What I Learnt For The Week 9: Shape-shifting Robot, Werewolf Syndrome, Katsaridaphobia, Starfish Regenerates, Clinical lycanthropy.

Hello Buddies!! Welcome once again to another episode in the series of "What I Learnt For The Week" as heralded by @mobbs, of whom I'm still very grateful for the privilege to be a partaker.

Over the course of the week (5th-9th March), I made some amazing discoveries, and I will select some random five (in no particular order) to represent the lessons I learnt for the week.

Ok; let's go straight to the lessons learnt for the week.

---

Monday: Shape-shifting Robot

Without an exception to this episode, it has always been my custom to begin a new episode with lessons learnt from one of my favourite areas "Robotics and Machines".

We may have seen the sci-fi movie "Transformers" and how machines could transform into very many things; well, some could say that this is just a science fiction, but may I remind us again that we are in an era of advanced technological evolution, where everything is possible. And now, this science fiction has been confirmed as a "science fact".

A research was heralded by a team of researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; MIT, with the aim of designing an absolute self-reconfiguring robot (which can transform into just anything). In the pursuit of this agenda, an algorithm was developed which would determine to what extent a semi-rigid or flexible material can be folded in a specific manner. The prototype design combined the electronic engineering and the origami to produce a robot that can assume different shapes (just like the traditional origami).

Here's a video of one of the prototype designs I found in YouTube. You can skip the first 26seconds of the video into the main display of the robot.

This, no doubt, could hold the key to very many possibilities in the future of programmable matter. For example, in performing complex tasks, these flexible robots can assume any position needed to get the job done, and can even go as far as combining themselves intelligently (like legos) to create a bigger, more viable, and versatile robot. Now, that sounds incredible, but this is actually what emerging technology can offer.

Not only in performing of complex tasks, these robots can also come in handy in the medical field as it can be used in robotic surgery and robotic examination of the body (endoscopy, for example), where a modified version of these can crawl into the body (which would be controlled remotely), and can perform surgeries; for example; flawlessly because of their incredible flexibility. The potentials are truly enormous. Like I've always said and reiterated; technology can only get better.

I'm sure I've piqued your interest, you can click for more info here.

Tuesday: Werewolf Syndrome

Humans have a measure of body hair; which is completely normal. As a matter of precision, this is one of the qualities of mammals, of which humans belong. But like it has been said; "too much of everything is not too good, right?" Ok, have you ever imagined almost the entire face of someone and part of the body being covered in thick hair? Well, this is a rare medical condition known as "Werewolf Syndrome" (also called Hypertrichosis).

[Image Source: Wikimedia Commons. CC0 Licensed)

Though this condition is very rare, it affects both men and women, which can be present at birth or developed with time. That means, it is not necessarily congenital. Also hypertrichosis can be localized (linked to a particular body part; face, for example) or generalized (occurs throughout the body).

Causes of werewolf syndrome

Though the cause has been relatively unknown, the major part of it has been linked to inherited genetic traits. For example, the genes that caused the massive growth of hair in the ancestors of modern men; which were sidelined by the process of evolution; may be reactivated by some genetic mutations while the zygote is being formed in the womb, and she/he could be born with congenital hypertrichosis.

Then for the case of acquired hypertrichosis, some causes have been queried, and these include:

• Exposure to some types of drugs, like minoxidil (which causes hair growth), androgenic steroids, etc.

• Dieting disorder.

• porphyria cutanea tarda (this is a condition in which the human skin becomes extremely sensitive to light) this could trigger the development of hypertrichosis as a way to compensate for the skin's sensitivity to light.

Treatment of werewolf syndrome

Though there is no definitive cure, some forms of therapy can come in handy in the management of this condition:

• Electrolysis: Removal of the individual hair follicle using electric current.

• Laser hair removal: Related to electrolysis, but here, laser is used instead.

• Chemical epilation.

• Manual plucking of hair.

You wanna know more about werewolf syndrome? Click here.

Wednesday: Katsaridaphobia (fear of cockroaches)

Ok before I proceed, I would quickly tell us some amazing facts about cockroaches. The ancestors of cockroaches predate, or rather, lived before the dinosaurs. That means, they actually lived through what killed the dinosaurs. And it has also been said that they would outlive humans. This is partly because they can withstand 2000x more radiation levels than humans, and also they can survive a very long time without eating.

Now you have seen these facts, do you know that there are some people with an intense and irrational fear for cockroaches? Yes! It is an actual fear, and it is called "katsaridaphobia".

[Image Source: Maxpixel. CC0 licensed]

In the place where I grew up, we have an abundance of these creatures. I once said humorously that the scientific name of the American Cockroach; "Periplaneta americana" could be changed to "Periplaneta nigeriana" because of the abundance of these creature here.

That is why it would not be too uncommon to see people with this kind of phobia here. On a very rare case of katsaridaphobia, even the mention of the name "cockroach" or just the picture could trigger panic attacks in the sufferers.

Causes of fear of cockroach

This is very simple to infer. The major cause is the presence of cockroach. Some people have this uncomfortable feeling at the presence of cockroach, more so when these creatures climb on their body. A friend of mine once shared an experience of how she ran out of her room naked when a flying cockroach perched on her. I'm not saying she is katsaridaphobic (because she could be reading this right now), but this could be a manifestation of it.

Also, this could be linked to a traumatic childhood experience with cockroaches, which could stick around in the memory of the individual and can manifest subconsciously at the sight of cockroaches. But just like some other forms of fears, the fear of cockroach is actually acquired and not congenital. That means, it can be overcome.

Okay; I'm sure you may want to know how to overcome katsaridaphobia, and other infos too, you can click here.

Thursday: Starfish can regenerate limb

There are some creature that can regenerate a body part when cut. The other time, we saw the amazing creature; flatworm; and how it can regrow fully when cut. But I guess the flatworms are not alone. The starfish also has this ability.

[Image Source: Pixabay. CC0 licensed]

It has been said that there are over 1500species of starfish, of which some of them can regrown any of the limbs if cut.

Before I continue; here are some very quick tips about starfish: Though these creatures are called "starfish" they are not in any way "fish". They pump water throughout their body instead of blood. Though the most popular starfish species have 5 limbs, some species can possess more. For example, the Labidiaster annulatus (Antarctica Starfish) has up to 45 limbs. Finally, they can see in the dark.

Now, let's continue. How does the starfish regenerate its limb? Awesomely, when a part of the limb is cut, the surrounding region will send signal to the central nervous system which would trigger some stemcells (and we know that the stemcells has the ability to grow into just any organ of the body). When these stemcells are triggered, they would lead to the regeneration of the limb that had been severed. Though this particular ability is exclusively preserved for some species of starfish; not all as it were.

You wanna know more about the regenerative abilities of starfish right? Click here.

Friday: Clinical Lycanthropy (C'mon, you ain't a beast)

This description could sound so funny; but believe me, after reading through, you would discover that it is not as funny as it sounds. Clinical lycanthropy is a very rare psychological and delusional disorder in which the sufferer believes that he/she can turn into or metamorphize into a non-human creature (wolf, as the case could be).

[Image Source: Wikipedia. CC0 licensed]

Now, this sounded mythical, but there have been recorded cases of people with this kind of disorder. Observably, in the sufferers, they tend to exhibit some un-human behavioural characteristics which could suggest a strong conviction of their belief that they can turn into beasts, but this is just delusional.

The early stage of Clinical lycanthropy presents itself in various ways, which includes; hallucination, schizophrenia, mental stress, depression, and even bipolar disorders, which could then degenerate into full blown Clinical lycanthropy.

Causes of Clinical lycanthropy

For the major part of it, the causes are relatively unknown, though some have linked it to some weird paranormal and superstitious, or rather, supernatural belief (but the fact is; this does not cover the area of observable science).

But some other factors could be remotely queried though. Like; neurological factors, in which there is an anomaly in the part of the human brain which is responsible for the representation of the shape of the body. Thus, causing the brain to misrepresent the shape of the body, and the sufferer tends to believe he/she can shape-shift into animals.

Does this condition have a cure? Can it be managed? Check out more info here.

---

Okay buddies, this is the summary of some of the amazing discoveries I made during the course of last week. And until I come your way again, keep learning, @samminator says so.

Thanks for reading

References for further reading: Ref1, Ref2, Ref3, Ref4, Ref5, Ref6, Ref7, Ref8, Ref9, Ref10

All images are CC0 licensed and are linked to their sources

gif by @foundation