Author Archives: Sean

What Does the Coldest Known Place in the Universe look like?

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Astronomers at NASA using the Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA) took a look at the Boomerang planetary nebula; the coldest known place in the universe. Located in the Centaurus constellation, this body of molecules and gas has only been looked at through land telescopes in the past. This is the clearest picture we’ve ever had of it.

Remember that a planetary nebula is formed when a star dies and begins to shed its outer layers of particles as it becomes a white dwarf. These particles will float off into space, possibly colliding with more particles, and then more on top of that-to create something entirely new.

This nebula is 5,000 lightyears away. Think about that for a second. What you see in this picture is what that nebula looked like 5,000 years ago. In the time it took for that light to get here, Rome burned to the ground, the black plague ravaged Europe, the Mongols dominated most of Asia, the Allies landed at Normandy,  and we all were born. It’s likely that the nebula we see right now is a white dwarf present-day. Of course, for us to know if it is or not, we’d have to wait another 5,000 years for the light to get to us-who knows where we’ll be then? If we’ll even be here? Will the human race ever get to see the dwarf that this nebula will one day form, if it hasn’t already? Does it even matter?

To make this even more fascinating, this nebula is colder than the space around it. We see the orange in the center of it and believe we see warmth, but that is not the case here. The nebula itself sits at -458 degrees Fahrenheit, which is colder than empty space. Now, if you consider the fact that this light is 5,000 years old and the fact that it is quite possibly a full-fledged white dwarf now, it could be possible that this spot is no longer the coldest place in the universe. How incredible is it, then, that we can study a phenomenon so strange and so curious even though we missed it by 5,000 years?

Can Your Childhood Socioeconomic Status Impact Your Brain Function? Part 2

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This is part 2 of my previous blog. If you want to understand what I’m talking about here, you should read that post first.

So, we know this study has an extremely small sample size. While I blasted it for that reason, that doesn’t mean the information it provides us isn’t valuable. It just means it’s not very applicable to the large group of people that is impoverished children. They’re still worth talking about.

The study showed that the participants who were impoverished at age 9 had a lot more brain activity in their amygdala (the part of the brain that controls fear, anger, frustration, and many other negative emotions) than the children in the control group when presented with an emotional regulation task. The study suggests that there is a correlation between the stress experienced whilst living in poverty and the conditions that come with it and the increased activity in that area of the brain.

Now, this sample size is small, but poverty is known to be an extremely negative factor in a child’s brain development. For example, we know that children who are impoverished don’t do as well in school. Many factors go into this fact, but because we already know that poverty can impact educational development, it’s not hard to believe that children who are impoverished can have other parts of their brain affected because of the nasty living conditions poverty presents.

However reasonable the results seem to us, however, we must keep in mind that this study’s sample size is far too small for us to take this evidence and generalize it to all impoverished children in America-let alone the entire world. I personally do believe the results of this study could very well be applicable, it’ll be interesting to see if more studies (with broader, larger sample sizes) will be performed. If a correlation between poverty at a young age and activity in the amygdala as an adult is found, it’ll be even more interesting to see if our government enacts new policy to try to counteract this unfortunate lasting effect of growing up poor.

Can Your Childhood Socioeconomic Status Impact Your Brain Function? Part 1

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A recent study suggests that the stress that comes from living in poverty can have a negative impact on brain development in children. The stress purportedly stunts development and alter how these children react in emotional situations when they grow up to be adults. I will be analyzing the study design in this blog, and be discussing its implications in the next.

The first thing to note about this study is that it is an observational study. This isn’t a bad thing; it just means that it’s going to be harder to draw out concrete evidence without an appropriate sample size that eliminates third variables. It’s unethical place kids in poverty for an experiment, so the only real way to perform this study is through observation. The study chose children who were impoverished at the age of nine, and measured brain activity when presented with stressful situations at age 24


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Now, I said we need a large enough sample size for this study to provide and applicable conclusion right? Yeah, well, the sample size is 49. Only half of those in the sample are people who were impoverished as children, with the rest acting as control.

The need for a control group in a study like this is real and necessary, but the sample is way too small. As of 2010, 16.4 Million children live in poverty in the U.S. A selection of 24-25 of those kids isn’t going to be representative of the entire population of impoverished children in the U.S. There are race, health, gender, geographical, and familial variables that simply can’t be accounted for in such a small sample.

To make the issue even worse: this is a sample of only U.S. children. Poverty could affect people differently all around the world. It is impossible to generalize any result from this study to such a large population of poor children throughout the world.

So, now that we know that we must take the results of this study with a large grain of salt, I’ll discuss the findings of this study and the science behind them.

What Can Your Eyes Say About Your Sexual Preferences? Part 2

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This is the second part of my two part blog. Here’s the first part. I highly recommend you read it if you want to know about the study design in the experiment I’m discussing.


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The experiment’s results produced findings that were as one would expect for the men; their pupils dilated more when the sex they indicated attraction to before the experiment. Straight men’s pupils almost exclusively for the woman, gay men for the man, and more equally for bisexual men. The more interesting result comes from the women.

The women who were tested showed more equal pupil dilation for both sexes. It didn’t matter what they identified as their sexual identity; women were more likely to get aroused by both the man and woman masturbating.

This is not to say all women are bisexual, however; there is science to explain this. The idea, which can be found in the article and is suggested by an evolutionary biologist, is that women’s apparent ease of sexual arousal is a form of protection. Before civilization (and, sadly, still today) women were far more likely to be forced into sex. Therefore, to increase fitness (their ability to survive and pass on their genes), women developed a genital response to lubricate themselves whenever a sexual situation was encountered. This would protect them better from damages that could come from forced copulation, and help prevent infection. This requires a woman’s sexual response to be more flexible than a man’s.

This all makes sense, and the study design was good, but I almost feel like it suffers from the Texas Sharpshooter problem. There was no explicit hypothesis stated in any of the articles I found regarding this study. Of course, it is implied that the scientists were just looking for differences between the sexes for sexual arousal, but without an explicit hypothesis I think we should take this with a grain of salt.

I believe a good way to test the theory about women further would be to re-do the experiment and test both pupil dilation and genital response to sexual stimuli for women. If it is observed that women do indeed have a more automatic response to any sort of sexual stimuli, then this theory could get some more traction and credibility.

What do you guys and girls think? Do these findings make sense according to your personal experiences? Excessive details aren’t necessary, but do you think the results here hold up? Do you see any flaws in the experiment’s design that I didn’t? Let me know!

What Can Your Eyes Say About Your Sexual Preferences? Part 1

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Who doesn’t like a little “eye candy”? We all do, and apparently our eyes can give away who we find attractive. I will be discussing a study that reports this, and this blog will cover its design, and the science behind it.

An article on popular science discusses a study where scientists at Cornell University used pornography and pupil dilation to see if one’s pupils can give any clue about a person’s sexual orientation. The scientists studied 325 people, male and female, who self-reported their sexual identity. Both genders were subjected to two 30-second videos: one of a male masturbating, and one of a female masturbating. Between these two, they were shown a one-minute video of a blank landscape to act as a control between the two pornographic ones.

The experimental design here seems sound to me. The reason why the scientists chose to measure pupil dilation as opposed to, say, erection size for males, is because pupil dilation is completely involuntary. As told in this article, when attracted to someone, your brain secretes norepinephrine, which forces your pupils to dilate. Because some men can control their erections, measuring a reaction that we have no control over (and aren’t aware of, for that matter) is a much more accurate way to measure sexual arousal.

The reason our brains do this to our eyes is because we subconsciously analyze other people’s eyes when evaluating them for attractiveness. If we see that someone’s pupils have dilated while looking at us, it is a subconscious indication that they find us attractive, and that we are likely to receive reciprocated feelings from that person should we choose to pursue them.

The sample size is also quite large, although the gender ratio of the 325 participants wasn’t stated, I believe it’s safe to assume that it was close to 50:50.

In my next blog, I will discuss the study’s fascinating results.

Guys: Can What’s on your T-Shirt Increase your Sex Appeal?

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A recent article in popular science states that if men wear the letter “T” on their T-Shirt, they are more attractive to women.

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The study was performed by researchers at Nottingham Trent University, and this article explains the experiment associated with it much better than popular science’s. University females aged 18-25 were showed images of men with varying body types wearing two different t-shirts: one with a T so that the top of the letter stretched across the chest, and one where the T was inverted and stretched across the belly. The hypothesis was that men with the upright T on their shirt would be perceived as being more in-shape, and therefore more attractive. The hypothesis was correct in this experiment; the women being questioned rated the men with an upright T on their shirt higher in attractiveness than those with the upside-down T.

Now, if you’ll notice, I didn’t talk about any sort of control in this experiment. In all of the articles I found about this particular study, nothing  about a control group was mentioned. To me, a control group would be simple for this experiment: men wearing a plain white t-shirt with nothing printed on it. There was no “neutral” group to compare the men with printed shirts to. It could very well be that wearing a “T” on your t-shirt looks downright stupid compared to someone wearing a normal, plain white shirt. The study claims that wearing an upright “T” helps, but that’s not a reasonable conclusion if there wasn’t a control group to compare the results to.

I mean, if you really want to try it, guys, feel free. I think it would look silly.

Do You Have Test Anxiety?

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Test anxiety is a bit of a buzzword in education nowadays. With everything becoming more and more standardized as a result of the No Child Left Behind act and AP testing, more and more kids are subjected to exams that will determine not only their future, but their teacher’s futures. Many parents are now claiming that their child has test anxiety, which is hindering their performance in class and giving up a disadvantage later on when it comes time to apply
for accelerated K-12 programs and college.

Does this freak you out? (Source)

Does it exist? According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, yes. It is a type of performance anxiety, something that results when an extreme amount of pressure and high expectations for a person comes from a single situation. A test would be one of those situations. Other examples of possible performance anxiety inducing occurrences would be performing on stage, or possibly sex.

It should be noted that most people do get anxious when presented with a test. Extreme test anxiety akin to a phobia should be treated by a professional.

I’m willing to bet a lot of you reading this claim to have serious test anxiety. This could stem from multiple things, fear of failure, you don’t study enough, or you just haven’t done well on tests before. That’s fine. However, you can treat your own test anxiety. Indeed, I’m willing to claim that unless you have an extreme phobia of tests, saying you did poorly on a test due to anxiety isn’t an excuse.

Here are some possible solutions to your test anxiety as mentioned in links above:

  • Study
  • Read the test over, in its entirety, before you begin taking it. Knowing what to expect will greatly reduce stress.
  • Stay focused, don’t stare at the clock or other people. You’ll lose time when doing that and that will lead to more stress.
  • Stay healthy. If people are getting sick around the time of a test, make sure to wash your hands often and avoid physical contact with other people.
  • Get a good amount of sleep. I mentioned in my last blog this varies by person, so make sure you get the amount of sleep you need to function the next day.
  • If you have a phobia of tests (just being afraid of them isn’t a phobia, by the way, this is an example of someone suffering from a phobia) go see a professional.
  • STUDY! If you know the material your confidence level will counter any potential anxiety you have about a test. 

How Much Sleep Do You Really Need?

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I was thinking for a topic for this blog, and whilst doing so I was thinking “man, it’s 1 am, I really need sleep”. I then wondered how much sleep I really need to be fully functional the next day.

Bingo!

So, according to the national sleep foundation, there isn’t a “magic number” for how many hours of sleep we need. Indeed, there is a general suggested time for each age group, but the basal needs for everyone also depends on the individual.

This is supported by Men’s Health News, which states that lack of sleep and fatigue aren’t necessarily positively correlated. This means that it’s possible that you can still feel groggy tomorrow morning even if you get 10 hours of sleep.

So, what does this mean for us?

For adults, the recommended amount of sleep is 7-8 hours a night. Even though you may still feel tired after waking up, it’s a solid amount of sleep and it should give you enough energy to perform complex tasks throughout the day, even if you’re tired when you wake up. So even if you feel tired, don’t be so quick to hit snooze.

Of course, if you can function properly with only a few hours of sleep, by all means, keep going at your late nights and early mornings. Research shows that as long as you feel functional, you should be alright.

Nasal congestion? There’s an easy solution for that…for guys (and maybe girls).

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Did anyone else notice the excessive sniffling in class today? Yeah, that start-of-school cold is certainly in full swing right now. You know what sucks about colds? Nasal congestion. I think most people would agree that if they could get rid of one symptom of their colds, it would be that.

This solution in the study I found is only described in terms of men, but there’s a possibility it works for women, too.

Some guys probably already know this. Want to get rid of your congestion? Masturbate.

You thought I was going to put up a x-rated picture? (source)

The 2009 study done by Sina Zarrintan suggests that this works because the genitals and the nasal passages are connected to the sympathetic nervous system, ejaculation will cause the blood vessels in both the scrotum and the nasal passages to constrict. Because nasal congestion is caused by inflammation of the nasal passages, this would effectively clear up your nose. It’s worth noting that this is just a hypothesis with no clinical trials done yet, but I think we can safely assume that Sina had a…erm…reason to think this hypothesis was worth writing about.

The obvious drawback of this is that, well, you can’t masturbate (or have sex, for that matter, since what you need achieve is orgasm) whenever or wherever you want, and the amount of time that this method relieves your congestion varies from person to person. It’s also worth noting that the relief is only temporary, so don’t get rid of your sudafed.

Unless you have a religious reason, there’s no reason not to try it out. It certainly doesn’t hurt. The study doesn’t say anything about female orgasm relieving nasal congestion, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t so long as a female’s genitals are also connected to the sympathetic nervous system.

Drink Caffeine Every Morning? You Might Want To Stop.

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How many of you get up in the morning and simply cannot function before you have your coffee? How many like to drink a can of Monster while playing video games to increase your concentration?

While a large portion of those reading this may not do either of those things, I’m confident a large portion of you do. The ritual of having some sort of caffeine intake every morning or sometime during the day to get a “boost” in energy is something ingrained into our culture. Millions of people do it.

So…what if I told you caffeine doesn’t wake you up?

http://www.energyfiend.com/wp-content/caffeine/monster.jpg

This doesn’t give you energy, but it does make you twitchy. (image source)

So what does it do? That boost you feel when you drink caffeine is very real, but it’s not augmenting your energy at all, in fact, it’s just bringing your energy up to the level of someone who doesn’t drink caffeine. That groginess you feel the in morning? Caffeine withdrawal.

Yes, everyone who feels the need to intake some sort of caffeine in the morning is addicted. Now, this isn’t as harsh as an addiction as being addicted to something like cigarettes, but it is an addiction nonetheless. What actually happens when you consume caffeine is that it blocks the receptors in your brain for the chemical adenosine. Adenosine, to put it simply, helps you relax and clam down. It depresses your system and is a big factor in helping you sleep. While your brain isn’t soaking up adenosine, it is still taking in dopamine and glutamate, which are stimulants that your brain creates itself. Soaking up extra dopamine and glutamate doesn’t mean your energy levels spike, however, rather it makes you twitchy and increases your anxiety levels.

However, after a short period of time, the side-effects (twitchiness and anxiety) of drinking caffeine do fade, so what your brain is left with is the addiction to the overdose of its own stimulants without adenosine to keep their effects in check. What this means is that you’re effectively handicapping yourself by drinking caffeine every day, as the solution to the withdrawal you experience by not getting caffeine in a 8-hour night’s sleep is to drink more caffeine. You’re not giving yourself an advantage of any sorts by drinking it; the people who don’t drink caffeine are already at the same level of energy you are after you have your cup of coffee.

Alright, you’re addicted, what do you do? It’s no question that caffeine withdrawal sucks, however it doesn’t take all that long to break the addiction. You may experience a splitting headache, insomnia, and some joint pain, but generally after a week (give or take a few days) your body will be back to normal.

The science behind this is solid, but it’s silly to think that the millions of people who drink caffeine daily are going to stop after finding out this information. Why should you stop? It’s true, the negative effects of drinking caffeine every day are negligible, so long as you do it every day and avoid withdrawal symptoms. However, have you ever thought about how much money that daily dose costs you?

              
                                         
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Let’s say you drink a $4 cup of Starbucks coffee every day to “wake up” (that’s a bit optimistic considering Stabucks’ prices), and let’s say you only drink it on weekdays, so that’s $4 5 days a week, or $20 a week. Already, that sounds quite pricey…$20 is enough for a movie or a pretty decent dinner that doesn’t consist of ramen. Let’s say you do that all year…$20 a week times 52 weeks…that’s $1,040 a year. You can buy a lot with $1,040. And when you consider that you only need to go through a week or so of negative symptoms to break your caffeine addiction…it seems silly to opt to keep drinking it every morning.