Listening to music is a very sensual thing.  When you listen to a good song our bodies can get invested in it, whether it be dancing, or even getting so emotional you cry.  Most people can only say they hear sounds though, but there are a few people in this world that can actual see sounds.  There is a condition called synesthesia and it connects multiple senses together.  For example there is a woman in England who sees different colors when she hears different notes.  

Another example is a man named Matthew Blakeslee who can taste different things when he touches different things, such as raw meat.   Synesthesia has been studied by scientists since the 1880’s, but it was for a long time thought of as mockery.  Then it was perceived as if the person affected was on LSD, it wasn’t until the 90s until it was studied for real.  The mechanism for why people are like this is a difference in the temporal and parietal lobes of the brain.

Another type of synesthesia is people who associate colors and shapes to numbers.  My best friend actually has this type of synesthesia, and it has actually has helped her in her schooling.  “It makes it easier to make mental associations.” says my friend, Sarah.  This makes sense on why she was in the top 5 in my class, and she didn’t even try.

A test that was done to see if somebody actually has this type of synesthesia, a team of scientists put certain numbers into certain shapes, like a triangle.  The numbers were also varied in color, and only people with the condition automatically assumed certain colors were certain numbers when putting them into shapes.

When someone can hear colors on the other hand it means that auditory and visual signals are mixed.  What happens is that the brighter the sound, the brighter the color, so it is a correlation.  Also, when the sound is louder the color is more prominent, also correlating with dynamics.  

There is no possible way of synesthesia being anything other than a biological occurrence.  I mean there is a possibility that people are lying, but the results of the number test showed that all of the people diagnosed reacted like they should have, and those without did the same.  It is hard to experiment on something that is a condition, and that is why there were not too many experiments done on these people.  The condition is also not exactly common, especially the severe cases such as seeing sounds.

It would be really cool to be able to sense everything at once, but at the same time it could be very annoying to see yellow every time you heard someones nasaliy voice.  So if you can see sounds, or associate colors with numbers, you may have synesthesia!

Everyone knows the struggle of going outside on a chilly day, walking about 20 yards, when suddenly it is like Niagara Falls coming out of your nose.  It is gross, inconvenient, and quite frankly embarrassing for most, but there is one question that is asked, why does this happen to us?  The answer is what I decided to investigate.

There are about two major factors that cause runny noses according to Dr. Andrew Lane from John Hopkins, and those factors are respiratory biology and thermodynamics, a type of physics.  The biological factor has to deal with your bodies need to supply moisture to the nose.  Your body needs your nasal cavity to be warm and moist in order to function properly, so when it is cold out it sends more fluid to that area to keep it from getting dry, and that is where physics come into play.  Cold air does not hold as much moisture as warm air, that is also why you can see your breath in the cold as well.

It turns out that having a runny nose is not always a symptom of being sick, it is actually a symptom of your body working well!  Fluids being replenished is what your body is supposed to do, and the fact that a nose runs in the cold is perfectly normal.  However, a runny nose in the warmth could be a symptom of illness, most likely the common cold.

The reason people get more sick in the winter is actually because of the closeness we all are with each other in the winter, as opposed to summer when people could be both inside and outside for long periods of time.  This closeness makes it very easy for germs to jump from person to person.

Another interesting fact is that people also get more nosebleeds in the cold weather as well, and the answer is very similar to why we get runny noses.  We now know that when it is cold out there is less moisture in the air, and if the body isn’t supplying enough moisture to the nose it can cause it to dry out and eventually bleed.  To prevent these nosebleeds it is recommended to wear a scarf over your face, which keeps moisture in your nose area, or to use saline sprays to replenish the loss of fluid.

There are not many experiments that can be done to prove this fact, but physics provides a decent mechanism to explain why this annoyance occurs.  It is also obvious that it is not due to reverse causation, runny noses can’t change the weather, so until new information or studies occur, we will just have to assume that moisture is the reason for our sniffling problems.

So next time you are stuck outside in the cold and have a runny nose, don’t freak out and think you are sick, just put a scarf on your face and try and keep as warm as you can.  

When I was younger I loved to drink Snapple, not for the taste but for the facts on every cap.  Now I don’t remember most of the facts I learned from my favorite iced tea, but I do remember one fact in particular, that mosquitoes have 47 teeth. When I was walking to class yesterday this thought popped into my head, and it made me wonder, why do mosquito bites suck so much?

When mice were exposed to mosquito bites it took them longer than expected to react, in fact they itched more if they had more bites.  When they only had one bite the itching was minimal to none, but when more bites were put on them, every bite was itched more.  The scientists also found that when extractions from the salivary gland from mosquitos the scratching was more prevalent than when the mosquitoes themselves bit.  This shows that the bite, and the teeth, themselves were not to blame for the reaction, but the saliva.  The study could be due to chance, and the fact that the subjects were mice and not humans could also have affected the results, but in general the mice did react very similarly to humans when faced with mosquitoes, and it could not be reverse causation because itching doesn’t prompt a mosquito to attack you.

Another study found that the saliva triggered an enhanced response from the bodies immune system, therefore creating more irritation.  It can be thought that that is why you should not itch your bites, for it is your bodies way of healing and getting rid of the saliva, and if you itch it only opens the wound more and could cause further infection.

Although most mosquito bites disappear after a few days of irritation, they can cause harm in some people.  Malaria is mostly transmitted by mosquitoes along with other diseases, but even mosquitoes that don’t carry diseases can cause harm.  For children with immune disorders mosquito bites can cause hives, fever, and even swollen lymph nodes.  These symptoms are most common in children, but adults could also have this condition.  

Not all mosquitoes are to blame though, in fact only female mosquitoes are able to bite.  This is because they require protein from the blood to provide nourishment for their eggs, something male mosquitoes don’t have to worry about.  Things that attract mosquitoes are sweat, scent and exhaled carbon dioxide.

As you grow you also become less reactive to mosquito bites because your immune system becomes accustomed to getting them.  Another way mosquitoes bite you more is if you are radiating more heat, like if you were wearing black or are overweight.

No one can say that they genuinely love to be bit by a mosquito, but knowing why your body reacts to the bite can help you deal with the itch and help provide knowledge on how to stay away from those pesky creature.

Today in class we talked about portion control, and the fact that in general when more food is given, more is eaten.  That made me consider another factor that could also determine not only portion control but how much you eat.  Plate sizes vary from the size of a CD, to an entire platter, so could the size determine how much you consume?

A study showed that those given larger portions at lunch were more likely to consume up to 30% more food than those given smaller portions.  The experiment was done by taking 51 randomized men and women and giving four groups all different portions of the same meal for lunch for a total of four weeks.  This trial was a randomized control trial, but it was not double blind because certain amounts of food had to be given to different people.  Also there could have been other factors that determined how much was eaten, such as various metabolisms and how much food people were used to consuming.

When portions are bigger, generally plate size will also be.  There is a stigma with some people about “cleaning your plate”, and when that plate is bigger there will be more food that people are forcing themselves to consume.  This shows that more food gets consumed when bigger plates are given, namely at a buffet of some sort. If there is more room to stack onto your plate, there is more of a chance that you will eat more.

Another factor that determines portion control is how people perceive how much they eat.  A poll showed that 94% of people believed that plate size/portion size did not change how much they eat, when in reality at least 30% more food is consumed with larger portions.   Plate sizes have increased with portion sizes along with cooking recipes, in the last supper the depictions of the plates have grown by 69%.

There have recently been published works to try and discourage the increase in plate size, mostly diet books.  These books say that smaller plates mean less food, and from what has been studied it seems that way.  But there is also the possibility that this could be reverse causation, that the bigger intake of food has caused larger plates and not vise versa.

Over the years the human species has evolved, and in turn gotten bigger, which may be one of the reasons humans have been eating more.  That cannot be used as an excuse though, obesity is a growing problem in today’s world, and it is evident that humans do not need to consume a completely astronomical amount to satisfy our evolved versions needs.

So next time you go to a buffet, look at the plate sizes.  If you see a smaller plate, it might be in your best interest to use that one instead.  

By now we have all probably encountered someone who is “gluten free”.  These people are either one of two types, the first reason they would be gluten free is because they have celiacs disease, or an allergy to gluten.  The other reason would be because of a new diet craze, or gluten free by choice.  For some reason people tend to think that the less bread you eat, the less weight you will gain.

In theory this would work out very well, it is known that in today’s world of processed food finding healthy carbs is a struggle.  It is also known that you could have celiacs disease and not know it, and the only way to find out is by taking gluten out of your diet.   Eating wheat is something most Americans do all the time, and the fact that we are one of the most overweight countries in the would could be a correlation with wheat intake.

However, correlation does not always equal causation, as looked in the ranking of most obese countries.  America comes in number one, with China right behind.  China has a diet of mostly rice, not gluten, so that gives a reason for gluten not to be the culprit.

Gluten free diets could also be just as bad for you as eating white bread for the rest of your life.   Complex carbohydrates are the main energy source for our bodies, and many complex carbs are found in whole wheat bread.  Whole wheat also provides fiber along with plants and vegetables.

Many times advertised gluten free foods are laced with white rice and preservatives, something not always good for you.  Gluten itself is not necessarily good for you but it delivers nutrients vital to survival, such as vitamins. Gluten free products also come with a higher price tag many of the times, so people may turn to gluten free foods that are higher in fat because of the cheaper price.

An experiment that could be done is have two groups of people, one would go gluten free for a month, while the other continues on a normal diet.  Both groups would spend the same time exercising and would be randomized.  The trial would not be able to be blind, and the results would be measured in how much weight gain/loss both groups underwent.

If you do want to go on a gluten free diet, it is recommended that you choose a less processed route.  Don’t cheap out on foods, and replace the gluten with whole grain rice and fruits and vegetables, and remember, just because it’s filling doesn’t mean it’s healthy.  

Pain tolerance has been a battle that opposite genders have been facing for a long time.   Many times references to childbirth and being kicked in the balls have been mentioned, but nobody seems to question the tolerance of other types of pain as well.  Recently I did an article on whether heavy backpacks cause damage to youth, and I discovered that girls experience more back pain than boys.  This led me to question why that is, and is it because girls have a weaker pain tolerance?

Since the pain was reported, not recorded, it could be that the boys simply did not want to say they were in pain because their tolerance was higher, or they wanted to seem more “masculine”.  A study that could be done is to measure brain signals when the body is in pain for both genders, however there would be no way to make it a blind trial, and the ethics are questionable.

When I dug deeper I found that certain chemicals in each genders brain could have something to do with tolerance.  There are more Kappa-Opioids (Produces Pain) created in women than men, so that study shows that women have the lower pain tolerance.

Another study showed an experiment regarding pain on the achilles tendon.  It also showed that men had the higher tolerance, and that the older the person, the higher the tolerance.  This could however be contributed to where the pain was, and how women treat their legs.   The constant pressure from high heels and way their bodies are built could have weakened the results.

Yet another experiment on pain, this time soaking a hand in cold nitrate, showed that men have a higher pain tolerance when inspected by a professional, but also a higher pain threshold.  If men can hold more pain, that may enable them to tolerate it more.  These facts can not be reverse causation because pain does not choose who is a boy or girl.

So nothing can be certain, there are certain factors that could also play into pain tolerance, like the stigma that a boy needs to “act like a man” and “suck it up”, but based on data it can be concluded that men have the higher pain tolerance.  This allows me to believe that part of the backpack issue was because of each genders ability to react to pain.

There are many things in this world that symbolizes college students, beer, music, studying, but one of the most prevalent thing we think about is a college student’s diet, a diet that relies heavily on the microwave.  One of the most popular microwavable items, along with ramen and mac n’ cheese, would be popcorn.  Popcorn is a staple snack food in our society, but what exactly makes it pop?

To understand how microwavable popcorn works, we first must look at how regular stove top popcorn works.  Popcorn has been around for a very long time, and it was discovered by the Native Americans hundreds of years ago.  When popcorn pops it can expand to 40-50x it’s normal size.   There are three factors that determine whether or not a kernel will pop, those factors are moisture inside, starch inside, and the hard shell of the kernel.  When the kernel is heated, the shell keeps all the heat inside while the moisture gets more and more hot and increases pressure, which causes the starch to expand and eventually explode in all directions.  This is very similar to bread rising or silly string becoming solid outside of the can.

On the other end of microwave popcorn is the microwave itself.  A microwave operates by sending actual microwaves, not the contraption but the radio wave like particles, into food and stirring up the water molecules until they get hot.  These microwaves are shorter than radio waves, only about 5cm long, but are still very powerful and can cause a lot of harm to humans if they come in contact with them.

Microwavable popcorn bags work the same way a microwave will cook anything, by stirring up the moisture inside the kernels.  The bag keeps all of the steam and moisture trapped, allowing the kernels to heat up faster.  These bags are coated in the flavors you love, so when the popcorn pops it will pop right into them.

Unfortunately these oils and flavors can be very bad for your health, so when buying them look at the ingredients listed, some of the brands have many chemicals to improve taste.

So if you have a hunch for some popcorn, take some time to think about the science behind it, it may make you appreciate your snack a little bit more.

When we are children, we are asked almost weekly “What’s your favorite color?”.  Many of us answered blue, others answered red, but not a single child would answer “ultraviolet”.  That is because ultraviolet is one of the many colors that the human eye is unable to see.  The rainbow doesn’t just stop with what you see, it keeps going, even if we are unable to perceive it.  

Some animals are able to see these colors, such as insects and tigers, but not us.  The reason we are unable to do so is because of our retinas.  Retinas in the eye have cells that are unable to process some color combinations because of them having light frequencies that cancel each other out.  Examples would be red-green and yellow blue.  There was at one point a study done in the 80s to see if we could combine the colors by looking at them side by side long enough, but many scientists dismissed it until 2006 when a team from Dartmouth led a new experiment.  The results eventually showed the existence of a new color.

Another way a “forbidden color” can be seen is through a television remote.  If you look at the top of your remote, you will see a black plastic piece.  When you press the buttons, the piece remains black, but if you see it through a digital camera, you will see that new color, ultraviolet.  Click on my link to see a video tutorial on it.

Seeing color all revolves on the wavelengths that go through our eyes, sometimes certain frequencies just don’t match up with our brains.  However, technology is able to be used to detect many of these colors, such as ultraviolet , as stated before, and infrared.  Infrared can be detected by many animals at night, but we need special cameras in order to detect it.

No color revolves around a specific wavelength, you can actually perceive different wavelengths at the same time.  When these wavelengths do not agree, we are unable to see that color.

In the future, technology  may allow us to see these impossible colors through special goggles that we would wear, very similar to night goggles. One day humans may even evolve to the ability to literally see all the colors of the rainbow, but until then, we will just have to settle for being able to taste the rainbow.

Nothing lasts forever, so it is only assumed that someday life on Earth will perish as well.  It could go in a number of ways, by astroid, fire, natural disaster, but more likely human destruction.  As we use up all of our precious resources we are forced to think, “Well what do we do when everything runs out?”  The first thing people probably think of is moving to Mars, but is moving an entire race to a different planet even possible?

If we were to someday live on Mars, a few things would have to happen.  First, we would have to get to Mars, a challenge in itself.  One of the biggest problems getting a human to Mars would be radiation.  There are two types of radiation that would cause humans problems, solar particle events(SPE) and galactic cosmic rays(GCR).  These radiations could potentially lead to disastrous health affects for the astronauts, such as cancer.  However, it is uncertain for how long someone must be exposed to this radiation to develop problems, and if there is a way to protect against such rays.  One theory is to provide aluminum covers for the ship, but the cost of development would be astronomical.  The journey itself would take years, and the take off date would have to be carefully planned so that Mars would be in it’s shortest distance of 60 million km.

Once we would get to Mars, we would have to become completely self sustaining.  A greenhouse dome would be created, and water would be found by melting some of Mars’ ice and using plant and human waste.  Bacteria and photosynthesis would be the means of creating a livable space, with the bacteria creating metabolic wastes and photosynthesis turning carbon dioxide into much needed oxygen.  Humans would also be kept at a more pressurized compartment inside the greenhouse, to combat the lower pressures on the red planet.

Going to Mars may be possible someday, but probably not in the near future.  Unfortunately funding for our space program is very low, and space technology has not been moving as fast consequently.  Unfortunately we don’t know if or when the planet will collapse, but being ready to move is something we as a race should consider.

Almost all students wear backpacks to school from the age of 5 to 18, but what isn’t as known is how these backpacks are actually causing pain to students. Whenever students come back from class, the first thing they always do is ditch their backpack. Why would that be? It is because after carrying 20 pound books everywhere for at least 15 minutes at a time, those books start to hurt your back. It means that 10 pound are on each shoulder, the equivalent of balancing two miniature dogs on your shoulders.

But does this added weight actually create lasting effects on our backs? According to a study done on teenagers, the students who generally carry the most weight. Almost  75% of backpack users reported having pain, with more pain prevalent based on the users age, height, and weight. Also females were known to have more pain than males did. On schoolchildren aged 11-14 however, only 37% reported pain, but again, females were in the most pain.

Now, some may wonder if this back pain could have lasting effects. In another study, some students were reported to have scoliosis, but there were other factors involved that could have been the cause, such as gender, weight, and if the child did sports.

It is almost impossible to directly relate back conditions with backpacks, but it is still very possible that heavy backpacks could be a causing factor if there are other factors as well. The backpack is thought to cause children to keep there shoulders and back in a hunched position, the added weight on the shoulders pulling them down. Having a body in such an odd position can have lasting effects on how someone carries themselves, and overall can eventually change the shape of the back.

If backpacks using both shoulders cause pain, what does one shoulder backpacks cause?  It is found that one shoulder backpacks can sometimes result in a shift of the upper trunk and other parts of the back.  So maybe it isn’t the backpacks themselves, but the way we carry them?

Of course there are many other factors that can create back pain, it is safe to say that heavy backpacks are not good for adolescent backs.   So next time you walk out the door, think to yourself “Do I really need to bring my book to class?” Trust me, your shoulders will thank you.

For the past thousands of years dogs could be seen side by side with humans.  They served as hunting companions, transportation, war heroes, and even sometimes food.  They have been thought of as loyal, valuable, and in some cultures evil.  But the question still lingers, what do they think of us? Or can they think of us?  Over 36 percent of people share their lives with canines, so the question is one that affects millions of people.  Do dogs have thoughts?

In older times, say the 1500/1600s it was thought that since animals had the tools needed for speech, such as organs, and didn’t use them then it was concluded that they did not have an internal monologue.  It was also thought that since dogs could not premeditate actions, then they did not have a soul. And if they had no soul, thoughts were impossible to have. In the 1700s, a French philosopher Rene Descartes believed that the impulses that dogs had were the result of biomechanics, and that their muscles would just move like a machine.

Rene Descartes

However, when Charles Darwin came around a different perception of thought was discovered.  His studies on evolution led him to believe that the only difference from animals and humans is what the level of intelligence is for the species. That made him conclude that dogs may be self aware, but not as much as a human would be.  More recently research has shown that nerve cells in dogs brains work very similarly to human brains, supporting Darwin’s theory.

Personally, my experience with dogs leads me to believe that they are conscience beings.  I have had a dog since I have been four, and honestly I would have a hard time believing that they are impulsive biological machines.  My dog is one smart dog, and not only is he smart; he is manipulative.  We keep our dog treats in the laundry room, and after a while my dog learned that if he took a sock from the room and dropped it in front of one of us, we would have to go back to the room and return it, giving him the opportunity to beg for a treat.

Me and my dog, Teddy, before my senior ball

We may never know what is really going through a dogs head, but we can get an understanding that something definitely does.  Evidence points to dogs simply not having as well developed brains as we do, thus not being able to communicate as well.  However, there is countless evidence that points to a dogs ability to premeditate.  Look at all of those stories of dogs going and getting help, or even my own personal story of my dogs endless efforts to get feed.  A canine’s brain is one of mystery, but maybe someday man’s best friend will evolve enough to communicate effectively with man.

i.) Why I am doing this course.

Well I am doing this Course because to put it lightly, I suck at science.  Actually no, it’s not that I’m bad at science, I just don’t like it.  I actually used to love science, but then I got to high school, that’s when my teachers turned a fun class into something I hated.  My attitude towards science shifted dramatically, and to this day I still cringe when I think of it. But I do love learning about the media, and when I read the course description; I knew this was the class for me.  Originally I signed up for astronomy, but then I realized that wasn’t my cup of tea, so my advisor suggested this course.  I sincerely hope I made the right decision.

ii.)Why I am not planning to be a Science Major

Well as I stated above, science at my high school was awful.  Not only did the teachers make it extremely difficult, they didn’t know how to teach the material.  Most of the time I had to do extra research just to do the basic homework because the teacher would make us read the whole class period.  Now my school education wasn’t bad, but the science program definitely needs some work.  Being a science major would mean that I would have to teach myself what I should’ve learned in high school AND what I am learning in college.  That is just too much for me.  So I am going to focus my career on my stronger learning subjects.

I’m posting a relatable link Middle School replaces 40 year old textbook, basically what my school was like.  Except my school wasn’t a piece ofSatire