail and at least three tornadoes. I remember walking home out from school this day watching the towering cumulus clouds. I knew there would be a storm when one of the clouds kept growing. When I got home I could see the impressive storm cloud to the east and even though it was quite far away by now, I could smell the rain. It was the kind of storm that happens here in summer, definitely not in March. Here is a satellite image of the storm:

Pro photography techniques

I haven't written in a while and I've nearly forgotten about my blogger. Anyway, today I'll share some of  my knowledge of photography. I'll talk about what I do to make my photos stand out... (techniques which pros may use rather than usual photo edits)
One of the techniques I use is HDR (high dynamic range). This technique takes two or more images exposed differently to create extend a camera's dynamic range. Using software, the images can be merged. This helps lighten shadows and darken highlights. The software I use is qtpfsgui for GIMP and enfuseGUI, because they're free. EnfuseGUI is different than HDR software as it uses exposure fusion- the results turn out very well though. The thing I like about HDR versus enfuseGUI is that the sky is dark in the final image which I think looks appealing. This technique isn't always necessary as sometimes HDR images don't have enough contrast.
The next technique I use is to reduce noise cause by low long exposures or high ISOs. It's called averaging. It consists of taking multiple images from a tripod and combining them. I use a script in GIMP that does it. The images are layers. The top layer opacity is 100%, followed by the second (50% opacity), followed by the 3rd (33.3% opacity), and so on. (each layer is half of the opacity of the layer above it.) Use this for static objects.
A third technique is one that I don't have the software for but it may come in handy. It's called focus stacking. There's a way to do this in Photoshop. Or, you can purchase software called Helicon Focus. This comes in handy when you need infinite depth of field. What you do is, focus on the closest point that your photographing (switch ti manua focus) and move the focus farther out VERY SLOWELY and make sure the camera's not moving. Then, load the pics onto Helicon Focus and wait. Or, attach the camera to the computer and the software will control your camera. It will focus your camera for you and you can also use the software for time lapse.
Increasing resolution: If you want to increase your resolution, first put the camera on tripod. Make a mosaic out of multiple images- like panoramas on top of each other- by rotating the camera. The lens you use will determine how wide the image's field of view will be. So, if you don't want a huge field of view, try it with a telephoto lens. Use full resolution. Make a row of images going left to right. Rotate the camera to make another row. A specialized kind of tripod is available now to help- named Gigapan, it automatically does it for you. To stitch the images, use Microsoft ICE.
The techniques I described here can make your photos look as if you used a much better camera, without spending more money.