Category Archives: Cool Science-y Stuff

Dec 24 2012

science explains rudolph’s illuminating personality

You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen, Comet and Cupid and Donner and Blitzen.  But…do you recall the most famous reindeer of all?  If not, please extricate yourself from the rock you’ve been living under.  Everyone knows Rudolph.

From humble beginnings in Robert May’s children’s book in 1939, Rudolph and his glowing red schnoz have spawned an empire.  Rounding out his rich mythos are the all too familiar Christmas song and the stop motion TV tale of an elf with dental aspirations, a portly prospector and our lovable, outcast young buck.

Of course, as with most myths and legends, there is some grain of truth hiding somewhere.  This Christmas, science tackled the origin of Rudolph and his shiny nose.  A research team, led by Can Ince of Erasmus University Rotterdam in the Netherlands, published a study just last week in the British Medical Journal explaining this Christmas mystery.

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Oct 28 2012

revelations into our weakness for halloween candy

Halloween is here again boys and girls.  As I get older, it’s essentially turned into an opportunity to dress in some ironic costume to try to show everyone how hilarious I am.  I miss the younger days, though, where it was as simple as dressing like Mickey Mouse (true story) and dragging a pillowcase around the neighborhood.  I miss the candy.  Yes, I know I could buy it myself now, but it’s not the same.  Scavenging all that sugar is a big deal to a kid.  To prove it, I present exhibit A below.

Hilarious as it is, the prank really shows the depths of our candy obsessions.  Perhaps we gain a modicum of control as we get older, but there are significant things going on in our brains that make us crave those sweets.  Researchers at the University of Michigan recently published an article in Current Biology that gives some insight into how the brain responds to these treats. Continue reading →

Sep 12 2012

brain scans reveal why women get more migraines than men

I’ve come to realize recently that it’s been quite a while since I’ve been able to update miGENE.  My apologies.  What, with this whole running experiments, working on a thesis, and generally trying to graduate and move to the next phase in life, I’ve been a bit busy.  It’s really enough to give someone a headache.  I promise, I’ll keep up as much as I’m able, but as I near the end, the posts may necessarily come a bit less regularly.

<Insert smooth transition> Speaking of headaches, have you ever wondered why women seem to get them more readily, particularly migraines?  It is, in fact, true that almost three times more women than men suffer intensely painful headaches.  Neuroscientists at Harvard and Children’s Medical Hospital in Boston wondered the very same thing.  In the August issue of the neurology journal, Brain, they describe how differences in brain structure between the sexes are behind this phenomenon. Continue reading →

Jun 27 2012

so is there a genetic reason you’re a smarty pants?

Image courtesy ENIGMA Network

Growing up, when you brought home an A on a test, did your parents ever argue over who’s side of the family “the smarts” came from?  I can recall complete reconstructions of the family tree based on what subjects my sister and I were excelling in.

In reality, the grades probably had more to do with good study habits and a certain pride in my work, but new research indicates that there may be more of a genetic component than previously realized.  In addition to diet, as we learned in my last post, recent work from Dr. Paul Thompson’s team reveals that genetic variations can have measurable impacts on learning and intelligence.  I came across his work thanks to a great piece written by Moheb Costandi at ScienceNOW.

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