AMAZING FACT ABOUT TEARS

One day Rose-Lynn Fisher wondered if her tears of grief would look different compared to her tears of joy, so she began to explore them up close under a microscope.

She studied 100 different tears and found that basal tears (the ones that our body produces to lubricate our eyes) are drastically different from the tears that happen when we are chopping onions. The tears that come about from hard laughter aren’t even close to the tears of sorrow. Like a drop of ocean water each tiny tear drop carries a microcosm of human experience. Her project is called The Topography of Tears.

Tears from laughing until crying

Rose-Lynn Fisher

Tears of change

Rose-Lynn Fisher

Tears of grief

Rose-Lynn Fisher

Tears from onions

Rose-Lynn Fisher

Joseph Stromberg of the Smithsonian’s Collage of Arts and Sciences explained that there are three major types of tears: basal, reflex, and psychic (triggered by emotions). All tears contain organic substances including oils, antibodies, and enzymes and are suspended in salt water. Different types of tears have distinct molecules. Emotional tears have protein-based hormones including the neurotransmitter leucine enkephalin, which is a natural painkiller that is released when we are stressed. Plus, the tears seen under the microscope are crystallized salt and can lead to different shapes and forms. So even psychic tears with the same chemical composition can look very different. Fisher said, “There are so many variables—there’s the chemistry, the viscosity, the setting, the evaporation rate and the settings of the microscope.”

Basal tears

Rose-Lynn Fisher

Tears of timeless reunion

Rose-Lynn Fisher

Tears of ending and beginning

Rose-Lynn Fisher

Tears of momentum, redirected

Rose-Lynn Fisher

Tears of release

Rose-Lynn Fisher

Tears of possibility and hope

Rose-Lynn Fisher

Tears of elation at a liminal moment

Rose-Lynn Fisher

Tears of remembrance

Rose-Lynn Fisher

Credit: Rose-Lynn Fisher

Like snow flakes and fingerprints, no tears are alike. I can't believe the difference between all of these. If you found this post interesting, share it with others. 

AMAZING FACTS

Did You Know?
1. Your shoes are the first thing people subconsciously notice about you. Wear nice shoes.

2. If you sit for more than 11 hours a day, there's a 50% chance you'll die within the next 3 years


3. There are at least 6 people in the world who look exactly like you. There's a 9% chance that you'll meet one of them in your lifetime.

4. Sleeping without a pillow reduces back pain and keeps your spine stronger.

5. A person’s height is determined by their father, and their weight is determined by their mother.
6. If a part of your body "falls asleep",

you can almost always "wake it up" by shaking your head.

7. There are three things the human brain cannot resist noticing - Food, attractive people and danger

8. Right-handed people tend to chew food on their right side

9. Putting dry tea bags in gym bags or smelly shoes will absorb the unpleasant odour.

10. According to Albert Einstein, if honey bees were to disappear from earth, humans would be dead within 4 years.

11. There are so many kind of apples, that if you ate a new one everyday, it would take over 20 years

to try them all.

12. You can survive without eating for weeks, but you will only live 11 days without sleeping.

13. People who laugh a lot are healthier than those who don’t.

14. Laziness and inactivity kills just as many people as smoking.

15. A human brain has a capacity to store 5 times as much information as Wikipedia

16. Our brain uses same amount power as 10-watt light bulb!!

17. Our body gives enough heat in 30 mins to boil 1.5 litres of water!!

18. Stomach acid (conc. HCl) is strong enough to dissolve razor blades!!


19. Take a 10-30 minute walk every day. & while you walk, SMILE. It is the ultimate antidepressant.