Blink of an Eye

The Blink of an Eye

Ambience: Heartbeat
Our bodies have definite rhythms, some of which we’re in touch with, and others as ephemeral as the blink of an eye. I’m Jim Metzner and this is the Pulse of the Planet.

Berman: In a 20th of a second we respond to a danger to our eyes and we blink to protect our eyes.

Astronomer Bob Berman is the author of “Zoom How Everything Moves”.

Berman: Even though it only takes a twentieth of a second to institute a blink and even though the average person blinks 10 times time a minute, interestingly enough, infants blink once or twice a minute for reasons noone understands. People with Parkinson’s hardly blink at all, whereas people suffering from Schizophrenia blink more than average.

Some body motions are even faster, for example inside each cell there’s a protein synthesis going on, creating new substances and each has a particular function that fights incoming diseases. Well, each cell’s ribosome can make a disease fighting protein in 10 seconds. That may not sound that fast, but given the millions of cells all simultaneously producing proteins, to combat an infection, it’s no surprise that we overcome most of them, which is a good thing, because these armies are usually pretty evenly balanced. A colony of bacteria can double its size in 9 minutes and 48 seconds.

Ambience: Heartbeat

Our most familiar rhythm is the beating of the heart, but the speed at which our blood travels through our circulatory system may surprise you.

:Berman: Our blood actually moves at 3 to 4 miles an hour. That’s really an average, because as it gets into the capillaries, it spreads out and slows down there. There’s more surface area, more volume in that region. That lets oxygen exchange happen more readily.

Pulse of the Planet is made possible in part by the National Science Foundation and Virginia Tech, inventing the future through a hands-on approach to education and research.

Blink of an Eye

Our bodies have definite rhythms, some of which we're in touch with, and others as ephemeral as the blink of an eye.
Air Date:10/20/2016
Scientist:
Transcript:

The Blink of an Eye

Ambience: Heartbeat
Our bodies have definite rhythms, some of which we're in touch with, and others as ephemeral as the blink of an eye. I'm Jim Metzner and this is the Pulse of the Planet.

Berman: In a 20th of a second we respond to a danger to our eyes and we blink to protect our eyes.

Astronomer Bob Berman is the author of "Zoom How Everything Moves".

Berman: Even though it only takes a twentieth of a second to institute a blink and even though the average person blinks 10 times time a minute, interestingly enough, infants blink once or twice a minute for reasons noone understands. People with Parkinson's hardly blink at all, whereas people suffering from Schizophrenia blink more than average.

Some body motions are even faster, for example inside each cell there's a protein synthesis going on, creating new substances and each has a particular function that fights incoming diseases. Well, each cell's ribosome can make a disease fighting protein in 10 seconds. That may not sound that fast, but given the millions of cells all simultaneously producing proteins, to combat an infection, it's no surprise that we overcome most of them, which is a good thing, because these armies are usually pretty evenly balanced. A colony of bacteria can double its size in 9 minutes and 48 seconds.

Ambience: Heartbeat

Our most familiar rhythm is the beating of the heart, but the speed at which our blood travels through our circulatory system may surprise you.

:Berman: Our blood actually moves at 3 to 4 miles an hour. That's really an average, because as it gets into the capillaries, it spreads out and slows down there. There's more surface area, more volume in that region. That lets oxygen exchange happen more readily.

Pulse of the Planet is made possible in part by the National Science Foundation and Virginia Tech, inventing the future through a hands-on approach to education and research.