Our body language affects the way others see and perceive us. Based on someone’s body language, others can learn numerous things about them. Someone who is slumped over gives off a weak, or depressed feel. On the other hand, somebody who stands firm and tall gives off the impression of dominance or importance. Furthermore, a recent study demonstrates how even the sound of our voice affects others perception of us on many different levels. But, enough about how our body language alters other’s perception of us, let’s focus on how our own body language affects us.

Social psychologist and Harvard Professor, Amy Cuddy, speaks about how nonverbal behavior affects people from the classroom to the boardroom. This TED talk focuses on a thing dubbed “power posing”, which can have a monumental effect on one’s confidence. How it works is that if you stand in a posture of confidence, even if you are not actually confident, it tricks the brain into thinking that you are actually confident. “Power posing” works because it affects cortisone and testosterone levels in the brain, which in turn gives us a confidence boost. Amy Cuddy herself is a prime case study that demonstrates that this actually works. As an undergrad, she got into a car accident that damaged her brain. Doctors said that she would never regain her full mental capacity and she would have a tough time graduating school. But, she was determined to prove them wrong; nothing was going to stop her. So she adapted her new “fake it until you make it” lifestyle. What this is that she utilized “power posing” to help her brain think that it was at it’s 100% capacity and that she could achieve her goals. It is evident that it worked as she is incredibly successful and is a professor at the Harvard Business School.

I firmly believe that this is very relevant and helpful information that everyone should know, especially college students. When you feel nervous or scared about an upcoming presentation,
 you can utilize “power posing” to give yourself the confidence and the poise  you need to deliver and get an A. Personally, I find it astonishing that we can do this and trick our brains into helping us out when we need it. Now, I want to know if there is anything else like this that can be done.

https://blog.bufferapp.com/improve-my-body-language-secrets

http://www.ted.com/talks/amy_cuddy_your_body_language_shapes_who_you_are?language=en

During the one of the very first days of class, Andrew asked us what we thought the most important scientific question of the age was, and what is the most interesting scientific question you would like answered? To not much surprise, most of the responses from the class, including myself, had to do with something along the lines of extra-terrestrial life. Personally, the vast unknown that is space fascinates me. Recently, a new discovery has brought us closer to our goal of discovering life on other planets.

Research done at the University of Sweden, located in Zurich, has found out that DNA

can survive flight through space, and also survive re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere. This is significant because they also discovered that DNA can still pass on genetic information after this. It demonstrates how DNA can survive the harsh conditions of space, as well as re-entry into Earth’s dense atmosphere. But why is this all so significant? Here’s why—it means that we have another way to detect for other forms of life. Numerous scientists believe that DNA from outer space could reach Earth, as Earth is not insulated. Furthermore, about 100 tons of extraterrestrial dust and meteorites hits Earth each day, and since DNA has been proven to survive these conditions, we have plenty of opportunities to unearth surviving DNA from other planets.

Evidently, we now have the knowledge that DNA from outside of Earth has a possibility of making into our atmosphere. Just think about how unbelievable that would be, if we found traces of extraterrestrial DNA on a meteorite that landed on Earth. What is amazing is that DNA could come from anywhere. It is possible that it could come from somewhere in our solar system, or somewhere in space that is countless light-years away. It is hard to understand how immensely large space is, but this helps put it into perspective. Just imagine if we found the genetic information of something somewhere out in space. It would prove that life on other planets does actually exist. Because of this, we could begin our quest to find the other life form, and to see if we could even possibly communicate with them. Of course, it would be such a stretch for this to happen, as we don’t know if all other life forms even have DNA. Regardless, this was a huge discovery that puts us one step closer to finding extraterrestrial life.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/11/141126144150.htm

http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0112979

Anyone who has ever worked in an office building has dreamed of having a nice office with windows that provide a great view. Now, there is one more reason to desire an office like that. A new cross- sectional study  demonstrates how lack of natural light is associated with physiological, sleep, and depressive symptoms. Never in a million years would I have ever thought that light could have such an effect on someone. Furthermore, In the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, research was printed that stated exposure to certain types of electrical light before going to bed at night can increase the risk of type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and cancer. It was difficult to wrap my head around my new discovery at first, so I did some additional research, and discovered even more things that natural light can affect.

Light is vital to our health and survival. With out it, we would not be able to function the same way. It seems a little crazy to think a mere thing like light plays a major role in our everyday lives. A thing that I personally believe most of us take for granted is our body’s internal clock, known as our Circadian Rhythm. Depending on the amount of light we are exposed to, our body will react differently. Here is a very informative video about light and Circadian Rhythm, and how when light is detected, it triggers a chain of events in our body. It discusses several things such as why we wake up when we do, and when we are most productive during the day. I highly recommend you all to view this, as it is a simple video packed with plenty of helpful diagrams and information. I can guarantee that you will learn at least a few new things about your body that you did not know before. I would be even willing to bet that our professor, Andrew Read, will learn something new.

Additionally, studies show that the more light we get during times of when we need to focus, such as work or school, the more alert we will become. Contrary to nighttime, where we need less light so we can relax and get ready to sleep. But of course, this has to be natural light, not artificial light. Exposure to artificial light, especially at nighttime, decreases our melatonin levels. Melatonin is key, as it helps regulate our Circadian Rhythm, as shown in the video.

To be honest, at first, I was very skeptical. I mean, I just thought that you were better off in natural light because it is natural light. Honestly, who doesn’t love going outside and soaking up some rays. But now, I understand that sunlight does directly affect us, and play a critical role in our well-being. Personally, I cannot wait for it to get warmer outside, so we can go out, enjoy some fresh air, and help regulate my Circadian Rhythm.

http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/healthy-living/wellbeing/how-light-affects-your-health.htm

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25424517

College—filled with many late nights and early classes. But how are students able to survive with the lack of sleep that results from this? With the use of a very addictive drug. No, not that kind of drug, this kind of drug. It’s caffeine. Students often turn to coffee or energy drinks to give them the extra jolt to make it through the day, or to stay up a little later to cram for a test. Across campus, students are constantly downing caffeine, to put that extra spring in their step. Worldwide, over 260,000,000 pounds of caffeine are consumed annually, which makes caffeine the most popular psychoactive drug on the globe. I personally, also drink coffee and energy drinks if I am running low on sleep and need a boost. I never used to drink coffee much until I came to Penn State, but now it seems that I my intake has increased tenfold. I drink everything now, like iced coffee, coffee with espresso shots, Red Bull, and 5-Hour Energy, along with a few others. When my energy is low, these come to my rescue. Unfortunately, it has become an unhealthy habit of mine, and sometimes I find myself in a situation where I need multiple drinks to keep going. The more I spend on these drinks, the more I think about how I am potentially harming my body.

Some of you may be saying, “Wait, caffeine is natural. It’s found in nature, how can it be harmful?” While it is true that is natural, caffeine can be very dangerous. Too much of anything is never good. Excessive caffeine can result in headaches, nausea, and anxiety. This video portrays the worst of what can happen from an overdose of caffeine. The video demonstrates the extreme of what can happen when one overindulges on caffeine. Is that likely to ever happen from drinking Mountain Dew every day? No. Yet, other minor things will most likely occur. But before we delve into the potential harmful side effects, what really is caffeine, and why do so many of us consume it?

Caffeine is a drug that in its purest form is a bitter white powder and in fact does indeed have addictive qualities. Everyone knows that caffeine makes you feel less tired, but how exactly does it do it? Basically it accomplishes this by suppressing it’s similarly structured Adenosine molecules found in the brain. Adenosine molecules’ role is to calm down the nervous system. However, when you consume caffeine, it overpowers the Adenosine, and stimulates and energizes the nervous system. As a result, your heart rate and blood pressure increases, which naturally increases alertness and delays the feeling of fatigue. But what about the “addiction”? It is not a real addiction, but the real reason people need it frequently, or feel “addicted”, is because it just becomes a bad habit they develop where they need the extra energy, and they turn to their trusty caffeine for help. While it is correct that one will experience slight withdrawal symptoms if you go off of it after daily use, it is nothing compared to the withdrawal symptoms another white powdered drug would give you.  

There are a lot of claims about what caffeine does to the body, some of which are supported by numerous experiments, and others that have rather shaky evidence to back them up. There are many facts about caffeine, like caffeine being linked to gout attacks, caffeine raising the chance for women to develop incontinence, and caffeine raising the blood pressure of people who suffer from hypertension. What really astounded me was the amount of data about caffeine that did not have good evidence to support it. Quite frankly, it is a result of the fact that it is just very difficult to conduct an experiment to evaluate the long term effects of constant caffeine use. It is nearly impossible to run a double blind placebo trial that garners good results. Although it boggles my mind that caffeine is the most widely used everyday in the world yet we still unfortunately know so little about it, it is safe to say that unless you devour grams of caffeine per day, you will be fine. Instead you will just have to worry about your wallet because those pricy Mocha Frappuccinos from Starbucks will add up.

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/in-experiments-caffeine-accelerates-the-brains-verbal-processing-113759145/?no-ist

http://www.caffeineinformer.com/harmful-effects-of-caffeine

https://www.yahoo.com/health/the-sudden-death-of-18-year-old-logan-stiner-103108598762.html

Personally, when I go to see my doctor, whether it’s for a check-up or for an illness, I always trust what they say. I don’t have a medical degree or anything, so of course I cannot properly diagnose myself. They went to school and studied to become a doctor, which I of course, have not done. Now, it may not be the best idea to leave your health in someone’s hands, but what do I know? Yes, I know some small things here and there, but any doctor’s knowledge far exceeds mine. For example, when I separated my AC joint in my shoulder last fall during a football game, I went to see my orthopedic doctor. To fix my shoulder, I needed my orthopedics’ help and expertise; there was no way I knew myself what to do to get healthy. So naturally, I put my faith with him to help heal me. It wasn’t really a “leap of faith”, as I was used to trusting doctors, but it got me thinking; do doctors’ always know what’s best for you? Is it wise to just blindly agree with whatever they say?

My intrigue led me to a study about the effects of aspirin on your heart. Prescribing aspirin to patients in order to reduce the risk of a heart attack or stroke is a common practice among doctors that has been occurring for quite some time. However, a new study from Japan suggests that this drug isn’t all that is cracked up to be. The study that was published in the Journal of the American Heart Association observed the effects of aspirin on the heart, and the results were astonishing. The trial took around 14,000 male and female subjects between the ages of 60 and 85, and split them into to groups. One was the experimental group that took one aspirin a day, and the other was a control group. The results showed that in the first group, 58 people died due to heart related issues, and 2.77% suffered a fatal or non-fatal heart attack or stroke. In the other group, there were 57 deaths and 2.96% had a heart attack or stroke. Evidently, these results demonstrate that the aspirin had pretty much no effect in aiding the heart. Basically, doctors were giving patients telling patients to take medicine that did nothing. The numbers recorded from this experiment depict that the only differences were due to chance. This was a completely randomized experiment, and it’s results showed that aspirin did not help prevent heart problems.

When I read about this trial, I immediately thought of our discussion in class about antiarrhythmics. The aspirin and the antiarrhythmics are very similar, because on paper they seem like they should work well. As we learned, this was not the case. However, giving aspirin to patients was not as bad as the antiarrhythmics, as the antiarrhythmics were detrimental to people’s health, and the aspirin just had little effect. While it is tough to conduct a double blind placebo experiment with such things as antiarrhythmics, it is vital for any new form of treatment to be rigorously tested. This stood out to me because it demonstrated how doctors are not always correct. New information and new clinical trials occur every day, and constantly bring new information. It is imperative for one to understand that sometimes doctors do make mistakes. Now, this doesn’t mean I will not trust my highly trained doctors, but it will force me to be wary of any experimental or new procedures that one of my doctors may recommend. Consequently, in the future I will be more careful and cautious regarding medical decisions about my health. 

http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1936801

https://www.yahoo.com/health/new-study-finds-aspirin-does-not-lower-risk-of-103116286772.html

Every one loves to enjoy a refreshing soda from time to time—especially me. Nothing beats going to Chipotle with your friends on a football Saturday in Penn State, and getting a burrito with an ice-cold root beer on the side. It became a small little tradition that my friends and I had every weekend. But, one Saturday, as I ate at Chipotle, a strand of lettuce fell down and landed on my protruding gut. Yikes. That’s when I realized my freshman fifteen was coming in. Immediately, I knew I had to change my habits. The first thing that had to go was my bubbly soft drink. It’s empty calories and abundance of sugar was something I could go without. All of this got me thinking about the harmful effects of soda. Yes, soda is unhealthy—practically everyone knows that. But, what other negative side effects does consuming a lot of soda have? This led me to do some research, and what I found was pretty astonishing.

A news study suggest that soda isn’t just unhealthy, but it makes you age faster. The research conducted at the University of California, San Francisco’s Ageing, Metabolism, and Emotion Center determined that in addition to obesity, soft drinks take a toll on your age. The variables that were tested in the study were telomeres found in the human body. Telomeres, the protective caps located at the end of the chromosomes, have been to shown to shorten when we age. Scientists believe that the younger you are, the longer your telomeres are, and vice versa. The study measured telomere length in the white blood cells of 5,309 healthy men and women between the ages of 20 and 65. The 3-year study determined that participants who drank 8 ounces of soda daily, showed an increase in age by 1.9 years, based on telomere shortness. Those who drank 20 ounces a day portrayed an increase in age by 4.6 years.

This information was all gathered based on telomeres. Adam Friedman, MD, FAAD, assistant dermatology professor, and a renowned columnist for Everyday Health, describes telomeres like “the plastic ends of a shoelace—they keep the shoe lace together. That’s kind of what a telomere is — it’s at the edge of DNA, helping to protect and repair it.” When telomeres get too short, they fall apart, thus dying. Now, whether this is causation or correlation, it is hard to tell. Therefore, I continued my research in hope of finding others experiments to support this data. Unfortunately, I could not find any similar experiments. This led to me to question the legitimacy of the experiment. First of all, the experiment was only conducted with about 5,000 subjects. Additionally, it didn’t say how the men and women were selected. To provide a true analysis, the subjects should have been randomly selected. This would help deduce correlation from causation, and any other confounding third variables. Furthermore, reverse causation is ruled out, as the subject’s telomeres were shorter after the study, then when they were measured before the study.

This study definitely opened my eyes and made me realize that everything we put into our body has an effect on us. Of course, the experiment that was conducted didn’t completely prove that drinking soda makes you older, but it did remind me of the pop quiz we had in class that discussed if blinds should be shut at bedtime. You might as well avoid soda, and you should close the blinds, because it is a small effort that can yield positive results for you. In the end, I think this was a great study to stumble across, as even though it wasn’t the best experiment, it made me have a bit of an epiphany when it came to consuming unhealthy things. It is safe to say that I will be a healthier, and hopefully no longer catching any strands of lettuce with my bulging gut.

http://www.everydayhealth.com/news/soda-could-be-aging-you-faster/

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/oct/16/sugar-soft-drinks-dna-ageing-study

http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/21/health/sugar-soda-age-faster/

(I) When I was scheduling my courses, my advisor recommended I take SC200. I had no idea what it was, but after I started reading about it, I knew this was the course for me. At first, it reminded me of my environmental science class that I took in high school, which I did enjoy, but after further reading, I realized it was different. I was definitely something the interested me, especially with all the mysteries of life and science that we would be discussing.

(II) I am not going to be a science major because I honestly never thought about being a science major. It never really struck me as an option, not because I wasn’t interested, but because I didn’t see a career path in science that I wanted to follow. But you never know, this course can change my mind.

-Alex Hatala