Transcript[]
Text reads: The Mysteries of Life with Tim and Moby
Moby breathes into a paper bag. Tim, stands next to him.
TIM: What's all this?
MOBY: Beep.
TIM: What? Robots don't hiccup!
MOBY: Hiccup.
TIM: Whoa. We better find a cure for those.
Tim reads from a typed letter.
TIM: Dear Tim and Moby.
MOBY: Hiccup.
TIM: Aagh! What causes hiccups? From, Onix. Hiccups are caused by a spasm in your diaphragm. That's the dome-shaped muscle below your lungs that controls breathing. Because of its special shape, the diaphragm pulls down when it contracts. That lowers pressure in your chest, causing air from the outside to rush into the lungs. When it relaxes, it pushes up against your lungs, increasing pressure and forcing air out.
An animation shows the lungs, rib cage, and windpipe inside a human silhouette. An arrow points to the diaphragm. Arrows show the motion of the diaphragm and air moving inside the lungs and windpipe as a person breathes.
TIM: But when you have the hiccups, the diaphragm kind of goes haywire. It jerks down quickly, pulling a sudden rush of air into the lungs.
The animation shows the motion of the air, lungs, windpipe, and rib cage when the diaphragm moves down quickly.
TIM: But as you breathe in, your epiglottis suddenly closes. Your epiglottis is the little flappy thing at the back of your throat that prevents food from entering your windpipe.
The animation shows a close-up of the epiglottis.
TIM: Anyway, your epiglottis snaps shut, preventing air from entering your lungs, and you go...
<Hic>
The animation shows the epiglottis snapping causes the lungs, windpipe, and ribcage to spasm and the person hiccups.
MOBY: Beep?
TIM: Actually, hiccups don't serve any known purpose. They happen when the phrenic nerve, which controls the diaphragm, gets irritated. They can also be brought on by irritation to the nearby vagus nerve.
The animation shows the phrenic and vagus nerves, running parallel to the windpipe.
MOBY: Hiccup. Beep?
TIM: Well, hiccups are usually caused by digestion problems. Infants get them a lot from swallowing air along with their milk.
An animation shows a mother holding an infant who has hiccups.
INFANT: Hic.
TIM: After infancy, eating too fast or too much seem to be the most common causes.
An animation shows a boy eating. He has food all over his mouth and hiccups.
BOY: Hic.
TIM: But hiccups can also be brought on by spicy foods, chewing gum, soda, and very hot or very cold beverages.
Images show these foods and drinks.
MOBY: Beep?
TIM: Most times, hiccups will usually go away on their own after a few minutes, but they can last up to a few hours and sometimes longer.
MOBY: Beep?
TIM: Well, don't worry. There are tons of home remedies for getting rid of them. These aren't scientifically proven, but sometimes they work anyway. Breathing into a paper bag can increase the level of carbon dioxide in your blood. That tends to make you take deeper breaths, which can calm those diaphragm spasms.
An animation shows a boy breathing into a bag.
TIM: Eating some sugar or honey works on a lot of people. Sweets overstimulate the vagus nerve, making it too busy to keep giving you hiccups.
An animation shows a bowl of sugar and a jar of honey. A bumble bee flies to the honey jar.
MOBY: Beep.
Moby gulps honey from a jar and then has honey all over his mouth.
MOBY: Hiccup.
TIM: Uh, let's see. There's drinking cold water from the wrong side of a glass.
Moby washes off the honey on his lips when he splashes water from a drinking glass onto his face.
MOBY: Hiccup. Beep.
TIM: Well, there is the one tried and true method, but, you don't want that.
Tim smiles and has a twinkle in his eye.
MOBY: Beep.
TIM: No! It's too intense for you.
MOBY: Beep.
TIM: Well, all right.
Tim holds up a box.
TIM: It's a special medicine made from the powdered remains of the Bolivian aquatic centipede.
Moby holds the box.
TIM: Wait! Open it slowly. The powder's very fine.
Moby opens the box. A toy on a spring pops out. A frightened Moby jumps up and hangs onto a chandelier.
MOBY: Beep. Beep!
TIM: Sorry, it needed to be a surprise. Sudden shocks or frights can overstimulate the vagus nerve even better than sugar.
<Thud!>
Moby falls on the floor and walks over to Tim.
TIM: They're gone, huh? I didn't even know you had a vagus nerve.
A door opens in Moby's chest revealing a slot machine that says "Welcome to Las Vegas!" and uses Moby's and Tim's faces in the slots.
TIM: And that is quite possibly the worst joke we've ever done.