Nepal’s flag is the only one in the world that’s not a rectangle

Whaaat? You heard me. The Nepal flag has 5 sides and looks like 2 triangles stacked on top of each other.

What’s more intriguing maybe is that there is an AK-47 on the flag of Mozambique. From what I gather it’s a symbol of the country’s war of independence. The constitution only mentions that the flag must have a firearm but it’s apparently well understood that said arm is the abovementioned rifle equipped with the bayonet.

Blessed is L-Tryptophan, for it makes me sleep(y)

I have a mean case of sleep-onset insomnia. I’m on day 4 off any sleep medication and have returned to my search for “natural” remedies. Aside from the behavioural aspect (e.g. working out, no screens after 8PM, bedtime rituals …) I also rely on various plants and supplements. So far, the most efficient substance for me has been 20mg of powdered tryptophan in a drink about 30 minutes before bed.

Sure, the teapot with linden and lavender will have a soothing effect, so will the passiflora and valerian extracts, but they don’t make me feel nearly as sleepy as that tryptophan intake does. Additionally, I seem to be “immune” to melatonin pills, and coming off actual pharmaceutical substances I really feel the need for something “strong” – be it psychological or not.

L-tryptophan (or tryptophan) is one of the nine essential amino acids for the human body (meaning it cannot be synthetized from proteins like the other amino acids can), and so your means of getting it is from the food you ingest. Tryptophan is a precursor of serotonin, a hormone that transmits information between nerve cells. You normally find all the tryptophan you need from whole foods and just like protein deficiency is actually incredibly rare in so-called developed countries, you shouldn’t need to take supplements to get enough tryptophan. However, supplementary intake of tryptophan is sometimes recommended to alleviate premenstrual syndrome symptoms, insomnia (hellur), depression and other conditions. It should be noted that there is limited research supporting the claim that it really helps (even compared to a placebo). Additionally, scientists are still not sure whether serotonin is necessary for sleep promotion or if it encourages wakefulness instead. With that being said – and I encourage you to exercise caution and speak to your family doctor before starting supplementing (even and especially when the supplement can be bought over the counter*), I have found that it helps with my insomnia and I feel significantly less agitated when I go to bed 30 minutes after taking it.

My only regret is that supplementary tryptophan intake is not proven to be safe after three weeks, but I’m hoping to be out of the hardest part of the weaning off the medicine by then.

Icosahedral, or the strange shapes of viruses

I learned a cool word today – icosahedral! My biology textbook uses it to mean “roughly spherical” but as you will see in the image below, it looks more like a psychedelic flower to me. Anyways, apparently it can be used in the context of virus classification.

Viruses are small, noncellular organisms that rely on a host cell to survive and reproduce. Viruses have a capsid, a protein coating that protects their genetic material. These capsids can have either of these four shapes:

• they can be helical
• icosahedral
• they can be enveloped (which is built with material from the host cell)
• or they can be head-and-tail

I wanted to talk more about virus/cell attachment (and make a stupid joke about it) but I need some more studying before I feel comfortable to explain it. Maybe tomorrow.

# TODO: write an article on the dietary supplement industry, the different categories of health claims that can be made about them and tolerable upper intake levels (aka when too much of a good thing becomes a bad thing)