Throughout Penn State there are many wall distributors of hand sanitizer in order to decrease the amount of germs that are spreading from person to person. I know there are especially a few outside and inside the commons so that we can use them before and after eating. The presence of hand sanitizer is becoming more and more popular throughout all different schools, especially elementary schools. But, are they making any difference in the amount of germs that are spreading from person to person and how effective are they?

To be considered an effective germ killer, hand sanitizer must have certain qualities. First, it should include ethyl alcohol. According to UCSB Science Line, ethyl alcohol, “kills bacteria mainly through 2 mechanisms: protein denaturation and dissolving the lipid membrane”. But having this chemical isn’t enough. According to studies the product should have at least 60 percent
alcohol in order to kill most of the germs. Also, how you apply the hand sanitizer can make a big difference in the amount of germs that are killed. You should make sure that you keep every part of your hand, including the back and wrist. Also, you should take off all hand jewelry before applying it in order to insure that no spot lacked the sanitizer.

As stated about in order to kill bacteria and germs most efficiently, the product should have a minimum of 60% alcohol. The reason for this is because the higher the concentration of alcohol to more likely the hand sanitizer is to work equally well for all classes of germs. Also, some germs are able to develop resistance to the sanitizing agent, so a higher concentration of alcohol, decreases the likeliness of this. The higher alcohol content can also reduce the growth of germs rather than solely kill them. With all this in mind, it is important to make sure that the hand sanitizer contains moisturizers that will reduce the likeliness of skin irritation and dryness.

Many experiments have been done throughout the years to decide the effectiveness of using hand sanitizers, especially in schools. Scientist, Brain Hammond, and his collogues did an observational experiment to decided if there was a correlation between hand sanitizer use and elementary school absenteeism. To conduct the study, they observed 5 individual school districts, 16 individual schools, and more than 6000 students in Delaware, Ohio, Tennessee, and California. Overall this was a very reliable, large sample group, especially since the states were all at different regions. It minimizes the chance that there was a third variable involved with the conclusion. To do the experiment, each school in ach district was assigned a product or no product. The school with no product was the control group. Absenteeism due to infection was recorded and the reduction was concluded to be 19.8%. At the end of the experiment, they found that, “Elementary school absenteeism due to infection is significantly reduced when an alcohol gel hand sanitizer is used in the classroom as part of a hand hygiene program.”

Clearly, as shown by the observational study above, by applying hand sanitizer you are reducing the chance that you will get sick from bacteria. By watching the type of hand sanitizer you are purchasing, and applying it regularly, you are killing the germs and maybe even preventing further growth.

Wintertime is coming upon us; we all know what that means. It’s Holiday season with the chance of a snowstorm, the temperature is becoming colder and the air is becoming dryer. Everyone around you is coughing and sneezing and wishing they were in their beds watching a movie and drinking some hot chocolate; it’s flu and cold season. How does one survive through the winter without getting a cold? How can we protect our immune systems and help it become stronger once we get sick? According to science, the answer could be as simple as getting a humidifier.

A humidifier is a device that you can put in any room or building to increase the moisture in the air. There are several different types of humidifiers. Central humidifiers are built directly into  your home heating and air conditioning systems. These can humidify you whole house along with the heating and air. Next, there are ultrasonic humidifiers. These are small machines that you can place on a table in a room that produce a cool mist. Impeller humidifiers also produce a cool mist, put the mist is produced a different way. Evaporators are also small machines that contain a fan that blows air through a wet wick, filter or belt. Lastly, a steam vaporizers use electricity to create steam that cools before leaving the machine.

The humidifiers’ steam that increases the moisture of the air is what can help protect you from the common cold. They are often used for relieving dry skin, sinus congestion, dry throat, nose irritation, bloody noses, irritated vocal cords, dry cough, and cracked lips. All of these are symptoms of the common cold or the flu. Humidity should stay between 30 and 50 percent in order to reduce these symptoms. If you set the humidity too high, it can actually worsen the problem or create new ones.

Jeffrey Shaman and his collogues experimented they effect that using a humidifier has the flu. They did an observational study, examining the rate in which humans get influenza in wintertime compared to other seasons, while observing the humidity conditions surrounding the rate of the flu. They claim to be using the human population as a whole in their data, which also is a large randomized trail, does have some problems because not everyone is diagnosed with the flu that has it. After collecting and comparing all their data, they concluded that the wintertime increases the chances of getting the flu due to the levels of humidity in the air.

Clearly, as long as you keep your humidifiers clean and not at too high of a percent, no harm can come with having one. They help relieve sinus health by decreasing the dry air that doesn’t allow our sinuses to drain properly. They keep our nasal passages lubricated, speeding up our immune systems ability to heal the common cold, flu, and even asthma. The moisture from a humidifier even keeps the throat from drying out and helps relieve us from snoring. The moisture in the air keeps our bodies less chapped and dry, and more hydrated, leading to beautiful, nondehydrated skin. What more can we ask for in the cold and dry wintertime?

Rumor has it that you should drink a glass of wine before you go to bed. But is this just a myth? From what I heard, drinking an alcoholic beverage such as wine in small amount before you go to bed works to decrease stress in your body, helping your overall health. But why would wine help stress and due all wines have the same effect? All of this interests me as I hear the rumors and try to process the truth for the myths.

Doctors agree that there is definitely something in red wine that helps your health. For example, red wine has health benefits for your heart. Red wine contains antioxidants known as polyphenols. Polyphenols may help protect the lining of blood vessels in your heart. Resveratrol is one type of polyphenol that is in red wine. It is thought to help prevent damage to blood vessels, reduce low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (the “bad” cholesterol) and prevents blood clots. Unfortunately all this information is based on research done on animals, not people. This suggests that there is a possibility that resveratrol doesn’t effect humans the same way as they believe. With this in mind, no doctor would tell their patients with heart problems to increase their consumption of wine, especially because it is an alcoholic beverage.

Other studies have shown that moderate consumption of wine has positive effects on the stress and cardiovascular health of the consumers. This is mainly due to the vasodilatory properties of wine. Wine, like all other alcohol, is a vasodilator, meaning it causes blood vessels to relax and widen. But, it is important to keep in mind the word moderate, because at high levels, it becomes a vasoconstrictor, shrinking the vessels and increasing blood pressure.

To show that red wine, specifically, causes the distressing due to it’s vasodilatory properties, Markus Flesch, Andreas Schwarz, and Michael Böhm, did an observational study comparing white and red wine. To complete the study they used dozens of different red and white wines to create a large sample group. They then obtained human coronary arteries that were transplanted from patients suffering from end-stage heart failure. To decide the effect the wine had on the arteries they measured the contraction and relaxation of them while in an organ bath containing the wine based solutions. The result was that the vasodilatory effects of white wines were much less pronounced than the vasodilatory effects of red wines.

Overall, drinking wine to increase health only works when you do so in moderation. No one with major heart problems should ignore there doctor’s recommendation to eat certain foods and take a certain medications to drink red wine instead. It just doesn’t work that way. But definitely, after a stressful at work as an adult, you can relax your mind and body with a glass of wine. But remember one serving of wine is five ounces, so using one of those 30 ounce wine glasses doesn’t work when drinking in “moderation”.

One thing that always comes up in regard to overall health is making sure that you get enough sleep. With the stress of school and all the other things that eat you alive at night, a good night sleep is coming increasingly difficult. As a result, there is absolutely a tendency to over caffeinate yourself to get through your day. This starts the cycle of not being able to sleep all over again, causing your body to have troubling relaxing and falling asleep.

Sleep is important for all parts of your life. Emotionally, getting good nights sleep helps your brainwork properly. While you are asleep, your brain makes decisions, creates and consolidates memories, makes creative connections, clears out toxins, and learns and remembers how to perform physical tasks. All of this combined generally makes you smarter. Physically, sleep allows for a healing process to your heart, blood vessels, and immune system. This is why when you are sick, the doctor tells you to get some rest. Also, sleep helps with the production of hormones and development. In general, getting enough sleep is important in order to function properly throughout the day. With a lack of sleep comes many risks, some include fallings asleep while driving a car, not being able to complete your work, and for us college students, fallings asleep during that important lecture.

With all of this in mind, it is beneficial to know some ways to help yourself fall asleep. Many people have come up with remedies and other ways to make you fall into a deep sleep faster. When looking into it, these remedies range from something that you should begin at the beginning of your day straight to the end. One simple stride that one can take to fall asleep is to simply lower the temperature of their room. Before falling asleep, our bodies tend to lower in temperature. Some scientists believe that this cooling of the body helps you fall asleep. As a result, by lower the temperature of your room, you may be helping yourself cool off and fall asleep quicker.

Another way to help you fall asleep quicker is to pop in some headphones and listen to music. But, this music shouldn’t be the kind that you would here at a party or crazy, loud concert. Studies have shown that by listening to slow, calming music, such as classical music, while trying to fall asleep is a big help. Three scientists decided to do a study to see if there truly was a correlation between music and falling asleep. In their study, they used ninety-four students between 19 and 28 that all had sleep complaints. Although this is not completely randomized, it still may be able to prove a correlational and help these students with their sleeping problems. Participants of the study were split into three groups. Group 1 and 2 listened for 45 minutes either to relaxing classical music or an audiobook in a span of 3 weeks. The third group was the control group, which received no intervention. Having a control group in this study would serve a large purpose in order to show a true change in sleeping patterns. All the participants sleep quality before the study and weekly during it. By the end of the three weeks, the data showed that classical music is an effective way to reduce sleeping problems.

Over the years, other studies have been done to show effective ways of getting more quality sleep. Another group of scientists decided to study the correlation between sleeping and the smell of lavender. This might sound weird, because why would smelling a flower help you sleep, but it makes perfect sense. The scent of Lavender’s oil helps ease anxiety and insomnia with its calming and sweet scent. One study investigated this with the help of thirty-one young healthy sleepers aged from 18 to 30. The participants, like in the music study, slept over night for three weeks, having their brain waves measured while they were sleeping. The observational experiment was a single blinded placebo experiment. One group received lavender oil and one group received distilled water. After three weeks of collecting data, the scientists proved that there was a correlation between lavender and sleep when they reported more deep sleep and less rapid eye movement with exposure to the flower.

Using these three tactics alone is both cheap and hopefully efficient to help you get the sleep that you deserve after a long day at school. These are just three examples, but there are
hundreds more. For example, some people do things as simple as taking a hot shower before bed, wearing socks to bed, and hiding their clock, to help them fall asleep. With the variety of remedies out there, one is bound to cure your late night insomnia!

Have you ever heard of putting fashion before comfort? Nowadays, many women would rather buy expensive shoes that look cute then wear shoes that are comfortable. This goes for basically everything when it comes to fashion. It is the reason why women take so long to get ready, spend so much money on materialistic goods, and complain that their feet hurt after a look night out. Just as fashion comes before comfort, does beauty come before health?    Although it might sounds ridiculous to pile on make up and spend so much time doing your hair, it tends to make women feel more beautiful. But, are some of these habits to change the ways we look may be damaging our natural selves. A major example of this is applying heat and chemicals to our hair to change its look.

There are definitely people out there that have to habit of straightening their hair every single day. Naturally, this doesn’t sounds healthy. When I looked into the consequences of straightening hair so much I found that there are many side effects. First of all, by applying heat to your hair, you are drying it out. Hair loses its natural moisture to a great extent, causing it to look dull and frizzy. Clearly, this does the exact opposite of what you want it to do by participating in the act of straightening it. Also, by straightening your hair, you are at risk for many different allergies. Some symptoms to these allergies include itchiness on skin and scalp, redness of scalp, rashes, itching of the eye, and red eye. Lastly, one of the most terrifying side effect of hair straightening is the chance of severe hair fall. This nightmare happens when the flat iron breaks the hair from the roots. Also, using a flat iron throughout your life causes the hair follicles and natural keratin chemicals to become weak and hair fallout even more.

Unfortunately, with all of the risks that come from straightening your hair, some flat irons are much worse than others. According to research, some flat irons on the market have high levels of a chemical known as formaldehyde (also referred to as methylene glycol). Well fully heated, the flat iron releases the chemical in the form of gas. This was directly cause severe irritation to the eyes, nose, and throat. In more serious terms, exposure to formaldehyde in the long run has been linked to increased cancer risk.

Since the 1980s, the National Cancer Institute has conducted numerous different kinds of studies to determine if there is a direct association between exposure to formaldehyde and cancer. One kind of study done was known as an epidemiologic study. According to the NCI, these are “studies that attempt to uncover the patterns and causes of disease in groups of people”. In addition they used cohort studies. These include “a group of people who may vary in their exposure to a particular factor, such as formaldehyde, and are followed over time to see whether they develop a disease”.  Lastly, they conducted case-control studies. These studies, “begin with people who are diagnosed as having a disease (cases) and compare them to people without the disease (controls), trying to identify differences in factors, such as exposure to formaldehyde, that might explain why the cases developed the disease but the controls did not.” Although none of these studies are randomized, they are all still reliable with large sample sizes and lead to the conclusion that there is a correlation between exposure to formaldehyde and cancer, specifically lung cancer.

Although this correlation was concluded, don’t let this cause you to fear flat iron’s completely. Many of the people studied in the NCI’s experiments were around excess amounts of formaldehyde in the work place, so there is still a possibility that the limited amount of formaldehyde in flat irons barely has an effect. In addition, many of the flat iron’s containing formaldehyde have been taken off the market internationally. In the US, the FDA has yet to recall some of the products, so make sure to keep your eyes out for them. The Women’s Voices of the Earth gave examples of products containing formaldehyde that are still on the market. The product’s manufacturers included, BioNaza Cosmetics, Brazillian Blowout, Cadiveu, Cocochoco Professional, Coppola/Copomon Enterprises LLC, Global Keratin, La Brasiliana, Marcia Teixeira – M & M International, and many more.

In conclusion, it is extremely important to take care of your hair. Try your best to reduce your use of flat irons in order to efficiently reduce the risks of dryness, allergies, and hair loss. Also, if you are going to use a flat iron, research to make sure that there are no chemicals, such as formaldehyde, that may endanger your health in the long run. Remember, it’s health over beauty, not beauty over health.

Ever since I was little, my parents would push the importance of taking in all crucial vitamins. I especially found that when I was sick with something as common as a cold, they would tell me to drink orange juice to get the necessary vitamin c. As I got older I began to hear about important vitamins from doctors and even teachers. They stressed the importance of all different vitamins, as well as, other minerals such as calcium, iron, and zinc. What I would like to know is, what do all these vitamins and minerals do and what can we do in order to assume them.

There are many essential vitamins and minerals that our bodies need in order to stay healthy. Narrowing them down to the eleven most essential vitamins and minerals, they include, vitamin A, vitamin B, vitamin C, vitamin D, vitamin E, vitamin K, folic acid, calcium, iron, zinc, and chromium. Each vitamin has a different job once in the body. For example, vitamin A helps with healthy growth and development, especially when it comes to vision, immune system, and cell growth. A mineral, such as calcium, helps keep bones and teeth healthy, while also helping the heart, nerves, and blood clotting system.

In addition to having different functions for the body, all vitamins and minerals can be absorbed in different ways or by ingesting different foods.   Vitamin C, for example, is most commonly known for being found in oranges. It can also be found in fruits and vegetables such as, peppers, kiwis, strawberries, brussel sprouts, and cantaloupes. In contrast, vitamin D, can be absorbed outside from sunlight and can be consumed through eggs, fish, and mushrooms.

All of these vitamins are extremely important for total body health, but what happens if we are deficient of them? According to the Mayo Clinic, there are many different symptoms of vitamin deficiency anemia. Some include, fatigue, shortness of breath, dizziness, pale or yellow skin, and irregular heartbeats. These symptoms may increase even more due to factors such as pregnancy, alcohol abuse, use of certain prescription medications, smoking, and chronic diseases.

Kathleen M. Fairfield and Robert H. Fletcher, decided to do a study, “to review the clinically important vitamins with regard to their biological effects, food sources, deficiency syndromes, potential for toxicity, and relationship to chronic disease.” This study had a large sample size, studying people of all different ages, genders, and even some with various diseases. All studies were also randomized, increasing validity of the data.   For each trial, the effects of nine different vitamins on the body were tested. The conclusion was that, “some groups of patients are at higher risk for vitamin deficiency and suboptimal vitamin status.” With their conclusion and data previously studied, they also concluded that vitamin deficiency can be linked to chronic diseases. Some examples include, coronary heart disease, cancer, and osteoporosis.

In order to maintain a healthy lifestyle, it is clearly important to eat all different foods. With a variety of foods, come a variety of vitamins and minerals. It is up to us to know how much vitamins and minerals we need, or else our bodies can become weak and fatigue. Also, especially with flu season just around the corner, taking in necessary vitamins can help you body become stronger, helping your immune system fight off disease.

College is all about classes. Every college student will have to take multiple tests throughout their college experiences. Each one of these students has there own ways of studying, or not studying, in order to do well on their exams. Some students may online their notes and take practice exams. Others may create flash cards and think about imaginary examples that will help them memorize the facts. But, what is the most efficient way to study for the big exams?

Everyone is different and has their own ways to study. One of the most important things to realize is studying takes time and requires effort. Dartmouth College created their own tips to help students do just this in order to do better on their exams. These tips were especially meant for new students coming from high school. They pointed out that the change from high

school studying to college studying is a big step and requires a change in study habits. Some tips that school put out there included, studying in “chunks”, using daylight hours, studying actively, and finding the right place to study. Although these tips are general, they can be a good starting point when it comes to figuring out the perfect way to study.

On a less general note, there are many other ways to get active and become a better student, thus getting you in the long run when it comes to your exams. First off, during class you should make sure to stay organized with notes, be involved, and review your notes every day. Some suggestions for taking good notes include taking them in the same notebook for the same class, dating each entry, not leaving out ideas, taking notes in an outlining format, highlighting repeated or important ideas, and including as many examples as possible to help your memory. When it comes to being involved, don’t be afraid to ask questions or for more examples. Also, when it comes to reviewing new material, research has shown that reviewing it within 24 hours of hearing it increases your retention of that material by about 60%. These are all great day-by-day ways that are proven to help in the long run.

With all these in mind, Marcis Crede and Nathan R. Kuncel, decided to examine study habits, skills, and attitudes that help academic achievement. After studying college students, they found that study motivation and study skills exhibit the strongest relationships with both grade point average and grades in individual classes. But, more importantly they discovered that Academic specific anxiety was found to be an important negative predictor of performance.

With this result, other scientists began to look into the relationship between test anxiety and performance. According to a study done by Robert M. Topman, “this negative effect of anxiety on performance can be explained by an interference model or by a learning- deficit model.” Both models showed that stress caused negative test related thoughts, which made the concentration of the students decline. This is an example of causation because anxiety is directed related to the decline in test grades. But, there is still a possibility that there is a third variable, such as sleep. Anxiety may cause lack of sleep that may results in tiredness while trying to take the exam, or a decline in concentration.

With anxiety having a negative effect on test grades, it’s important to recognize the actions that someone should take to reduce the anxiety. First, you should recognize that you must cope with your stress. Three healthy ways to cope with stress includes, getting active, engage socially, and avoid unnecessary or unrelated stress. If these don’t work you can try identifying exactly what is making you stressed and talking to someone about it. When it comes to academic stress at Penn State, there are many people available to talk to. Counseling and Psychological services, also known as caps, are available for all students.

Overall, when it comes to studying, make sure you try numerous habits and see which ones work the best for you. Also, make sure you actually it in the time and effort of studying. Cramming for an exam or assuming that you will recognize the answers is never a good habit to get into. Lastly, remember that if you are stressed about an exam it’s important to find a way to relax before taking it.

Recently I was looking at some old baby pictures and noticed that my eyes appeared blue. I stared at the picture with confusion, trying to convince myself that it wasn’t me. Maybe my parents switched me with some other baby way back when. I know for a fact that all my life I have had brown eyes, so why did they appear blue? Since eye color was on my mind, I couldn’t help but to pay attention to everyone’s eye color around me. I oddly noticed that my best friend, who I thought to have blue eyes, had eyes that appeared to be green. I was thinking maybe the green shirt she was wearing was at fault because eyes can’t really change color, can they?

Scientists have done studies observing the change of eye color past childhood. One study includes the Louisville Twin Study. The objective of this study was to determine whether eye color changes after 6 years of age. In order to come to a conclusion, the team observed the eyes of twins and parents of twins for multiple years. They measured color by comparing the color seen on the subject to 1 of 15 painted glass eye anterior segments. They concluded that most individuals do in fact achieve stable eye color by 6 years of age. However, there were still 10% to 15% subjects whose eyes were changing color throughout adolescence and adulthood. Although there is a large correlation between genes and eye color, there are still other variable that may affect not only the color, but also the change of it.

Pascal D Imesch, Ingolf H.L. Wallow, and Daniel M. Albert, worked together to research other reasons for the change in eye color. They focused on medical conditions that may cause a change in pigmentation of the iris. They found that Iris color could be affected by a variety of ocular disorders. In other words, the color of your eye can change if certain eye conditions and diseases are present. Diseases such as Horner’s syndrome and Fuchs’ heterochromic iridocyclitis affect iris color by decreasing the pigmentation. Horner’s syndrome is caused by the disruption of a nerve pathway from the brain to the face and eye on one side of the body. This may occur as a result of having a stroke, tumor or spinal cord injury. Fuchs’ heterochromic iridocyclitis is the chronic mild inflammation of the front part of the eye. It may occur due to a formation of cataracts or due to glaucoma.

Clearly, it is possible for your eyes to change color during your lifetime, in fact it’s completely normal especially as an infant. Also, it is clear that eye color is not solely based on genetics; there is a possibility that eye conditions may be affecting your eye color as well. When it comes to noticing the “magical” change in eye color of your friends, you never know they can be wearing color contacts or certain colors to purposely bring out the pigments in their iris!

In my opinion, one of the promising effects of attending college is the formation of new habits. Many of these new habits may have to do with a students’ change in sleeping patterns and behaviors. Between “going to bed early”, at around 1:30 AM, and studying for that 8 AM exam the morning of, there would clearly be consequences. For example, your daily hours of sleep would decrease, and the need for caffeine and naps throughout the day would increase (there can even a decline in grades due to tiredness and procrastinating).

These new habits may even have a noticeable effect on your physical appearance. Suddenly, there may be giant dark circles puffing up just for the whole world to see whenever they make eye contact with you. With this dramatic description, the new habits formed may create under eye bags. But what else may cause the formation of under eye bags?

According to the Mayo Clinic, the mild swelling or puffiness of your under eyes occurs when the muscles surrounding your eyelid begin to weaken. The fat and tissue that supports the muscles slowly move into your lower eyelid, causing the appearance that they are getting puffy. Sometimes you eyes may look puffier than usual. This is because addition fluid is being accumulated in the already puffy eyelid.

Now that we know what under eye bags are, what causes them?   Some people may believe that the cause of these dark, puffy, circles is tiredness from lacking a good night sleep. But, Dr. Diane Berson, an assistant professor of dermatology at the Weill Medical College of Cornell University, believes otherwise. She explains that dark circles are results of heredity and genetics. In addition, under eye bags can be a result of aging. Aging may make skin thin, causing dilate blood vessels.

One of the most relatable and interesting causes, in my opinion, is something as simple as the changing of seasons. A group of beauty scientists studied the eyes of 5,000 women throughout the seasons. They analyzed factors such as increases and decreases in puffiness and darkness. The scientists found that under eye bags of the women were, “significantly darker during the colder months”. With this data they concluded that there is a link between sunlight and bags. This relationship is correlation not causation since there is most likely a third variable involved. The confounding variables that the scientists predict include a lack of sunlight bringing about paler skin, therefore emphasizing the bags and a lower level of Vitamin D.

With these causes in mind there are still many more. Eye puffiness may increase during allergy season or well you are very stressed out. When it comes to stress, parts of your body weaken and may even swell, one body part being your eyes. Also, consuming large amount of alcohol and sodium before going to bed may cause puffy eyes when you wake up. This is due to water retention, or as many people call it, “bloating”. Puffy eyes may also be a result of medical conditions to the eye, such as blepharitis. Blepharitis is inflammation of the eyelids due to bacteria, clogging of the eyelids, and allergies. Clearly, there are many causing of under eye bags and it is up to us to keep good hygiene in order to prevent them.

After a long night with limited sleep, the only thing that gets me up and off to class in the morning is the thought of buying a nice warm cup of coffee. Buying and drinking coffee has recently become a part of my daily routine. Whether it’s one or two cups in the morning or a few more to get me through classes, it’s becoming necessary. But, what effects does all this coffee drinking have on my body?

When I think of the negative consequences of drinking coffee, the first thing that comes to mind is the myth that it stunts your growth. We know that this is myth because with all the scientific research that has been done, none fully proved that caffeine has any effect on growth or height. The only scientific evidence having to do with height was a study done by Dr. Robert P. Heaney. He linked reduced bone morrow in women with caffeine consumption. He studied women between the ages of 65 and 77 over a three-year period to see how their coffee consumption affected their bones. Each woman drank about 18 ounces of coffee daily and showed a greater amount of bone morrow loss than women who drank no coffee or less. But, with this said, Heaney noticed that there could be a third confounding variable involved in this. He realized with an increase in coffee drinking, the women were drinking less of other drinks, including some with necessary vitamins. The third variable in this case could be calcium deficiency. Also, with the nonrandomized and limited control group, I believe that this study cannot be enough to show a relationship between height and caffeine consumption, adding to the stunting of growth being a myth.

According to the FDA, the only known effects that caffeine has on your body includes; making you jittery and shaky, making it hard to fall and stay asleep, making your heart beat faster with an uneven heart rhythm raising your blood pressure, causing headaches, nervousness, and dizziness, making you dehydrated, and making you dependent on the drug. I decided to look into some of these effects and how science has proven it.

One thing I looked into was the effect that caffeine and coffee drinking has on cardiovascular health. Since caffeine is a stimulant, you would expect that it has some type of effect on heart rate and blood pressure, but some scientists disagree. Roberto Corti, MD, studied 15 habitual and non habitual coffee drinkers and their arterial blood pressure (BP), heart rate, and muscle sympathetic nervous activity (MSA), before and after drinking coffee. After the study was done numerous times to prove reliability, he concluded that coffee and caffeine induces acute (or short term) increases in MSA and BP for non habitual, but not habitual coffee drinkers. But, after doing the test again wit decaffeinated coffee, he noticed the same effects. Because of this, we can conclude that there must be a third confounding variable in coffee, other than caffeine, that may cause the effect in cardiovascular health.

Clearly, scientists are still producing studies that add onto what is already known. In the case of caffeine, science is still trying to prove or disprove studies relating to cardiovascular heath and growth. By doing more studies, we are adding to the preexisting knowledge of caffeine. Maybe one day someone’s data will prove the myths of coffee wrong and all the physical effects accurate.

The high levels of stress due to the first semester of school, really brings out the inner chocoholic in me. While thinking about the numerous time constraining and vigorous tasks that will come my way in the next few weeks, its priority to have chocolate with just an arm length away. It’s really quite funny that my mind set includes a type of food curing my stress temporarily, especially one that is high in fat and calories, but why do I have such a desire for chocolate in these high moments of stress? Am I just addicted to chocolate- is that even possible? Apparently I’m not the first person to ask these questions.

Maybe the reason why we all crave chocolate so much is because it tastes good, making us feel good. In fact, this is very true. On a biological level the joy of eating chocolate causes our brain to give off neurotransmitters resulting in positive feelings. Our brain’s frontal lobes remember the positive feelings and link them to craving it in the future. According to Psychology Today, “Chocolate does contain theobromine that can increase heart rate and bring about feelings of arousal.” This directly affects this feeling of joy and transmission of the experience to our brain.

Dr. Paul Rozin, of the University of Pennsylvania, further developed this idea of craving chocolate. He studied which parts and what type of chocolate can heal the craving for chocolate. In order to do so, he created a correlational survey to study chocolate cravings. The survey included University of Pennsylvania undergraduates and their parents. Although this is not completely randomized there was still a large sample size with mixed genders and a small range of ages. He found that liking for chocolate correlates with liking for sweets and sensations in sensory properties. They acquired liking based on the sweet taste, the texture, and sweet aroma.

In addition, Paul Rozin came to the conclusion that mainly women have high cravings for chocolate, especially during their premenstrual period, beginning from a few days before the start of the period and ending a few days into the period.

According to FitDay, “Chocolate cravings may be linked to low blood sugar, stress or changing hormonal levels prior to a woman’s menstrual cycle.” Rozin also saw this connection while doing his survey and asking the most common times and reasons that you may crave chocolate. For this reason we can conclude that stress, low blood sugar, and hormones can directly cause someone to crave chocolate. With this in mind, there is still a possibly that the correlation is due to chance and people just wanting to eat chocolate.

In the past, studies have been done to show that Americans have a high degree for liking chocolate. For example, in 1972, Herbert Meiselman researched food acceptance in the US army. He surveyed numerous American military personnel and asked them to rate 416 foods according to liking. Chocolate was ranked sixth out of 416. Although this was not randomized and had a limited amount of choices, the data still suggests that chocolate is ranked highly among American males.   This study also corresponds with a survey done in 1991 by Weingarten and Elston. They surveyed what foods university students crave the most and chocolate was mentioned the most frequently, especially when it came to female students. Both of these examples include the variable of stress leading ot the desire of chocolate.

With an end of summer, the cold winter days and nights are right around the corner. We all know what that means. It’s almost time for hot chocolate, Halloween and Christmas movies on television, football, hockey, snow, and comfy sweaters. But unfortunately, it’s also almost the time of year where we all get colds, dry skin, and worst of all chapped lips. But why do people get chapped lips and is there a better way than chap stick to get rid of it? With the dry air all around us, how can we prevent it before it starts?

There are numerous factors that may result in your lips getting chapped. Some include, weather, excessive lip licking, certain medications, and dehydration. Cold weather causes the moisture in your skin to become dry leading to them to “crack”.   Most people have the urge to then lick their lips to make them feel wet, but they soon after feel dry again. This is because the saliva evaporates along with more moisture, leaving them more dry and irritated than before.

Some things in your daily routine may even be causing lip drying. For example, not drinking enough water may lead to dehydration. One of the many symptoms of dehydration includes dry mouth and lips. This is most likely due to the lack of moisture in your body, causing a lack of moisture on your lips. Also, if you spend a lot of time outside and applying sunscreen is not part of your daily routine, this may be harmful to your lips. The sun can burn away every bit of moisture that you have left. If you are one to usually breathe with your mouth opened, you are most likely drying out your lips.

With all of this in mind, there is one agent in your every day life that you would never think to dry out your lips, toothpaste. Many types of toothpaste contain the ingredient sodium lauryl sulfate. According to some studies, this ingredient can cause irritation and dryness of your lips. Due to this, there were many Safety Assessments of Sodium Lauryl Sulfate to prove this true or false. The assessment was done as an experimental study, studying the skin irritation of animals after applying the chemical to their skin. I find this to be unethical because no animal should be used to test a study. But, the study was still done. It was found that .5%-10% found moderate irritation and 10%-30% found severe irritation. It is unclear how many times the experiment was done and how many animals that tried it on, but that there is a possibility of skin irritation from the chemical commonly found in toothpaste.

With the plethora of reasons that your lips may be dry and irritated, there still comes the question of how we should go about preventing it. Like I said above, it is important to drink a lot of water and not lick your lips. Along with this, make sure you regularly apply chap stick or lip balm. Some doctors also recommend using lip scrubs to exfoliate dry lips and protect the new skin underneath. Unfortunately, trying to figure out the type of lip product that is best for dry lips is becoming increasingly difficult.

When looking on Google, there are hundreds of cosmetic brands, magazines, and blogs posting what they believe to be the “Best and Worst Lip Products For Chapped Lips”. These articles are hard to believe since it is based on one persons’ point of view and not an experimental or observational study or survey. For example, Real Simple, claims that, “Out of more than 45 lip balms tested, these creamy formulas softened, smoothed, and protected best”. Although there was a variety of lip balms sampled, they don’t important include data such as how many people were trying them and the factors surrounding their chapped lips. Unfortunately, the best way to figure out the best kind of lip balm may be to try all different brands for yourself.

It is always an uncomfortable feeling when you’re in the shower and look at your hands and they look like a wrinkly mess. Or when you go in the swimming pool for so long that you feel like your fingers are becoming deformed. But why does this happen to our hands, toes, and fingers when we spend too much time in water? Is there a reason that our fingertips get pruney? What makes our fingers go back to normal? These are all interesting questions that science can answer.

So, what is science’s explanation for our fingers getting wrinkly when wet? According to Becky Summers and Nature Magazine, “Laboratory tests confirmed a theory that wrinkly fingers improve our grip on wet or submerged objects, working to channel away the water like the rain treads in car tires.” With this in mind we can assume that our fingers aren’t swelling for no reason and that there is a primary function for the pruniness. Recently, scientists have studied this function as a way of gripping things when our skin is wet. Participants in the study picked up wet or dry objects with normal hands or with wrinkled fingers. The results, published in Biology Letters, suggested that the subjects were faster at picking up wet objects with wrinkled fingers than with dry ones.

Now that I know why our skin does this, I keep asking myself how it does it. The outermost part of everyone’s skin is covered in transparent oil called sebum. The job of this oil is to moisturize and lubricate the skin in order to make it waterproof. Once people spend a large amount of time in water, the oil washes away, causing our skin to puff up and appear wrinkly.

The only known way to get rid of pruned skin is to simply get out of the water and dry your skin with a towel.   With this in mind, it is important to make sure your skin doesn’t get dehydrated. Since the oils that allow our skin to be dehydrated washed away, it is our job to reapply moisturizer to our skin. For example, after your get out of the shower and your hands feel dry, it’s the best idea to moisturize. Some people thing that washing your hands can get rid of the dry feeling, but in reality you are probably making your hands drier. In retrospect, it is best to dry your skin with a towel and moisturize the spots that were wrinkled to help bring your skin back to normal.

One of the best ways to show how good of a summer you had is by how tan, yet still healthy, your skin is. Whether you spend some time on the beach, playing sports, or going on a grand tropical vacation, you are bound to get a nice summer glow. But why do we get tan and why don’t our tans stay the whole year? By the time it gets to winter break I know I always feel like a ghost, and then I look at pictures from a few months prior and see the tan me, so I wonder why I’m not still tan. Also, how do I work on my summer tan without getting burnt? I know it’s important to use sunscreen, but what else can cause and prevent a dreadful sunburn?

The moment you step outside into the sun, your skin is getting tanner. In simple terms, the sun gives off UVA radiation. This radiation hits the outer most layer of your skin, also known as your epidermis. Once the radiation is absorbed by your epidermis, cells known as melanocytes produce melanin. The melanin adds a brown or black pigment to your skin, making it appear tanner. According to Dr. Ananya Mandal, MD, “Melanin is responsible for determining skin and hair colour and is present in the skin to varying degrees”.

With this in mind, people have to be very careful as to how much sun they get. Too much melanin may make your skin appear burnt. Melanin’s main job is to protect your skin from damage. Therefore, as your skin takes in more and more radiation, the amount of melanin may increase. People with darker skin tend to generally appear darker, where as people with light skin tend to appear redder. Other effects of too much radiation may include the increased appearance of freckles and uneven patches of color, as well as, increased chances of wrinkles and skin cancer. With this in mind, it is important to protect yourself from the sun. According to WebMD, you can wear hats that cover your neck, ears, eyes, and scalp, sunglasses with UV ray protection, and wear lots and lots of sunscreen.

Now that we know how and why we get a healthy tan, why don’t they last? According to Wonderpedia, we lose around one million tanned skin cells everyday. This is mainly because, melanin is produced to protect our skin, when our skin temporarily doesn’t need the cells, they will slowly leave. Usually the epidermis renews itself every 28 to 30 days. So, by the time winter comes around, our tan cells are all gone.

Nothing is worse than casually watching television, or sitting in a class and suddenly getting the hiccups. It feels like ages before the harsh repetitive sound of hiccups finally goes away, and between that time you feel like everyone if staring at you. Some people are lucky enough to get quite or even silent hiccups, but for some it sounds like animal noises coming out of a megaphone. But what exactly are hiccups? What are some ways to get rid of them? Does the classic scaring the victim with the hiccups truly work?

Hiccups are by definition, “sudden, involuntary contractions of the diaphragm which occur at the same time as a contraction of the voice box (larynx) and total closure of the glottis, effectively blocking air intake.” Numerous causes of this have been studied and found. Some common things that cause hiccups include hot or spicy food, stomach gas, sudden changes in temperature, stress, alcohol consumption, some medicines, and rapid food consumption of large quantities. All of these examples have a tendency to block the airways in the epiglottis.

There are said to be hundreds of different ways to cure hiccups, but which ones actually work? According to Web MD, there are numerous home remedies that can cure hiccups. Some of these include, holding your breath, drinking water quickly, putting a teaspoon of sugar on your tongue and let it slowly dissolve, pulling on your tongue, gargling water, and using smelling salts. But, with these in mind, other people have their own remedies such as biting into a lemon wedge, drinking pickle juice, burping, getting tickled, and even something as ridiculous as spelling your middle name. Although people have different opinions on what works and what doesn’t, it really depends on the person who has hiccups and the severity of the hiccups.

Science has not yet proved or disproved if scaring someone can really get rid of hiccups. I have personally never seen this work and believe it to be a tale. But, remedies such as a spoon full of sugar and different methods of drinking water, have been proven by scientists to cure the common hiccup and get your airways back to normal. Hopefully, in the future there will be more clear explanations about how to get rid of hiccups and not numerous ways that are sometimes extraordinary and ridiculous.

Nothing makes a holiday more patriotic than the loud cracking and bright sparks of fireworks. It is possibly one of the most beautiful traditions lighting up the sky from miles and miles away for all families and friends to see. But, what makes a firework blast? What creates the different colors and styles? Maybe there’s a certain technique, or maybe the fireworks are all made of different chemicals, all I know is science must be the reason for it.

The first fireworks were traced back to China during the Han Dynasty. During this time they were made out of bamboo, which was thrown into a dry fuel fire and then exploded through the air. But later on, a black powder made up of metal salts such as, aluminum, iron, steel, zinc, or magnesium was discovered. This is known as gunpowder. The new modern way of making fireworks or firecrackers was to roll paper tubes of gunpowder and fire it up. The fire “fuses” down until it reaches the powder and then an explosion occurs.

Now that we know how a firework is made and explodes, how do they get their color? According to Michelle Bryner, journalist for Live Science, “Inside each handmade firework are small packets filled with special chemicals, mainly metal salts and metal oxides, which react to produce an array of colors.” As taught in many chemistry classes, the atom’s electrons absorb energy, going from low to high state. Once at the high state, the electron emits energy in the form of colorful light or spectra. Each color of emitted light has a different “recipe” of chemicals. For example, for a red firework, you must mix strontium and lithium salts. Also, to make a blue firework, you must combine various copper chloride compounds. Other than red and blue fireworks can also emit orange, purple, yellow, and green light.

Although the process of making a firework has changed over time, it still satisfies and excites our eyes and ears. Nowadays, fireworks are more modern and create awesome and beautiful shows, whether it’s for Independence Day, a nighttime show at Disney World, or just your average party on the beach. Whenever watching these spectacular shows, keep in mind we have science to thank.

Nowadays, many girls are looking to have long, luscious, locks. All over television, in magazines, and on social media, there are countless celebrities with many inches of hair, even in all different colors. But, how do they get their hair to grow so long? Are they using certain hair treatments? The questions of how their hair is so long and perfect goes beyond the basic excuse of “they must have extensions”, after all not all women do.

Recent studies have shown that having long, healthy hair goes beyond what products you put in it. Eating a well balanced diet that includes nutrients and protein is just as important. This is because a protein known as keratin makes up everyone’s hair follicles. By eating protein, you are assisting the growing phase by increasing the amount of protein and helping your hair increase in strength so it cannot easily be pulled out or shed.

Unfortunately, there are a few things that might prevent your hair from growing, and may even cause it to fall out. For example, with age comes less hair. There are hormone shifts that cause hair to thin out and fall out. Hormones change as you get older resulting in thinner, slower-growing, less luxurious hair. Also an increase in stress and anxiety, at any age, may result in simultaneous hair loss. Lastly, the use of some medications and supplements may result in hair loss. This is most popular in chemotherapy treatments for cancer patients, but can also be a cause of more common medications. Fortunately, once you stop taking the medicine causing hair loss, it is proven to grow back in just a few months.

All over the Internet you can find all different “home remedies for hair growth” and products. Many of these remedies include oils such as, olive oil and coconut oil, or foods such as avocado, flax seeds, and even eggs. They are said to, “revive your hair through your scalp”.  In addition, “1000 kinds of plant extract have been examined with respect to hair growth,” according the Pharmacognosy Reviews. But the real question is, do they work? According to At Home Remedies, by putting raw egg whites in your hair, primarily your scalp you are increasing the proteins, helping your hair grow faster. So, your breakfast can be your next go to beauty product!

Although I am unclear whether these at home remedies are scientifically proven to work, dermatologist Paradi Mirmirani, MD, seems to think that an increase in proteins will, in fact help hair growth and health. So by watching your diet carefully, and using products that don’t cause hair shed, anyone’s hair can grow beautifully and naturally.   Maybe even try cracking some of that raw egg into your hair, who knows?!

Here’s a video of someone actually trying an egg hair remedy

Hi everyone, my name is Holly Rubin and I am studying Communications. As someone involved in the College of Communications, science isn’t always the most relatable or interesting subject out there. With that in mind, I always seem to have an opinion on all the different things going on in the world, many of these including science. Some examples are global warming, cloning, deforestation, genes, and vaccinations. All these topics include the common theme of knowledge. People, not only scientists, are trying to comprehend why and how these happen, while trying to advance the world around us. Overall, I am fascinated in this course to gain the knowledge and understanding of how and why the world works the way it does, as well as, how and why people think the way they do.

After taking the last few years to evaluate my interests, dislikes, and values, I came to the conclusion that I would never be involved in science. Tedious classes such as biology, chemistry, and physics were a total turn off to any career involving science.   Although it was sometimes enjoyable to gain knowledge from the courses, it was very fact based and didn’t leave much room for creativity, independence, and individualism.

Since I’m from New York, here’s an extremely appetizing picture of New York pizza and a video time lapse of the New York City Skyline.