As children, most people shared a moment of learning about the perilous perils of ingesting chewing gum and that this act could be dangerous. According to playground logic, swallowing gum was bad for the body, and swallowing too much of it could have dire consequences.
Chewing Gum Is Not Dangerous
Luckily, this is just the logic of the playground and it is complete nonsense. It turns out that the playground is not filled with great information about the world, especially when it comes to medical know-how. While this doesn’t mean swallowing gum in big quantities is great, it may be helpful to know what the body does to chewing gum after it gets swallowed.
Obviously, after swallowing chewing gum, it goes into the stomach, where the body’s internal acid does the crucial job of breaking down food. This acid can’t dissolve chewing gum, so the gum continues its voyage through the innards intact, going to the seven-meter-long small intestine. There, the gum would continue to not be digested. So, it goes into the large intestine, where the body turns food waste into number two, and that’s where the swallowed chewing gum will get stuck in the waste and exit the body the normal way.
Too Much Is Too Much
But what would happen if loads of gum gets swallowed at once? It can build up together and cause a blockage, so it must be stressed that while this is incredibly rare, it is possible. Children have been known to swallow multiple pieces of gum in a single day, and this has ended up blocking their intestines. This means there are some risks associated with swallowing too much chewing gum. Being sensible about it is the best way to ensure everyone is fine while enjoying gum.
It’s probably for the best if people restrain themselves from ingesting dozens of chewing gums and it is crucial for kids to know that it is not in their best interest do to so as well.
Buying a Gaming PC Is Becoming More Challenging Than Ever
While the energy laws were passed in 2016, with some recent revisions expected to take effect in the coming months, certain gaming PC companies have begun limiting shipments of certain high-end PC configurations to comply with state regulations.
Recently, a Reddit user submitted a thread with a screenshot from Dell’s website stating that due to power consumption limitations, Dell will be unable to send an Aurora pre-built gaming desktop PC to California, Oregon, Vermont, Colorado, Hawaii, and Washington. Dell warned that any orders intended for certain states will be canceled.
New Regulations for Gaming PC Manufacturers
While Dell may be the first to implement new limits based on recent state standards, it appears that more PC manufacturers may follow suit, with additional regulations slated to be introduced later this year and in 2022.
The gaming systems affected by the new laws, according to a statement provided to the Register by Dell, are Alienware’s Aurora R10 and Aurora R12 gaming PCs. The California Energy Commission (CEC) Tier 2 implementation, which specified a mandated energy efficiency standard for PCs—including desktops, AIOs, and laptops, according to Dell, was “driven by the decision to limit shipments to specific states.”
While many of the regulations appear to be reasonable and to be largely influenced by Energy Star standards (particularly when it comes to excessive power drain for idle PCs), some of the CEC’s guidelines appear to be out of date in the context of today’s new electronics.
For example, one requirement states that all computer monitors made after July 1, 2019, must have a “screen luminance less than or equal to 200 cd/m2 35 percent,” according to Section 1605 of the CEC’s guidelines. That’s about 200 nits (or 270 nits when the margin of error is taken into account), which is significantly less than most modern displays, which typically produce at least 300 nits of brightness or more. Not to mention more powerful displays like Samsung’s recently announced Neo G9, which has a typical brightness of 420 nits and a peak brightness of 2,000 nits.
These rules do not apply to consoles (PS5, Xbox Series S/X, etc.) or DIY gaming desktop PCs; therefore, there are still some options for purchasing high-end PC components. However, due to a scarcity of standalone graphics cards as a result of the continuing chip shortage, many PC gamers are turning to pre-built systems to get their hands on Nvidia and AMD’s latest GPUs.
Will Other Manufacturers Follow Dell’s Idea?
While it is unclear whether other gaming desktop manufacturers will follow Dell’s lead and impose shipping limits, numerous states are seeing increased power demand as a result of the country’s record heat. Trying to strike a balance between innovative technology and prudent power consumption is only going to become more crucial.