Author Archives: Dominica Killeen

Why Do We Find Things Cute?

My brother’s fraternity has a house dog named Ruby and she is a golden retriever mix. She is one of the cutest dogs I’ve ever seen (my dog at home is the cutest dog) and I always love petting her whenever I see her and think she is so cute! Then I started to wonder, I think most and if not all animals are cute, why do I think this? Why do I think a cat is cute but other people can look at the same cat and think it’s ugly? Is there a scientific reason behind it?

According to this, the answer lies under evolutionary biology. It is in our nature to find things cute. Konrad Lorenz, and Austrian scientist studied why we humans think things are cute. He came up with kinderschema which are the sets of traits we find cute and adorable. These traits are “large head relative to body size, rounded head; large, protruding forehead; large eyes relative to face, eyes below midline of head; rounded, protruding cheeks; rounded body shape; and soft, elastic body surfaces,” according to Irenaus Eibl-Eibesfedlt, the founder of human7030094-cute-animals ethology. This gives more information on Lorenz and his studies.

Not only do we enjoy looking at cute little animals, but according to this article cute things bring out our aggression. This article talks about a study that was done where 109 participants looked at pictures of puppies and they agreed with the statement “I can’t handle it!” and also said that they felt like squeezing something. It was founded that the cuter the animal was the more aggressive the response. Rebecca Dyer, an alumni from Yale University, calls this phenomenon “cute aggression.” There was a second researchers conducted to see if the aggression was only verbally but not physical as well.  People saw a slideshow of cute animals and popped 120 bubbles whereas seeing a slideshow that showed neutral pictures, only 80-100 bubbles were popped. Rebecca Dyer suggests we might have so much pent-up aggression over seeing something cute is because are immediate is response is to take care of it. That might be why if you see a cute puppy your first reaction is to want to grab and snuggle the puppy.

However, this site explains how looking at cute animal pictures can help you concentrate. A soxstudy was conducted at Hiroshima University in Japan. The experiment involved looking at certain pictures and then completing a concentration task which was finding a given number in a random sequence of numbers, or playing the game Operation. The pictures used were either pictures of food or pictures of puppies and kittens. After looking at cute baby animal pictures, performance in the Operation game increased by 44%, however, it also took 12% longer to complete the task. The numbers task also saw an 16% in accuracy.

The Picture on the right is my sister’s puppy, Sox. Do you feel like he is helping your concentration at all? Do you find him cute or have the urge to grab him?

Here is a video from a Youtuber Vsauce who talks about why we find animals cute in case you were more interested!

Do Parallel Universes Exist?

Have you ever wondered if there was another version of you? If so, what are they like? How many different versions are there? Have you ever made a decision, like choosing to make a right turn instead of a left, and wondered what would have happened if you made a left turn instead of a right? The alternate you most likely made a left turn in a parallel universe.parallel-universe-reality

What is a parallel universe and what is the theory behind them? According to Andrew Zimmerman Jones and Daniel Robbins, “the multiverse is a theory in which our universe is not the only one, but states that many universes exist parallel to each other. These distinct universes within the multiverse theory are called parallel universes.” There are four levels to this theory. The first level is, “If you go far enough, you’ll get back home.” This level states that the universe is so big that there has to be planets that are exactly like earth. On some of these planets, events would be identical to the ones that happen on our Earth. The second level is “If you go far enough, you’ll fall into Wonderland.” In this level, “regions of space are continuing to undergo an inflation phase. Because of the continuing inflationary phase in these universes, space between us and the other universes is literally expanding faster than the speed of light — and they are, therefore, completely unreachable.” The third level is “If you stay where you are, you’ll run into yourself.” This level takes place in the same time and space as our own universe and this is the most common level of parallel universe that people usually think of. The last level is, “Somewhere over the rainbow, there’s a magical land.” This last level is the strangest level and the most controversial among scientists.

 

I know I threw in a lot of information at you, but now that we have the basis of what the theory behind a parallel universe is, let us now see if they actually exist. Paul Davis wrote an article about the multiverse and said the we could “not exist in biologically hostile universes, no matter how many there are.” Physicists now believe that there are more than three spatial dimensions, they believe that some universes can have five to seven dimensions. Davis argues that life would be impossible with more than three dimensions to work with and that it seems very hard to test the existence of other universes. Believing in a multiverse sounds like it is a huge leap of faith to Davis.

However, if you take a look here this article is saying that parallel universes do exist. “Professor Wiseman and his colleagues propose the universe we experience is just one of a gigantic number of worlds. They believe some are almost identical to ours, while most are very different. All of these worlds are equally real, existing continuously through time, and possessing precisely defined properties. They suggest that quantum phenomena arise from a universal force of repulsion between ‘nearby’ worlds which tend to make them more dissimilar.” In simpler terms, multiple universes exist because of quantum mechanics according to a group of US and Australian researchers.

It seems like people are just now starting to understand the basics of parallel universes and there are some major proponents of it and also a lot of skepticism to it. Do you guys believe in the existence of parallel universes or does it all just seem like a bunch of science fiction to you?

 

 

Ramen Noodles Cause Long Term Health Risks

As college students living in dorms, we usually live off of fast food, food from the commons, ramenfrozen food that you pop in the microwave, or simple food that takes three minutes to prepare, such as easy mac or Ramen Noodles. I for one love Ramen Noodles and I think they are the the food that every college student needs. All Ramen Noodles are is noodles with flavored salt packages. I was starting to wonder how bad it was for us to eat ramen noodles because it is easy to assume that they aren’t the healthiest thing for us. Turns out, eating excessive amounts of ramen noodles can cause long term health risks.

Ramen Noodles affect the heart and blood pressure. The problem is not only in the sodium found in Ramen Noodles but that they are made with processed wheat flour. The flavoring powder added in the noodles has high amounts of salt and sugar which in turn can lead to diabetes.

There have been multiple studies providing evidence of the health risks accompanied by ramen noodles. This study stated that women in South Korea who ate more of the precooked dried noodles were more likely to have metabolic syndrome, which is an illness that causes people to have increased blood pressure, high blood sugar, excess body fat, and high cholesterol which in turn increases your risk of heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. The study also showed that no matter how much these women exercised or regardless of what other healthy alternatives they ate, these women still suffered from metabolic syndrome, all because of the ramen they ate.

This website talks about the same study but provides further information. The Journal of Nutrition, studied the diets of 10,711 adults using data from a two-year survey. The results of eating two or more servings a week could potentially lead to an increase risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes and stroke. Another problem found with ramen noodles is the lack of vegetables and protein with each serving. This same website provides healthy alternatives with eating Ramen Noodles, that way you don’t have to be heartbroken or think you have to avoid them. You can either eat the organic noodles that do not have all the processed foods to it, or take the noodles that come with the package and add vegetables and various meats and omit the rice.

If you are someone that eats Ramen Noodles more than two times a week, try to lessen the amount or get creative when preparing the food by adding more healthy options.

 

How Possible is the Zombie Apocalypse?

Zombies are a really fascinating and interesting topic and something that is used often for TV shows and movies. The thought of having someone die and come back to life is mind boggling and even horrifying to fathom. It seems like something that is impossible and could never happen, but what is the probability of a zombie apocalypse occuring?

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Max Brooks wrote a book entitled The Zombie Survival GuideThis Website provides a description of Brooks’s take on how the virus would develop. Solanum (a fictional virus) is a virus that goes through the blood stream and uses the cells of the frontal lobe for replication. All body functions stop working and the infected person is dead because their heart stops. The virus mutates the cells and creates a new organ, and the new organ does not need oxygen at all. Essentially, the person now becomes the un-dead because of this disease (Max Brooks).

Now that is the fictional aspect of a possible zombie virus, but what are the realities of it happening? The answer is biological warfare. If a zombie apocalypse were to happen, zombies would realistically only be able to survive for a few days-weeks. People worried about the Ebola virus being used as a weapon by certain enemies. Artificial viruses could be made, thus it is possible that a zombie virus could be made.

What is the history of biological weaponry? Bio-weapons were used back in WWII. Japan poisoned thousands of water wells in China in order to study cholera and typhus outbreaks. As of today, people and non-governmental groups are able to use dangerous microorganisms; the spread of hepatitis, parasitic infections, diarrhea, and gastroenteritis.  A radical religious group tried poising a whole community by spreading salmonella in salad bars. “These examples clearly indicate that organized groups or individuals with sufficient determination can obtain dangerous biological agents” (NCBI). This means that if a radical individual or non-governmental group wanted to create a virus that resembles zombies, they could try to artificially design one.

Although, it seems like a zombie epidemic is highly unlikely, there is a possibility of a virus being similar to what we consider as zombies being spread through biological warfare.

Can Hair Dye Cause Cancer?

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. sc200 post

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?

Fabulous, Fabulous Class

Hi guys! My name is Dominica Killeen and I’m from Union, New Jersey. I am a freshman but I was here for summer session so I am kind of used to things around here. My major is hospitality management which really has nothing to do with science since I’m interested in managing hotels and restaurants.

In middle school I was very good at science. At the age of eleven, all you really needed to know was how many planets there are in the solar system and the water cycle. However, when I got into high school and I had to learn about the depths of chemistry and quantum physics my love for science faded. My grades were decent, but never great in science classes, so when I realized I had to take some sort of science class to get the necessary credits, I was very anxious.

All I really knew about this class before signing up was that it is good for non-science majors. My academic adviser suggested it and I am so happy I’m taking it! I really love learning about things that get me thinking and I love having my mind blown, even though that sounds very weird. I am super excited to learn about Andrew’s concepts and I really hope I get to know some of you!

I’ve been a fan of Penn State since I was nine years old. My sister went here in and graduated in 2010 and my brother also goes here and he is a senior this year. Here is a picture of all three of us;
the killeens

One the left we have my brother, the middle my sister, and on then me on the right. Below us is my pitbull terrior mix named Red.

Also, click here to watch a really funny Youtube to put a smile on your face!

I hope the rest of you have a good day and I’ll see you in class!