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EVAs Fergie said, big girls don’t cry - unless it’s for science! 🔬
“You can see as my tear dries up, a beautiful frozen landscape is created ❄️ remember how salty tears are? When water evaporates, salt crystals are formed!
Not only do we shed tears when experiencing emotions, but tears are also released every time we blink. While emotional tears indicate distress between individuals from certain animal species, they serve additional functions beyond emotional expression!
Tears consist mainly of water, providing hydration to the eye, aiding in clear vision by focusing light, and facilitating the dispersion of electrolytes, proteins, lipids, and mucins.
Electrolytes, such as sodium, chloride, calcium, and potassium are important for maintaining pH stability and normal osmotic pressure (they also create beautiful crystalline patterns on the microscope slide when water evaporates). Lots of different proteins are present: some are antimicrobial, some are enzymes that help breakdown lipids and other proteins and some are involved in wound healing and inflammation regulation.
Lipids can also be found in tears! Can you see some small oily droplets floating around? These lipids include cholesterol, triglycerides, and phospholipids, and they prevent water from evaporating too quickly.”
📸: @tardibabe
🔬: Olympus BX53
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