Drinking Beer, is it a party starter or is it the newest way to study? As a adventurous college student that I am, I explore on the weekends. I go out to parties happening outside of campus. There i have noticed that many of these parties have beer for the older students here to drink so they have a great time. I noticed the effects that beer has on some of them, making them do stupid and crazy things. Such as attempt to do a back flip inside or seeing if you can punch a hole through the wall. All funny and great stories to be told later but ultimately just bad decision making by them. So can beer really help me in doing well in school?

In this study that science direct put up shows a scenario of people who were drinking versus people who stayed sober through the entire article. Results showed that the sober did do better on the test they took afterwards but according to further studies the people who drank developed more creative ideas and they solved problems faster then sober ones did. After going through the study the conclusion was drinking beer helps when doing things that need creativity such as writing, inventing or coming up with ideas. The flip side doing math or science will actually be harder since you cant think logically. You might come to a solution some how but you couldn’t explain it if you tried.

A similar article was released by Iowa State stating that drinking beer is better while studying than drinking coffee. The article talks about the benefits drinking beer does for you while drinking coffee gives you energy but not the creative and intuitive problem solving skills that alcohol gives people. 

So the next time you have to sit down and write that boring long essay crack open a beer and start drinking and watch the creative process happen before your eyes. Just be sure to check your work when your sober so it make sense before you hand it in.

Is it cold outside and is it making you tired?  How about those cloudy days, do they make you gloomy?  Is the sun out and are you hyped? Depending on the weather, my mood tends to change.  Is this real, or am I just weird? This brings me to my research of whether or not weather affects your mood?

According to PsychCentral, John M. Grohol, Psy.D. claims that weather impacts our mood.  “High temperatures brighten up depressed people’s mood, while wind or not enough sun depresses people.  Extreme heat brings out a 14% increase in aggression and 4% increase in violence.”

Marie Connolly, researcher, conducted a study that interviewed a group of women during rain, and different temperatures.  “When the women were interviewed during the rain and high temperatures, the women had decreasing life satisfaction.  On the other hand, when it was lower temperatures and no rain, the same women reported higher life satisfaction.”

It is all about mind over matter and self control.  When the weather is hot and we let it get to us, we become cranky versions of ourselves.  When the weather is cold and we let it change our days productivity, we are letting the weather win the battle.  By learning self- control we can learn to push through the climates changes and not let the weather affect our mood as much.

However, we are all humans and we do not have complete self-control so we allow the weather to affect our moods, there is even a disorder relating to this.  Seasonal affective disorder (SAD), is a type of depression that comes with the changing of the seasons. The Mayo Clinic reported that “In most cases, SAD comes in the fall and continues throughout the winter. There are people who get SAD in the spring or early summer, but these cases are less common.”

We let other aspects of our lives control our lives. Isn’t it time we took matters into our own hands. (I know this is the biggest cliche ever, but if the shoe fits).

(picture by Mother Earth Living)

A study in France showed that when the sun is out, people are more helpful and positive. Vinita Mehta PH.D., Ed.M. conducted an experiment which entailed four researchers to pose as hitchhikers on cloudy and sunny days.  “Out of the 2,864 instances, more drivers were willing to pick them up on sunny days compared to cloudy days.”

Researchers kept digging to find out the science behind this by conducting more experiments.  Jaap Denissen of Humboldt University in Berlin conducted another study with 1,233 participants in Germany. “The participants were mainly women age 28, but the ages spanned from 13-68.  This study was to determine how wind, temperature, sunlight, rain, snow and air pressure affected people’s moods.  The participants had to take a daily online questionnaire measuring their mood.  Here are the results:

• temperature, wind, and sunlight effected negative mood, and sunlight played a role in how tired people were
• wind negatively affected mood in spring and summer compared to fall and winter
• shorter days caused positive feelings”

The Huffington Post also reported some interesting facts about how the climate affects our well-being

• “winter brings people down
• extreme weather events contribute to mental health problems
• extreme weather brings out empathy
• violent crimes rise with the heat
• suicide incidences tied to seasonal factors
• warm climates have a lower risk of death”

While we cannot blame the weather for every mood we have, the weather does partly affect us mentally because we allow this exogenous factor to control us.  With the cold weather slowly approaching, let’s keep SAD away from Penn State.

It’s no secret that college students live in a world prone to disease. A simple sneeze jumps from the lips of one student to the throat of another and before you know it, common disease symptoms, brushed off as allergies, have spread throughout campus like wildfire.

According to Mayo Clinic, the most common way for a disease to spread is through direct contact between two people. And it’s also no secret that in college towns, common contact of all kinds is a part of our daily routine. High fives, free hugs, handshakes, kisses, you name it; getting sick is an inevitable part of syllabus week.

The most prominent sickness found on college campuses is the common cold. Many viruses can be the leading cause someone comes down with the sickness, but more often than not, a virus called rhinovirus is to blame. Once inside our bodies, cells coating the inside of the nose form the primary breeding ground for Rhinovirus. From there, our immune systems take over. The article What Causes the Common Cold explains how our body opens up blood vessels through inflammation, causing a runny nose and a stuffed up feeling. The sneezing comes from the increased presence of fluids and irritation from the virus. Then a few days after the initial symptoms, a cough, caused by the production of excess fluid and mucus, arrives once the virus reaches the lungs.

In order to speed up the healing process, many people turn to typical household remedies such as gargling salt water, hot tea with honey, and steaming showers. The salt water helps make the environment within the throat less hospitable to the harmful bacteria searching to multiply. Hot tea and steaming showers help relieve the tension in the nasal passages, reducing congestion. In addition, a post by Stöhle and Hahn states a meta-analyses of the common cold shows adding Vitamin C to ones diet can reduce the duration of the illness.

The line graph (pictured right), posted to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, shows the duration of untreated common cold symptoms based off the percentage of patients with the symptom.

Although the rapid spread of sickness within college towns is certainly unavoidable, there are many ways to help boost your immune systems ability to fight the latest bug. Not smoking, refraining from drinking alcohol in excess, exercising regularly and maintaining a healthy weight are all simple ways college students can lower their chances of getting infected, according to Harvard Health.

College can be the best four years of your life, and also the sickest. Preparing your body against strains of common illnesses can be vital to your success on campus. Taking steps to insure a healthy body is essential now more than ever as the first contagion has already made its presence known right here in our own backyards at Penn State; and unfortunately, it may be here to stay.

The great tragedy of the Titanic is one that most people know a thing or two about, but what people still have yet to figure out is how did the unsinkable ship sink? The Titanic was a ship with approximately 2,200 passengers aboard ranging from upper class to lower class, adults to children. The case was put to rest many years ago with the conclusion that it was solely the Iceberg to blame but in 1985 the case was reopened due to this unsatisfying ending. Robert Ballard was the scientist who took it upon himself to solve this unsolvable mystery. Ballard along with other scientists indeed discovered that the ship did split into two parts actually around the time that the movie the “Titanic” was filmed, hence why they put the scene of the boat splitting into two. On the night of April 14th 1912, only a few days into the voyage, the site of the iceberg was exposed for the fist time. The Titanic did not hit the iceberg head on, forcing it to swipe the ships starboard side and causing it to pierce six holes in the ships steel plates. The  ship instantly filled with water and roughly two hours later actually submerged fully into the water and sunk completely.

The thoughts that came about in the 1990’s placed the blame on the steel used to build the ship, it was believed to be “brittle” but this theory was later put down when scientists realized the actual piece they tested did not match up to the same higher quality of the remainder of the boat which did in deed pass all tests. Another theorist proposed the thought that the timing of the ships assemlby could have played a key role in the mystery. The Titanic was built along with two other massive “sister ships” at the time named the Olympic and Britannic. The ships did have enough people to build them, however since they were all done simultaneously the material used could have been lower quality due to the pressure of all three ships.

The boat was not “weak” by any means, 38,000 tons of water filled up the enormous ship, the pressure lead it to crack into two pieces, and did so with reason. I would conclude the following:

1) The quality could have certainly been better, but the Titanic was a luxury ship, not a battle ship.

2) The ship was not designed to crash into an iceberg and and there was no way to prevent disaster after it did.

3) Even if the ship remained afloat longer, it did not even have enough life boats to sustain even 1/3 of its passengers.

4)  No one could have predicted this tragedy and precaution for an accident that extensive was a challenge for the time period that the ship was built in.

There is nothing better than digging into a big bowl of fresh guacamole: avocado, tomatoes, garlic, lime juice and the more cilantro the better!  So I was shocked when a family friend announced that cilantro was a disgusting herb that tasted like soap!  How could she taste the same food that I find fresh and tangy and find it bland and soapy?

NPR- the salt

Luckily, science has a hypothesis that may explain the cilantro divide.  According to several scientific studies, our genes may contribute to our like or dislike of cilantro.  The genetics firm 23andMe conducted a genetic study of 30,000 persons and found a link between those that hated cilantro and a olfactory receptor gene known as OR6A2.  If you have the OR6A2 gene you are more likely to find the soapy smell of cilantro overpowering, and not pick up on the fresh tangy smell.  This is because cilantro has a fat molecule known as aldehyde.  Aldehydes are also found in soaps, lotions and some bugs.  People that pick up on the aldehyde/soapy smell of cilantro will then associate it as something hazardous to eat.

In the case of cilantro, I think it is more than simply some people disliking the taste.  A connection is occurring in the brain telling the person, “Don’t eat this, it will make you ill.”

Another study also found that genes play a role in some people’s dislike of cilantro.  Scientists with the Monell Chemical Senses Center questioned 527 twins regarding their like of cilantro and found three additional genes that are related to our taste perception of bitter and pungent compounds. These genes can also affect how a person perceives the taste of cilantro. The study was published in the journal Chemical Senses

So I guess our genes are at work when it comes to cilantro. If you dislike cilantro though, you are in good company as Julia Child famously disliked the herb and said if cilantro was in her food she would throw it on the ground.  The studies also mention that if you dislike cilantro, don’t despair,  you can attempt to overcome it buy mashing it into a pesto and by being around people like me who love cilantro!

I’ve never really been a tea person, and I absolutely hate coffee. Mornings are usually rough for me as I am groggy and unmotivated. My friends who drink coffee in the morning say the caffeine helps them wake up and get work done, and they tell me I should try drinking tea if I really don’t like coffee. Some tell me to suck it up and drink the coffee anyway because I’ll really feel a difference. But my question is, does caffeine really increase productivity?

Here’s how it works: the caffeine cross the blood-brain barrier, which is designed to protect the CNS, or central nervous system, from harmful chemicals in the bloodstream. It then moves on to block the chemical adenosine, which inhibits the release of a variety of chemicals into the brain, reducing energy levels. When it is blocked, drowsiness and fatigue decrease and physical and cognitive performance are enhanced.

There have been several studies that show caffeine improves alertness and cognitive functioning, and it makes people more encouraging of one another in social circumstances. Furthermore, another study showed that higher caffeine consumption reduced risk of accidents in the workplace.  There is some evidence, though, that increased alertness can be the cause of the placebo effect. A study at the University of East London, 88 habitual coffee drinkers were randomly given cups of coffee, some caffeinated and some decaffeinated. Each individual participated in tasks that evaluated reaction time and more. In the tasks that measured reaction time, those who believed they consumed caffeine were more accurate, even if they had decaf coffee. Those who had caffeine but were told they drank decaf did not show improvement in reaction time.

Although it does have positive effects, caffeine consumption can be harmful. At least 600 mg of it can bring on “the jitters”. Those sensitive to it can feel nervousness and irritability after just a small dose. For those with anxiety, caffeine can decrease productivity, but for those with depression, it could help productivity.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caffeine

Overall, there are a variety of benefits and costs associated with the consumption of caffeine. Also, it seems to react differently in each individual. After all the research done on this topic, I feel confident to say that caffeine does in fact increase productivity. I guess I should start taking a liking to coffee!

Lucid dreaming is an art that has been practiced for ages. It’s a phenomenon that has come to be increasingly popular, but are these dreams beneficial to us humans?

What is it?

“Lucid dreaming is the experience of achieving conscious awareness of dreaming while still asleep. Lucid dreams are generally thought to arise from non-lucid dreams in REM sleep”

Lucid dreaming is the term used when the person dreaming is aware that they are dreaming, and has partial, or full control over their dreams. They can manipulate what happens in their dream, and control it with their mind.

This art takes a tremendous amount of practice and patience, sometimes ranging from 3 days to 3 months. Experts say that it’s worth it, to be totally in control of your dreams, and be able to turn your greatest fantasies into reality. Yes, you are even able to have sex with whomever you like, but it takes commitment, and a lot of hard work. The big question here is, are these dreams beneficial to us humans, and if not do these dreams have any side effects, or dangers?

The Science

So whats the science behind lucid dreaming? Can anyone lucid dream? Does lucid dreaming become easier for different genders, races, or different ethnicities? “Lucid dreaming is a dissociated state with aspects of waking and dreaming combined in a way so as to suggest a specific alteration in brain physiology“. Romain Holzmann conducted an experiment on lucid dreaming. He experimented by taking 6 student volunteers that could “be trained to become lucid via pre-sleep autosuggestion.^1–5 Subjects often succeed in becoming lucid when they tell themselves, before going to sleep, to recognize that they are dreaming by noticing the bizarre events of the dream“. He was able to indicate if the volunteers were in a lucid state by the tracings of “EEG and EMG”. These signals verified that the subjects were in a lucid state, giving the subjects control over their behavior in their dreams, and awareness that they were in a dream. “20 undergraduate students were tested over 4 months. Of the 20, 6 of them were able to have lucid dreams with proper training. These 6 students were later tested in the laboratory, and 3 of them were able to achieve lucidity. One of them was a male age 22, two of them were 23 year old females.¹” Holzmann claims that the gender, race, or ethnicity of the subject does not increase or decrease chances of having lucid dreams. The observation that was conducted had a small sample size, but its very hard to pick a random sample so the observation was limited to a small sample size. Achieving lucidity rests solely on the subject and how much they practice having lucid dreams.

Benefits

Almost all of us has a certain fear right? whether it be something as simple as the fear of spiders, or something more intense like the fear of heights, we all usually have one. In a lucid dream, you could jump out of an airplane at 20,000 feet, and soar through the sky at incredible speeds, and still be in your bed safe and sound. Is this safe? Yes, well at least Stephen LaBerge says so. Some mights say that this could be dangerous as one might believe he is in a lucid dream but actually he is in the real world attempting dangerous acts. But to master lucid dreaming, or even to start lucid dreaming, one must master the technique of knowing that they are dreaming.

Self-confidence is an important trait, but its not always as easy as it seems to acquire. Knowing that in the real world there could be negative outcomes for our actions. Knowing that we could be let down, knowing that there are dangers that we could face. All steer us away from being confident and brave. In a lucid dream, you control the outcome of your actions, you decide whether or not you are successful/brave. In lucid dreaming, one can go above and beyond their limits in the real world, and accomplish what they could never have in their everyday lives.

Fears, we all have them. Whether it be something as simple as the fear of spiders, or something more extreme like the fear heights. Lucid dreaming can help overcome them. In a lucid dream, one can be sky diving over the atlantic at 20,000 feet, yet still be safe and sound in their bed. Lucid dreaming helps us overcome our fears by facing them inside of our minds. Some might say that dreaming about our fears wont overcome them, but getting used to spiders crawl on your hands and repeatedly dreaming about them overtime will help you get used to them.

Lucid dreaming is also a solution to nightmares. Dreamers face their nightmares, and can control what happens in them.

Side Effects

There really aren’t any side effects to lucid dreaming. One of the only things that Stephen LaBerge advises is to not get too carried away with lucid dreaming. He says that some people devote too much time to lucid dreaming that they forget their real goals in life. Remember that everything that happens in a lucid dream, stays in your mind. Its important to not get too carried away with this experiment.

All in all, Lucid dreaming proves to have many great benefits, and no risks whatsoever. Stephen LaBerge still advises readers to experiment at their own safety, because lucid dreaming is partly controlling the human mind, and is advised to do so cautiously.

 Citations

¹ Voss, Ursula, Romain Holzmann, Inka Tuin, and J. Allan Hobson. “Lucid Dreaming: A State of Consciousness with Features of Both Waking and Non-Lucid Dreaming.” Http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/. Associated Professional Sleep Societies, LLC, 1 Sept. 2009. Web. 08 Sept. 2015.

If you think about it, shaking hands is a bit of a strange idea. But as long as anyone can remember, people have always been grasping hands, and shaking up and down as a way to meet and greet each other. Theories of the origins and reason for the handshake are extremely varied.

This practice may even date back to around 1800 BCE in ancient Babylon. In Babylon at this time, it was believed that the gods could transfer power to a human through clasping hands. This is why every year at the New Year’s festival, the king would grasp hands with a statue of a god, and it was believe that the god’s power would be transferred to the king for the next year.

Another theory is a bit more logical and survival-based. It is believed that the ancient Romans would extend their hands when meeting another person to ensure them that you were not carrying a weapon in your hand. The Romans also may have clasped arms so they could check if weapons were up the other’s sleeve. This practice evolved in medieval times, where the acquaintances would clasp hands and shake as we do today. This was meant to shake out any hidden weapons that the other might have up their sleeve. This seems similar to today’s practices in which we shake hands to establish trust when meeting someone new.

The third, and most interesting theory is based wholly in science. At the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, researchers found that people instinctively smell their hands after shaking hands with someone. They found this by filming 271 subjects as they were sat down in a room, then an experimenter came into the room and shook their hand, and then the experimenter left again. These subjects were unknowingly filmed and the amount of times they touched their face was recorded from one minute before the experimenter entered the room until one minute after the experimenter left. The study found that the subject smelled their hand 100% more after they shook hands with the experimenter than they did before shaking hands. Some subjects were also equipped with an apparatus that recorded their nasal air flow during the experiment. They found that large inhales (sniffs) coincided with the time when the subjects touched their faces. This means that the subjects were in fact smelling their hands. They also found that when the subject shook hands with someone of the same gender as them, they were more likely to smell their right hand (the shaking hand), and when the subject shook hands with a person of the opposite gender, they were more likely to smell their left hand (the non-shaking hand). This study may lead us to believe that humans, like animals may receive information through pheromones and chemosignals by smelling each other. But this study also raises many questions to be answered. Why do we smell the opposite hand when shaking with the opposite gender? Is this mechanism possibly intended for us to scope out our competition within our gender? Does sexual orientation affect the outcome of a study like this? Would the results be similar if we shook hands with our left hands? All of these questions could be answered by future studies that should be implemented to further understand this strange instinct.

Whether you believe that the custom of handshaking came from the Babylonians, the Romans, the medieval knights, or our neanderthal ancestors who wanted to smell each other in a more classy way, handshaking is deeply rooted in human history. Possible reasons for handshaking include religious ceremonies, self-defense, and smelling each other. The next time you shake hands with someone new, notice if they touch their face within the next minute or so. Your new friend just might be trying to catch a whiff of your pheromones.

Sources:

Weapons, History 1, History 2, History 3, TIME Article, Study

Gel, mousse, special shampoos and conditioners. Flat irons and ceramic hair dryers. At minimum, a habit costing $50 a week. My mother jokes it is like having a third child, a dependent she wishes she could claim on her income taxes. I have curly hair. Not straight, not wavy, but full luscious loops. What’s wrong with that? EVERYTHING. First off, it’s unruly. It has a mind of its own. Pulling it back in a ponytail is like wrestling a giant ungroomed poodle into a two-inch hoop. Combing it is like trying to navigate an unmarked path through a rain forest. One hot mess!

Unfortunately there are a lot of curly haired girls out there that face the same dilemma. Because of my curly hair I have tried many different techniques to try to tame the beast that lay on my head. I’m sure if you asked the ‘curly clic’ they would tell you they would try almost anything, throughout my life, I have been no exception. Over my years of trying new products and treatments the only one that seems to work is keratin. Keratin is a protein that is naturally found in your fingernails and hair, what this treatment does is adds more of this protein back into your hair. Sounds simple right? Well the truth is after a lot of research it has been found that one of the key ingredients in the formulation is formaldehyde. You have probably heard the word formaldehyde because that is what they put inside dead bodies to preserve them. Ok so what’s the problem?

Over the years formaldehyde has been linked to many different health problems.

Who is most at risk? More than likely it’s the hair dressers themselves, not necessarily the clients. The salon workers are exposed to the toxin much more consistently, than the individual client. After this became news, some manufacturers thought they had the solution, in creating formaldehyde free versions of the products. Unfortunately this did not solve the problem.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently did investigations of many different salons to find out the health hazards of these hair treatments. “During Federal OSHA investigations, air tests showed formaldehyde at levels above OSHA’s limits in salons using Brazilian Blowout Acai Professional Smoothing Solution, labeled “formaldehyde free,” and Brasil Cacau Cadiveu.” Even when products are labeled “formaldehyde free” when the chemicals combine with heat the create formaldehyde.

Specifically, among the health risks OSHA found many salon workers were complaining of nosebleeds, burning itchy eyes, and in some severe respiratory issues. In some rare causes salon workers who use to apply this treatment have formed cancer. My own hairdresser found many of these issues when she applied the treatment. It became so serious in the salon, that the salon owner no longer permits this application in the salon. Some salons have had to get out of this business.

OSHA has set out to try to fix this problem by setting certain guidelines on how to use and apply the keratin treatments The guidelines that were listed on the OSHA website can be seen below:

• Test the air periodically to make sure that formaldehyde levels are below OSHA’s limits.
• Give employees appropriate gloves and other personal protective equipment (e.g., face shield, chemical splash goggles, chemical-resistant aprons) and train them on how to use this equipment while mixing and applying the products.
• Explain to workers how to read and understand the information on a product’s label and MSDS;
• Make sure the workplace has eye and skin washing equipment if products that contain formaldehyde could be splashed onto the workers’ skin or into their eyes.
• Train workers how to safely clean up spills and properly throw products out.
• Get workers the right medical attention (e.g., doctor exams) if they develop signs and symptoms of an exposure to formaldehyde or are exposed to large amounts of formaldehyde during an emergency (e.g., a large spill).

In conclusion, I will still be getting my keratin treatments regularly but this is definitely something that every curly hair girl should be aware of before getting keratin treatments.

In 2012, organizers of the London Olympics reportedly gave out 150,000 condoms for the 10,080 olympic athletes at the games. With such a large number of free rubbers, we can safely assume that athletes had a little extra physical activity during the games.

Still, many athletes say they abstain from sex prior a big game or competition. Take Muhammed Ali, arguably the best boxer of all time,  for example. He claimed that he wouldn’t have sex for up to six weeks before a fight. The theory behind the idea that sex drains our energy and lowers our testosterone levels has been around even since ancient civilizations. The Greeks believed that semen was sacred and contained a man’s strength. Athletes nowadays may think that abstinence will promote higher testosterone levels and in effect increase their strength. While it is true that testosterone is responsible for aggression and sexual desire in both men and women, there is no physiological evidence stating that sex before competition is bad.

A study looking to determine the effects of two drugs (sildenafil and tadalafil) on erectile dysfunction found that although both drugs increased testosterone levels, lack of sexual activity was the greatest contributor to a
loss in testosterone levels. Therefore suggesting that testosterone levels increase after sex. Based on these findings, it can be argued that sex before competition can be helpful when it comes to more aggressive sports such as football or wrestling.

Another argument that recommends saying away from sex before a game, proclaims that sex tires the body out. This claim can be countered according to a study conducted by the New England Journey of Medicine, states that sex lasts on average 6 minutes and only burns around 21 calories. Now unless you’re having some crazy, all night sex, it is highly unlikely that it will cause your body to be tired out the next morning.

The one thing we don’t know about sex before competition is how it affects us mentally. Ian Shrier, a sports medicine professor at McGill University, says that sex can affect anxiety and alertness the following day. For example, staying up late and having prolonged sex may cause decrease alertness. On the other hand, sex can be a great stress reliever and in result may decrease the athletes anxiety. It should also be considered that sex affects everyone differently and results could vary.

With all this said, we can disprove the idea that sex before competition negatively affects our physical state; yet, need more studies on how it affects our psychological state of mind. I’m sure that there are many other factors besides sex that will affect your athletic performance, but maybe next time when your partner wants to get in on, focus more on them instead of the big game.

Many of us, whether it has been during a psychology class or just from browsing the internet have come across a optical illusion. You may think that these illusions are purposely created to trick the human brain but really there are no tricks.

Try this illusion. Stare at the red dot in the middle of the circle for a minute or two. Soon the green circle will begin to disappear. Even when you look away from the image you continue to see the red dot in your visual field.  This is a static image file. Swiss physician and philosopher, Ignaz Paul Vital Troxler (1780–1866), came up with the concept “Troxler fading”, in which you become to accustomed to the green circle that you eventually stop noticing it is there. Troxler fading actually happens when you become dizzy.

The Visual Science, the Neural Correlate Society holds a contest where vision scientists share their latest optical illusions. This years winner was Mark Vergeer from KU Leuven (Belgium). His illusion “Splitting Colors”  is all about how we perceive colors. The illusion demonstrate that one and the same object can look different depending on its surroundings. In relation to Troxler fading, the different backgrounds change the way we view the two identical lines causing the viewers to be unable to see the original colors.

However, our perception of objects doesn’t solely rely on sight, other senses also come into play. Varun Sreenivasan from Switzerland, further examined the “rubber hand” effect. The idea concept is If your real hand is hidden behind a screen and you see a fake hand in its place, then you can “feel” it when a researcher touches the fake hand. During the experiment, one trial they asked volunteers to place one hand behind the screen. An experimenter would then scratch the table in front of the screen while either scratching or not scratching the hidden hand. The participants reported “feeling” a scratch on their real hand whether or not it was actually being scratched.

Illusions tell us a great deal about brain function. We are able to observe and experience different sensations due to our many different senses. Illusions conflict with our senses but by doing that it gives researches away to decode the brain works.

How many of you have ever been guilty of dancing around the house to you favorite song on the radio, only to realize that your cat has been watching you with this questionable look on their face the entire time?  Well if you’re anything like me,  I’ve been caught by my cat in some of my most embarrassing moments.  I interpret her long gaze and twitching ears, as “You’re an idiot, you stupid human”.  But sometimes I wonder if my cat actually thinks I’m crazy or if maybe it’s just a look of pure content.  Perhaps she’s thinking, ” I love you, you crazy human, maybe next time I can join you.”  I just don’t know!  So what do cats really think about their owners?

John Bradshaw studies cat behavior at the University of Bristol and is the author of the book Cat Sense, he has been studying cats for several years now and has come to the conclusion that cats just don’t understand us the way dogs do.  When compared to how dogs treat their owners and how cats do, the differences are obvious.  Dogs are aware that we are not the same species as them, they don’t run up to us and smell our butts, and they don’t play with us as if we were another dog.  Cats are aware that we are not other cats, yet they act similarly- as if we are.  They rub against our legs, sit next to us, wiggle their tails, and even attempt to groom us on occasion.

It turns out cats can actually tell us a lot about what they’re thinking.  It’s all in the body language!  Cats have an array of emotions similar to what we do: happiness, sadness, fear, frustration, and even stress.  We need only learn how to interpret their body language, to know what our cats are thinking.

WARNING: Cats are not dogs!  So, as owners, we cannot understand everything our cats do, to mean the same thing as when our dogs do it. The biggest misdemeanor is when our pets display their stomachs to us.  With dogs this clearly means they would love a tummy rub.  However with cats, this simply means your cat is relaxed and trusting of you.  NOT an invitation to stroke their exposed underbelly.  In many instances this scenario can end with claws extended and a quick display of your cats reflexes.

This infamous Halloween pose of feline creatures, is an obvious read of any cat’s emotions by the tell-tell movement of its tail.  (The tail is a good way to read any cat’s emotions).  This pose, means that your cat is scared and feeling threatened.  The arched back and fur standing up on end, means your cat will probably do just about anything to feel safe, and get out of the situation.  If your cat ever takes this stance, experts- and myself – advise that you back off in as much of a non-threatening manner that you can.

There are many more tips on how to read a cat’s body language, and know what they are thinking, here.  But one of the most important things to understand about your cat is to know if they really do love and trust you.  In cat world, slowly blinking their eyes at you is a way of showing you affection (closing your eyes in the presence of another is the ultimate sign of trust to felines) .  And I think we can all appreciate knowing our cats actually love us, even if we can be a little crazy.

Let me know if you guys have experienced any of these behaviors with your cats, or if maybe your pet does some weird things that you can’t comprehend.  Hope you guys have enjoyed. Comment below!

For me, there is no question that I have a serious sweet tooth. I have always loved chocolate, cake, all types of candy and ice cream. While I definitely have my moments of craving chips or pizza, my sweet tooth outweighs my salty cravings. If you’re not sure which one you prefer more, click here to find out.

So why do you prefer one over the other? According to this article, everyone contains a specific combination of genes that determines how our taste buds perceive flavor.  People who have a sweet tooth contain certain DNA in taste receptors which are found in the intestines and on the tongue. People who have more taste buds may prefer salty foods. Studies have also shown that babies who were born premature with low sodium levels might grow up wanting salty foods.

According to this article, the flavors that we are first exposed to in the womb are often the ones we crave as adults. The article also explains that DNA is not the only factor that influences the flavors we prefer. It says that we grow up associating foods and flavors with childhood memories and experiences with specific foods. For example, if your dad always gave you lollipops when you were younger, you might associate that sweetness with love, forcing you to always remember and want that flavor.

While we always hear of people with a strong sweet tooth, craving salty foods often goes under the radar. However, there is an interesting explanation (with a reference to Penn State) for why people crave salty foods. People who would rather snack on chips and pretzels than cupcakes and ice cream are called “supertasters.” Supertasters contain a unique genetic makeup that elevates their taste perception. This means that the flavors they taste are stronger than how most people perceive them. Supertasters are also sensitive to bitterness, and salt tones down the bitter flavor, making supertasters want more salt.

Whether you have a strong sweet tooth or you’re a supertaster, there are plenty of explanations to explain why you are what you are. Now go grab your favorite snack and if you haven’t already, take the quiz linked above to find out if you have a sweet tooth or prefer salty foods!

Despite being nearly two weeks into my first semester at Penn State University, I continue to not-so-proudly wear the look of the typical lost freshmen student every time I leave 111 Forum and start the bewildering journey back to my humble abode in Tener Hall. Although I am starting to feel certain that I am incapable of figuring out this massive campus and am ultimately destined to be the lost SENIOR student here at PSU, I have found a silver lining as this deficiency of mine led to hitting inspiration for this blog post. In the midst of me desperatley trying to memorize my surroundings, I made an observation. While I am panicking about being late for my next class/ taking in the beauty of my beloved school, many of those around me are staring down at little hand-held screens created to enhance communication, yet seem to have led to the demise of face to face social interaction. That’s right- cell phones. Admittedly, despite being fully aware of the injustice this social-media phenomena has done to the friendships of those in my cohort, I am extremely hypocritical as I have checked my cell phone 3 times in the process of writing this post. This leads me to pose the scientific question: Are Smartphones actually addictive? Due to the introduction of cellular technology to our society being relativley recent, there is an abundant amount of research being done on the possible dangers of usage.

Throughout researching this topic it has been made clear to me that cell phone usage takes up a significant portion of the general populations lives. In a study of 1,600 managers and professionals, Dr. Leslie Perlow, a professor of leadership at the Harvard Business School, found some interesting information.
70% said they check their smartphone within an hour of getting up.
56% check their phone within an hour of going to sleep.
48% check over the weekend, including on Friday and Saturday nights.
51% check continuously during vacation.
44% said they would experience “a great deal of anxiety” if they lost their phone and couldn’t replace it for a week.

Dr. David Greenfield, author of “Virtual Addiction: Help for Netheads, Cyber Freaks, and Those Who Love Them”, brings up the interesting point that many people are compelled to text while driving although they are fully aware that they are endangering lives; this indicates that there may be something almost addictive about cell phone use. He defines addiction as “growing tolerance to a substance…so you need more to get ‘high,’ uncomfortable symptoms during withdrawal, and a harmful impact on your life”. If you are checking social media seeking rewards or your usage is disrupting your family life, your behavior may be classified as a problem. Greenfield tells us the reason for this obsessive behavior could be “variable ratio reinforcement”. People are not aware of when something positive like a nice text message will come up on their phones, leading them to continuously check to seek reinforcement.

Nicholas Carr, author of “The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains”, has also written extensively on the addictive nature of cell phones. He makes an interesting point about “human beings have a deep, primitive desire to know everything that’s going on around them”. This instinctive tactic may have been helpful for survival of cavemen.

As evident through the theories I have referenced above, there is indeed a high probability of Smartphone usage being addictive in nature. There is a lot of psychological evidence of this and more anatomical evidence being looked into each day. More research is being done on all of the different potential effects this little gadget is having on human kind. Here is some incentive to start ceasing the day and living life! These addictive aspects of cell phone usage could really have a negative impact on your life which is beautifully explained in this video. .

I fear that Albert Einstein’s fear is coming true.

Yesterday, a classmate posted a blog about whether or not cigarette smoke is harmful to our household pets, like cats and dogs. Corey came to the conclusion that yes, a household pet living in an environment with significant cigarette smoke can lead to an increase in the risk for different lung related diseases in pets. Corey’s post gave me a thought that I chose to investigate for one of my blog posts, does cigarette smoke also cause a negative effect on plants and flowers that we keep in our homes?

Many studies have been conducted to determine whether smoke from forest fires can cause harm to trees (like this one from the International Journal of Forestry Research). These studies have found that regular wood-burning smoke can have negative effects on the photosynthesis levels of trees and how efficiently they grow. Although these results appear very conclusive, I am still left wondering whether cigarette smoke might have a more destructive effect on plants due to the harmful chemical makeup in them.

In an experiment conducted by Victoria Garcia, she found that in a closed environment, cigarette smoke stunted the growth of cabbage and celery plants. In her experiment, cigarettes were placed in very close proximity to the plants whereas in a common household, the smoke would not be so close to the plants because smoke would just linger in the air in a larger environment. Unfortunately, this is as far as the research in this field goes.

If I were able to conduct a study to test my hypothesis that stems from the idea that cigarette smoke is harmful to household pets, I would need a large environment and a control group along with the experimental group that has cigarette smoke in the environment. Over time, I would measure whether the growth of common household plants or flowers was stunted when exposed to cigarette smoke for 10 minutes every 2 hours. My hypothesis would be that, yes, tobacco smoke and the other lethal chemicals in cigarettes negatively effect the growth of household plants. I’m disappointed that I could not come to a definitive conclusion in this blog post, but I believe that this could be the beginning of an interesting discussion about the further effects of cigarette smoke on not just ourselves and our pets, but also our green and leafy friends as well!

My family has a new member. He has big white teeth, lots of fur, four legs, a tail and beautiful big brown eyes! Yes, my family adopted a dog after only having cats for 15 years.  It has been an amazing experience so far as Thor has adapted to our family and we have grown to love him.  This got me thinking about how the process works for a dog to bond to a new family.  I always just assumed that you got a dog and there was nothing more to it, but now I wonder how does a dog and its family become attached?  How do you love a dog and how does it love you?

A  study released in the journal Science in April 2015 conducted by Japanese researchers explains why dogs like to gaze at their owners and how that gazing creates a bond between humans and their dogs.  According to the study,  the levels of oxytocin rose in both the owners and the dogs when they spent thirty minutes together. The urine of 30 dogs and their owners was tested after the thirty minutes. Oxytocin is a hormone that promotes social bonding. Oxytocin is also known as the love hormone. The researchers also did a second experiment in which they sprayed oxytocin into dogs nostrils which caused the female dogs to look at their owners even longer. The researchers conducted the same experiment on wolves that were pets and their owners, but found no increase in oxytocin. The scientists theorize that long ago a more friendly group of wolves bonded with humans by connecting to one of the ways humans bond with a child, by looking into their eyes, and these wolves eventually became domesticated dogs.

C. Sue Carter of the Kinsey Institute at Indiana University believes the study, “makes very good sense.”  In addition, previous studies have also shown that hormones are responsible in part in creating bonds between species.

In observing our dog I definitely agree with this study.  Thor loves to be around myself and my family members and he is always looking at us!  It is hard to not look back into his big eyes and pet and praise him.  When we are walking him, he often turns his head to look at us.  It is amazing how something so basic such as looking at each other can build the bond between a dog and its human family.  I would have been interested to see the scientists test dogs spending time and playing with people they did not know previously.  Would there still be an increase in oxytocin? Would it be a smaller increase or the same?  Would it be linked to the quality of interaction between the dogs and humans?

So if you are lucky enough to have a dog, be sure to spend lots of time staring into his or her eyes and you will be sure to create a bond for life with your furry friend!

I for one love dying my hair. I’ve had my hair all different sorts of colors from purple and pink streaks, to blonde highlights, and to super dark brown. I just dyed my hair last week to a nice dark brown color and then I started to wonder, can excessively dying my hair cause more damage for my body besides the inevitable hair damage? There has been some speculation about whether the use of hair dyes causes cancer. How can this be? It seems like the two are completely unrelated, However, there is a correlation between the use of hair dyes and cancer. 

One problem that arises from using hair dyes it the aromatic amines. The same chemicals that are used in permanent hair dyes are also found in environmental pollution, tobacco smoke, and in different types of meat and fish. How were scientists able to test this hypothesis? Several large case-control and cohort studies could not find a cause between hair dyes and bladder cancer. However, one group of scientists used a method of a study group.

To figure out the cause between hair dye and bladder cancer, the authors used data from 459 bladder cancer cases and 665 controls who were interviewed as part of a case-control study in New Hampshire from 1994-1998. Participants went through a personal interview regarding their history of hair dye use and bladder cancer risk factors. Questions in the interview covered education level, use of tobacco, and medical history prior to their diagnosis date. Participants were also asked about their lifetime use of hair dyes including; the type of dye use, years of use, and how often they dyed their hair per year.

With this research, it was discovered that women who used hair dyes before the age of 37 or have been using hair dyes for 31 years before their diagnosis had more than a 2-fold risk of bladder cancer compared to women who never used hair dye.

Although, one experiment saw that there was no causation between hair dye use and breast cancer. In New York City, a case-control study was conducted to see if hair dye can cause breast cancer.  The study group consisted of 398 breast cancer cases and 790 randomly selected controls. Subjects were interviewed and asked about their complete history of hair dye use including; type of dye, color, duration, and frequency. 77% of subjects had used hair dye at least once, 38% of the subjects had used it at least 100 times. However, little increased risk of breast cancer was found among hair dye users. There was no evidence of a trend in risk with increasing number of hair dye uses. Breast cancer risk did not increase with increasing intensity of exposure, no effect was seen for different types or colors of dye, or use during different periods of reproductive life.

It seems that the use of hair dye causing certain types of cancer has some controversy in the scientific community. Based on some of the information provided what do you guys think? Should people stop using hair dyes? Does dying hair really create a potential risk for cancer?

Gluten;  A word heard day in and day out when regarding a persons diet. Of course many of the people who cut gluten from their eating habits  are probed to due so because of a medical reason (celiac disease), but some do it just because they think it is healthier. Although is it really healthier to cut such a source from your diet? The answer is no.

Gluten is the general name for the variety of proteins found in wheat, rye, barley, and triticale which holds the food together and maintains its shape (source). Thus it is found in breads, cereals , pastas, baked goods and many more (refer to source link for the full list).  A person with Celiac disease is not able to consume gluten because it will do damage to the small intestine, therefore causing less than enjoyable symptoms such as severe stomach pains and diarrhea (source).  Yet lately it has become a trend for people without celiac disease or a sensitivity to gluten to go “gluten free”, due to the falsity that it is the healthier option.

In reality , it is considered unhealthy to cut out gluten from your diet, because it cancels out many nutritional food options. Gluten is rich in many vitamins and minerals (B vitamins and iron) and even fiber. It also has been proven to lower risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and even some form of cancers. Therefore cutting such an important food category from ones diet could result in nutritional deficiencies according to health experts. Their warning is that it is not advisable to go gluten free unless medically inclined to. It is not worth the unhealthy risk to eliminate such an important food category. So if you have been toying with succumbing to the gluten free fad (and don’t suffer from celiac or sensitivity) , don’t do it. Enjoy eating gluten; it’s the healthy and fun thing to do! source

Don’t believe me? Watch this Royals song parody from a person with celiac , sharing his constant food envy :Click to watch

I’m lying on the couch with an ice cream of my favorite flavor, listening to one of Calvin Harris’s songs which are no longer free because he is in a relationship with Taylor Swift… “Less ice cream!” a strong male voice arises. My father is a physician director and he would repeat this sentence every time I have ice cream. However, like never asking Sheldon why he only sits in his spot, never ask my dad why is it better to have less ice cream. Though doctors’  remarks sometimes make us impatient, they are in fact of great use and will benefit us to a large extent. The points of my dad’s theory are cold foods like ice cream are harmful to our stomach, especially on hot days, and can give rise to diseases. Also, they weaken our capacity to digest foods, especially after meals. You may say, “I know ice cream is bad, because it contains a lot of fat.”(Actually when doing research, I found that our school did a study about ice cream fat.) However, my points here focus on “cold foods” and I’m trying to persuade you to consume less cold foods. (Ice cream serves as an intriguing instance in this case.)

From traditional Chinese medical perspectives, cold foods tend to cause diarrhea, especially to people who have a vulnerable stomach. (Like ulcers, gastritis… ) Sometimes after having icy drinks, we may need to go to the bathroom; that’s because our stomach are provoked by “the cold ones”. Actually our inside body environment always maintains at a range of temperatures that are almost equate with the outside surroundings, so when it is summer, our body is in fact hot inside and when winter comes, we turn cold. In this way, as cold foods meet with our relatively hot bodies, they give our stomachs a huge discomfort, which leads to diarrhea. Want more information? See here~

Now let’s see why cold foods like yummy ice cream weaken our capacity of digestion. First it comes a physics principal: objects will swell under high temperature while constrict under low temperature. So when cold things come into our body, our vessels will contract, which means fewer blood flows for digestion process to complete. Thus, it’s healthy for us to consume less cold foods especially after meals when it’s the high time for our digestive system to function efficiently.

I actually searched hard hoping to find a study or research conducted regarding my points. However, there are no such experiments about cold foods, and they are almost all illustrating how much fat does ice cream has. Maybe I’ll just try to design a condense experiment myself here. Randomly allocating 1000 (as many samples as possible) mice of various ages, sexes, etc, (try to decrease the influence of third variables) to two groups. Serve one of the two groups one course of cold food at scheduled time every day while the other group with same course of warm food at the same time. Control all of their other foods and drinks exactly the same. Track them for a period of time, and keep observing their stomachs and digestive systems. Plus, record their catch of diseases. (Because the study may be bad for people’s health, it’s unethical to conduct experiments on humans. P.S. It’s merely a brief illustration of experiment)

So the takeaways are cold foods do harm to our stomach, particularly on hot days, and can cause diseases. Plus, they prevent us from digestion effectively, particularly after meals.

Are you clear about what’s wrong with cold foods? As it is summer now, the beautiful season for ice cream, and Penn State offers them in dining commons, Berkey Creamery… it becomes quite easy for us to have a lot of these sweet dessert even we are not aware ourselves. However, please take control! Watch out for the amount of your consume! (Actually it’s stated in philosophic thinking that too much of anything is not a good way to go.)

Even though we’re all still so young, we all can’t help but wonder what it’ll be like when we find our soulmate because lets face it…it’s pretty hard thing to do. And science knows it too. In a world with over seven billion people is it really possible that we’re going to find the one person made just for us? According too Bustle Randall Munroe explains that after doing much research on this topic we better hope that fate bring us together because the chances of us finding them is slim to none. Generally speaking, this so called “soulmate” of ours is set at birth and when we do finally find them our eyes we’ll meet and we’ll just know. Soulmates are a love at first sight kind of thing. But, realistically how many people do we make eye contact with on a regular basis? A lot. I stare at people all the time. When I’m on my way to class. When I’m standing in line to get coffee. When I’m working out at the gym. It’s a daily occurrence and I’m pretty sure 90% of those people are definitely not my soulmate so once again that leads us right back to where we started. Not mention the fact that our soulmate could have been from the past or not even alive anymore at this point. According to Framing love: When it hurts to think we’re made for each other believes that not being with our soulmate is is actually a good thing. A study separating people into groups that believe love is a “journey” and then those who believed it’s “mandated destiny.” Both groups had to write two good memories and two bad memories about their current relationships. Those in the “journey” group had more positive responses than those who believed that love is conditioned to finding your soulmate.  New York Magazine’s “Science of Us” blog explains that those who are believed that they are made for each other actually have more problems and could in for a rude awakening when a sign of trouble threatens this belief. So where does this leave us then? Should we give up and believe that we are doomed from ever experiencing this kind of love? It’s safe to say we can rest easy because love is inevitable. Regardless if they’re our soulmate or not love is a pretty great thing when it happens

If you have a younger sibling, cousin, or just simply know any infants, there is a good chance you have played Peek-A-Boo at some point in your life. Watching their reaction throughout this game is entertaining to us, but have you ever wondered why it is to them? It is much more than the funny faces and noises you naturally add in. This simple game is actually very complex to a baby and can be explained by Jean Piaget’s developmental stages.

Until around the age of two, babies are in what is called a sensorimotor stage. During this stage, the idea of object permanence is not developed. To put it simply, if they do not see an object, that object does not exists to them. When they do develop this idea of object permanence, they will realize that objects still exist even if you can not see them. Accordingly, during Peek-A-Boo, when you cover your face with your hands, you have disappeared. And when you quickly remove your hands, you have magically reappeared.

Throughout my senior year of high school, I babysat twin baby girls. (You can see them representing penn state in the picture ^) I started babysitting them when they were about three months old. Once I learned why infants found Peek-A-Boo so amusing, I decided to try it out myself, now being able to understand their point of view. They were about 7 months old at this point. I sat them both in their highchairs and ended up playing Peek-A-Boo for much longer than planned. Their expression when you “disappear” is priceless. They seem so confused and concerned. And when you reveal your face, they laugh and smile. It never gets old for them.

This topic can be related back to science because it explains one of the stages of brain development. The sensorimotor stage is the first stage of development and is when infants begin to discover the relationship between their own bodies and the world or environment around them. Next time you have the chance to, play Peek-A-Boo with a 5-12 month year old, now with the knowledge behind what makes it so entertaining for them.

Object Permanence

source: http://study.com/academy/lesson/piagets-object-permanence-in-infants-definition-examples-quiz.html

While there have been a reported four million American alien abductions since the 1940’s, are such encounters legitimate? Or is there another, science related, reason behind such instances? Alien abduction stories have surfaced for decades…a farmer abducted out in the fields while working, a woman taken out of the comfort of her own bedroom…the scenarios go on and on but always possess the same underlying story. The majority of alien abductees claim after being taken against their will by extraterrestrial creatures, a series of physical and psychological tests are preformed on them before they are returned to their location of abduction. The majority of alien abductees are returned physically unharmed. In some instances, as in the case of two teenage boys living in Venezuela, the aliens do in fact out in violence and injure the victims. While walking in nearby woods, the two boys were forced to fight off “small hairy aliens” after finding their space craft. In another story, a man was woken in the middle of the night to find intruders in his room. The unknown creatures forced him to come with them against his will and ultimately kidnapped, tested, drugged and raped the man before returning him.

Despite the wide vary of alien abduction stories and the consistency of such stories, science can in fact explain such extraterrestrial encounters. Alien abductions are not real. Alien abductions are hallucinations and lucid dreams which are experienced during sleep paralysis. Sleep paralysis, an alarming and terrifying sensation for those experiencing the disorder, occurs when one becomes “aware” before his or her REM cycle ends. While the disorder can last seconds to minutes, the victim of sleep paralysis finds him or herself “paralyzed” in his or her own body, with the exception of the mobility of the eyes. There are two different points in which one can experience sleep paralysis over night. Hypnagogic sleep paralysis occurs while one is falling asleep while hypnopompic occurs while one is waking up.

In a recent study, an Out-Of-Body Experience Research Center in Los Angeles preformed an experiment which studied twenty volunteers while sleeping and attempting to stimulate lucid dreaming. Of the twenty volunteers, seven were able to “come in contact” with aliens during their hallucination in just one night of lucid dreaming.

During sleep paralysis, the threat-detection systems in the amygdala are activated which causes the ability for one to think that he or she is hearing footsteps, seeing or hearing the presence of evil intruders in the room or experiencing out of body sensations and levitation. “Old Hag” is a popular case of sleep paralysis in which an old woman is appeared to be trapping the victim by sitting on his or her chest and attempting strangulation.

Scientists in the United States, Japan and China have proven that at least 40 to 50 percent of people experience sleep paralysis. Furthermore, a study done by Jan Dirk Blom shows that humans fear what they know. As a result, those who are more exposed to alien culture, whether it be books, movies, documentaries, are more likely to have hallucinations during their sleep paralysis which are alien abduction related, thus waking up believing they truly had an alien encounter.

All in all, Americans do not need to fear alien abduction. Science of sleep paralysis can prove it all. To all the Doomsday Preppers- have no fear!

We have all grown up being told to wash our hands. We also know that hand sanitizer is the quicker and better “on-the-go” option. Why would you stand at a sink and sing “Happy Birthday” TWICE when you could get a quick pump of hand sanitizer and be on your way? Personally, I always assumed hand sanitizer was better because it “kills 99.9% of germs”, and soap doesn’t advertise that. I’ve always been curious about which one was better. I figured these blogs posts would give me a reason to do some research.

Which one is better?

The CDC has a whole website devoted to teaching people how to wash their hands (I’m sorry but if you don’t know how to wash your hands by now, you’re in trouble. If you need this help, check it out). They claim that washing hands with soap and water is the best way to reduce germs in most situations, but if soap and water is not available, then a hand sanitizer (with at least 60% alcohol) should be used. This is what most people would have assumed. Don’t worry, there is more!

If you have no soap and water, the CDC recommends to use alcohol based hand sanitizers or wipes. Non-alcohol based hand sanitizers don’t work well for all classes of germs, cause germs to develop resistance, reduce germs instead of killing them, and can even irritate the skin.

While the CDC and the overall consensus was that soap and water does work better than hand sanitizer, many studies show that hand sanitizer does work well (and is time efficient) for hospital settings. This article confirms that in a hospital/traditional office setting, alcohol wipes or hand sanitizer can be just as effective. This setting is where hands come in contact with germs, but hands are not heavily soiled or greasy. Once again, they clarify that “dirty hands” from community settings (handling food, playing sports, working outside, etc) must be effectively cleaned with soap and water.

A man showing his dirty hands after gardening work

A randomized, controlled trial wanted to find out if alcohol-based hand sanitizers that are known for killing common respiratory and GI illnesses could reduce illness transmission in the home. The study was done in the homes of 292 families with children enrolled in out-of-home child care throughout 26 child care centers. Overall, it was found that through this study, using alcohol-based hand sanitizers was efficient in reducing transmission of GI illnesses with families in child care. Another study found that the regular use of hand sanitizer could not prevent influenza, but it did reduce total school absences and laboratory-confirmed influenza A infections in children who also had an influenza vaccination.

 (If the previous few paragraphs show up larger and bold, I have no clue why this happened. If not, then never mind and ignore this message.)

Other diseases need hand washing over hand sanitizer to prevent the illness. In a study to test the removal of Clostridium difficile, hand washing was found to be more effective.

To conclude overall, wash your hands over using hand sanitizer. During flu season (or what I have heard called the PSU Plague), it wouldn’t hurt to use hand sanitizer for some extra backup and protection. If your hands are clearly soiled and dirty, definitely wash them. If you just want extra cleanliness from touching a possibly germ covered object, you can use hand sanitizer (as long as it has alcohol). Basically, you’ll never know what you will come in contact with. If it happens to be the flu (and you already got your flu shot) or a GI illness, than hand sanitizer will help. But if it’s Clostridium difficile, then you’ll need soap. So play it safe and always wash your hands, and use hand sanitizer occasionally or when you’re on the run.

I would like to start off by saying I respect all food choices. I know people who are vegetarians, vegans, meat lovers, and everything else. Personally, I eat meat, but I have always had a love for my fruits and veggies. Note: Vegans rock too, but for this blog post I am focusing on vegetarians versus meat eaters, but if you want to know the difference between a vegan and vegetarian check it out here. I know people become vegetarians for the saving of animals, but I was wondering from a science point of view: which one is healthier (or are they equivalent)?

To start off I realized I needed a baseline so I checked out this article. One measurement of health is BMI, also known as Body Mass Index (For fun: If you’re interested in calculating your BMI you can here). In the June 2003 “International Journal of Obesity and Related Metabolic Disorders”, a University of Oxford EPIC study reported that after dividing 37,875 subjects into dietary categories, all three of the vegetarian groups had a lower BMI than the meat eater groups. They also found that high protein and low fiber intake correlated with the highest BMI (and high protein clearly comes from meat eaters).

There are other ways to measure health. One way is by having lower cholesterol. Harvard Health published a list of 11 foods to help lower cholesterol, with 10 of the 11 foods being vegetarian foods (with the last one being fish, which is included in a pescatarian diet).

Another measure of a healthy person is low saturated fats. The Harvard School of Health claims that we can’t eliminate saturated fats from our diets completely, because food with healthy fats (olive oil and peanuts are good examples) also contain a little bit of saturated fats. The top sources of saturated fats are found in red meat and full-fat dairy products. By eliminating red meat (i.e. with a vegetarian diet) one would be eliminating the majority of unnecessary saturated fats, leading to better health over a period of time.

People who consume plants over meat may worry about protein, but plant protein can actually exceed recommended requirements when a variety of plants are consumed. Whole grains create complete proteins, as well as beans, peas, lentils, nuts, seeds, and grains (check out these, they have recipes too!). As long as a vegetarian is consuming plant protein to make up for their lack of meat protein, their diet is healthy, and possibly even healthier than a meat eater.

Fresh baby greens salad and tomatoes close up

From a cancer standpoint, The British Medical Journal found a possible link between breast cancer and meat intake. According to the BMJ: “Based on diet in 1991, substituting one serving/day of legumes for one serving/day of total red meat was associated with a lower risk of breast cancer among all women” showing that reducing meat from a diet can lead to lower risk of breast cancer. The National Institutes of Health also did a study and found “Higher levels of meat, especially red meat (beef, pork, lamb) and processed meat (bacon, hotdogs, luncheon meat, chicken nuggets, and other salted or cured meats) have been linked to a variety of cancers in a number of studies.” Both of these studies support that red meat can cause different types of cancer, but not specifically all types of meat.

While I remain a non-vegetarian, researching the different food benefits did open my eyes to conclude that it can be healthier, as long as one is not abstaining from protein (found in nuts and eggs). I do not plan for a blog post to cause anyone to stop eating meat and switch to an all plant diet, but hopefully it shows that people could always use some more fruits and veggies, and be more conscientious when eating a lot of meat.