Author Archives: klt5257

This post isn’t a snore fest!

We’ve all experienced the terrible sensation of trying to sleep while another person is snoring away all night.  The noise is recurrent, annoying, and hard to ignore, but the snorer isn’t truly responsible and cannot control their bodily rumbles.

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When we sleep, our muscles start to relax in our throat and our tongue falls back into our throat, all of which decrease the amount of space that air can get through. When snorers inhale, the walls of their throats start to vibrate, causing the annoying sound. This seems like an evolutionary flaw.  When we sleep we are at our most vulnerable, and presumably would hope to be silent in case of giving our location away to a predator. I am especially surprised that this has not been adapted out of our lives.

 

There can be several factors that cause snoring or create a more intense snore. For example, enlarged tonsils or adenoids, nasal polyps, or deviated nasal septum can reduce the nasal passage causing a narrow airway and therefore a more likely chance of snoring.  Additionally, people begin to snore as they age. As our bodies begin to decay, our muscles get less tense and take up more room in our throats, causing a more intense snoring also.  More than that, sleeping on our backs can also increase the chance of snoring.

 

There are a few options to decrease snoring, but not many feasible ones.  Surgery is an option, but seems pretty extreme for a harmless sound. Also you can change your lifestyle to lose weight, sleep not on your back, or use an oral appliance at night, but once again are not sure ways to stop the snoring.  I would suggest those who struggle with snoring simply warn their roommates and give them ear plugs.  This is a cheap option that will solve their sleep problems and without much of a change to your personal life.

 

 

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=why-do-people-snore

 

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/3076706#.UmhQ1KWTOPQ

 

Cry Me A River

Certainly we all have different stimuli that trigger tears in our life, for example I may cry (and do cry) by watching Titanic while another person next to me is dry eyed the whole time. While we’re all capable of crying, we all cry at different things. More than that we’re the only species that can cry past childhood.

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One theory as to why we cry is called the aquatic ape theory and is evolutionary in nature. It says that we cry because it signals to other animals that we are non-threatening, which may have prevented us from being killed as primates.  However,  I happen to disagree with this theory, because there are many instances where animals kill other vulnerable animals in the wild. More than that, I do not believe that a lion would stop attacking a human because he or she started to cry. This theory does not exactly fit with the survival of the fittest idea.

 

Of course there’s the theory that we cry to clean our eyes, which I’m sure we have all experienced. Whether we have something in our eye, or it just hurts, the tears do certainly rid the eye of the stimulus. Still, this doesn’t explain why we cry when we’re sad or happy.

 

One theory is that tears are a universal signal to others that we need help. When we see other humans crying, we have a natural tendency to want to comfort them, which could have helped us survive before language was developed. More than that, tears also signal to ourselves that there is a problem we need to address, and even if we temporarily suppress the tears, we still have a situation to deal with.  This does seem to make sense, since others helping us if we cried could definitely have helped our species survive, and also crying usually does occur when there is a problem that needs addressed.

 

However, there is also the idea that crying is a healthy release of emotion. In a study of 200 Dutch women, most of them said that they felt better after they cried, with the exception of those suffering from depression or anxiety.  This theory seems to make the most sense to me, because I know that after I cry I always feel better after, like I needed to release all of my emotions, especially when the tears come from stress.

 

The true cause of crying is probably some combination of the aforementioned theories, but regardless of why we cry, it generally seems to be a healthy activity for humans to do.

 

 

http://www.webmd.com/balance/features/why-we-cry-the-truth-about-tearing-up?page=2

 

 

Why Are Colds Worse At Night?

It’s been a long day and all you want to do is sleep, but as you lay down on your bed, it becomes obvious that sleep will allude you tonight.  How could you possibly sleep when your nose, which has been stuffy and dripping all day, just decided to become infinitely worse. But why? Why, just when you want your cold to get better to sleep, does it get worse?

 

Part of the reason is that when you’re trying to sleep, the cold is just more noticeable.  Without the distractions of the day, it is easy to focus on the lack of ability to sleep.  Although this is definitely a contributing factor, there are some real physiological reasons why colds get worse at night.

 

During the day we are almost always vertical, from walking to standing to sitting, our heads remain upright.  This distributes gravity in a normal way in which we are most used to.  However, sleeping in this vertical position would be extremely uncomfortable, so we sleep horizontally.  This position distributes gravity in a different way, causing additional pressure in the sinus cavities which can make the nose be stuffier during night.

 

Additionally, our bodies go through a natural process called a circadian cycle.  During this cycle, different amounts of hormones are sent out depending on the time of day, with less hormones being sent out at night.  These hormones produce antibodies, and because less antibodies are being sent out when we are trying to sleep, it causes the symptoms to become worse. 

 

In order to reduce the severity of the symptoms, it can help to prop your upper body up a little using pillows.  It is important to make sure your shoulders are also elevated; otherwise, your head could fall to your chest, making the symptoms worse. Although the symptoms will still be there, they should not be as bad as if you were sleeping completely horizontally.

 

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Sources:

http://www.wisegeek.org/why-do-common-cold-symptoms-seem-to-get-worse-at-night.htm

 

http://www.webmd.com/cold-and-flu/features/sleep-better-when-you-are-sick?page=3

 

http://www.livestrong.com/article/552202-why-does-my-nose-stop-up-when-lying-down/

 

Why Do We Crave Food?

3_tips_pulverize_cravings_d.jpgOver the past year almost 100% of women and 70% of men have reported having at least one food craving. That means that just about everybody has felt the intense need for a specific food.  This need goes past being hungry in general, but instead is the focus on one particular item.

 

Why are cravings a big deal? For one, they can lead to binge eating, which can further lead to obesity and all the problems surrounding it if the cravings are frequent. They also make it difficult to focus on other tasks and topics. A recent study showed that when people have cravings and were asked to complete cognitive tasks such as solving math problems, it took the participants with the cravings longer to complete these tasks.

 

This could easily become a problem if there is no way to satisfy the cravings and you need to get a lot of work done, so what is the solution?  As it turns out, if you are having a craving and take the time to focus on a common sight or smell such as a rainbow or a flower, it can reduce your craving.  The cravings come from the hippocampus in the brain, the part of the brain responsible for memory.  If the memory of the food you crave is strong, the craving will likely be strong as well.  However, if you distract the hippocampus with another memory of another sight and smell, it can reduce the food craving, and you can get your work done!

Sources:  

http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/the-facts-about-food-cravings

 

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/05/100517172300.htm

 

 

Why Do We Laugh?

Every human has the ability to laugh.  It is one of the few sounds that are recognizable throughout different cultures and languages.  In fact, our ability to laugh precedes our ability to talk!  It is instinctual, unconscious, and universally recognizable, but why do we do it?

 

From an evolutionary standpoint, laughter got its beginnings from panting.  In apes, a close human relative, panting is produced in play situations such as friendly fighting, tickling, and chasing.  Laughter signals friendly intent, even in humans. Long ago, laughter may have been used to bond humans together and show a sense of community. This would have given those who laughed together an advantage, because those humans then had the protection and resources of friends.

 

Now we laugh less for survival reasons, but still to show bonds.  We laugh at “jokes” to show that we also share the same implicit beliefs, views, and experiences. In an experiment by Robert Lynch, 59 participants watched a thirty-minute comedy special by Bill Burr, a comedian known for his controversial jokes on race and gender.

 

Lynch and his researchers then evaluated the reactions of the participants using the Emotional Facial Action Coding System to analyze the jokes that participants laughed sincerely.  Participants also took an implicit association test to measure the strength of association between two objects such as women and cooking and man and career. 

 

The results were that participants laughed at jokes if they expressed beliefs that were true to the individual.  That is, the participants laughed at the jokes if they shared the same beliefs as the comedian telling the joke.  This can help us recognize people who we will get along with very easily and can indicate who we may want to be friends with.

 

Personally, I know that my friends are the people who can make me laugh the most.  I consider one of the more important factors when beginning friendships, and especially in maintaining friendships, being able to laugh together is important to bond. 

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Sources:

http://news.rutgers.edu/research-news/serious-question-why-do-we-laugh/20091014#.UjRr6KWTOPQ

 

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/3077386/ns/technology_and_science-science/t/big-mystery-why-do-we-laugh/#.UjOhV6WTOPR

 

 

Is Astrology Real???

Sometimes seeing isn’t believing. This is the case for me with horoscopes. I see them every day, but every day I pass them by without much thought. I like to look at them, but never believe in it. It turns out that my view is correct. 

 

In 1948, a psychologist by the name of Bertram Forer created an experiment to test how people identify with their horoscopes. In the experiment, participants filled out a personality survey, and received a written assessment of their results. After they got their results, they were asked to rate how accurate they believed the results to be on a scale from 1 to 5, 5 being the most accurate. The average was a 4.26.

 

The only problem with the written assessment the participants received was that they were all identical. The assessment made broad generalizations that everybody could relate to, yet made the assessment seem very personal. All of the assessments said: “You have a need for other people to like and admire you, and yet you tend to be critical of yourself. While you have some personality weaknesses you are generally able to compensate for them. You have considerable unused capacity that you have not turned to your advantage.”

 

In another study, several economists looked at the horoscopes of men who reenlisted in the Marine Corps to see if there was a prevalence of men whose astrological signs were ruled by Mars, the god of war.  However, there were an equal number of men who were born under the influence of Venus, the god of love.

 

The tests and research goes on and on to contradict the fact that our zodiac signs influence our personality and that horoscopes can be used to predict our lives. I did, however, find one article that included evidence to possibly support the fact that the month we were born in can influence our lives.

 

Scientists have found that Schizophrenics are more likely to be born in the month of February than any other month. The differences between February and the other eleven months of the year are not huge, but are statistically significant nonetheless. Additionally, dyslexia is found to be more frequent in summer babies, and people born in December to February are found to be less agreeable than those born during the rest of the year. 

 

Obviously, these results are generalizations and not everybody born in January is disagreeable. However, the fact that there are psychological tendencies more prevalent in people based on the month they were born makes me think that maybe horoscopes are not as crazy as I originally thought.

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Sources

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-decision-tree/201107/science-confirms-astrology

 

http://www.psmag.com/culture-society/horoscopes-fun-but-utterly-fallible-25533/

 

http://www.truthmagazine.com/archives/volume34/GOT034263.html

 

 

 

“Feed Me”-Your Stomach

Silence fills the air around you, and any noise would resonate through the room like thunder.  You can feel it coming. If you focus on it, it will only be worse.  There’s no stopping the inevitable, so you let it happen and hope that it’s quiet.  It’s not.  It never is.  Your stomach just growled uncomfortably loud, and although those around you politely ignore it, the noises will only continue.

 

But why do our stomachs growl? It’s not as though we cannot feel the hunger and need an audible reminder of when to eat.  As it turns out, these rumblings are called Borborygmus and originate in the gastrointestinal tract.  The gastrointestinal tract moves food down your body by contracting the muscles in the tract and squeezing the food along its path in a process called peristalsis.  While doing this, the tract mixes the food, liquids, and various digestive fluids together creating a cocktail called chyme. As the chyme is moved through the tract, bubbles of air and gas get pushed around and creates the rumbling noise. 

 

This noise is muffled when there is food in your stomach, which explains why the growls are less likely to be heard if you are full.  However, after about two hours after your stomach empties, hormones are sent to the brain to signal peristalsis to begin again.  This peristalsis both takes care of any remnants left in the tract from your last meal and also vibrates the stomach, creating the feeling of hunger. Since during this second round of peristalsis, there is no food to muffle the growls, they can be heard more clearly than after you just ate. Peristalsis will happen about once an hour for ten to twenty minutes until you eat again

 

The best way to avoid stomach growls is to eat five to six small meals each day rather than three big ones.  This will reduce the time between food intake and lessen the likelihood of unwanted stomach rumblings.

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Sources: 

http://www.expertclinic.org/Stomach-Growling.html

 

http://health.howstuffworks.com/human-body/systems/digestive/stomach-growling1.htm

This was so confusing but initial blog post

Hi! My name is Katie Tully, and I am a sophomore here at Penn State.  I currently do not have a major, so if you have one for me I am open to suggestions.  I do know, however, that I have no interest in my major relating to science, which I guess everybody in this class can understand.  I write for Onward State, and I am a representative on the student government.  I spend most of my free time either watching Netflix or going on Buzzfeed looking at pictures like the one below.  It’s a very effective use of my time. 

 

 

I am taking this class because I need one more natural science gen ed and the course description sounded pretty interesting. I am not planning on being a science major because I just have no passion for it.  Every science class that I have taken has truly bored me.  So much of it is just memorization and spouting it out on the tests without really learning anything, but this class seemed different.

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