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Podcast TranscriptThe Naked Scientists: Science Radio & Science Podcasts |
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Even Watching Smoking on Tv Is Bad for You
Why ? because according to researchers in the US, who have been studying the habits of over 4000 youngsters aged 9-15, watching films and TV programmes in which there are people smoking can more than double the chances of them becoming a smoker. The most important thing though, according to the researchers, is how many incidences of smoking the children watch. Between 50 and 150 smoking exposures doubles the chance of them trying cigarettes but more than 150 triples their chance.
16th Dec 2001
Rudolf…or Should That Be Rudolfa?
Since we are supposed to be journalists we've tried to dig up some dirt on famous people this week. I have found out some very strange things about some of our best-loved Christmas celebrities - Santa and his reindeer. For instance did you know that Rudolf the red nosed reindeer is probably female? A guy called Odd Halverson from Oslo University worked that one out - Its because in all the Christmas cards Rudolf and his reindeer friends all have antlers. But in real life, male reindeer don't have antlers at Christmas time! The whole point of antlers is to fight with other males during the mating season, which happens earlier on in the year. After the mating season the male reindeers are very low on energy reserves so their antlers fall off and don't grow again until the spring. So the only way that Rudolf the reindeer can have kept his antlers is if he is actually female. One other rather unpleasant possibility is that he was castrated - apparently most of the native Lapps traditionally used castrated reindeer to pull their loads.
16th Dec 2001
Rudolf Has a Red Nose for the Wrong Reasons
Poor old Rudolf the red nosed reindeer is getting bad press on this show! Apparently his nose is probably red because he has a nasty infection, not because he's been out in the cold delivering Christmas presents. Reindeer noses are designed to warm the air as they breathe in, and cool it as they breathe out. This stops the reindeer losing water and heat but it also makes their noses a good home for bugs. Reindeer also have tongue worms in their sinuses and fly larvae up their nasal cavities! Suddenly they don't seem so cute anymore….
16th Dec 2001
Santa Is High on Mushrooms
I've even managed to dig up some dirt on Santa Claus. Have you ever wondered where Santa's traditional costume comes from? Coca-Cola say that they came up with the red and white image in the 1930's - but there is an alternative theory, and that is that Santa's outfit is meant to symbolise a type of magic mushroom which has a red cap and white dots. A guy called Patrick Harding from Sheffield University came up with this theory a few years ago. Apparently in Lappland, where Santa is supposed to come from, people used to use magic mushrooms to get high, long before alcohol appeared on the scene. Traditionally only the village holy man would be able to take the mushrooms "neat" so to speak. They were too strong for the villagers and for the reindeer. So to get high, the villagers used to eat the yellow snow that the shaman had relieved himself because it still contained traces of muscimol which is what was in the magic mushrooms. So Santa the might be an old village shaman who cries out "Ho Ho Ho" because he's high on magic mushrooms!
16th Dec 2001
New Flood Gates for Venice
The Italian government is planning to spend £1.6 billion pounds on a system of inflatable flood gates to protect the city of Venice. There will be 79 gates in total and they'll be inflated whenever the sea level gets dangerously high, which happens about 50 times a year. But this scheme is coming in for criticism because people say it will damage the ecology in Venice's lagoon. With world sea levels set to rise by up to a metre over the next hundred years I'm sure we'll be seeing lots more arguments over Flood defences.
16th Dec 2001
Plastic Magnet
A team of US scientists have finally found what they were looking for after 13 years of research: a plastic magnet. But there's a snag. It only works in oxygen-free environments, and at temperatures below 440 degrees F. The chemist who worked on this project admitted he didn't know what the magnets could be used for, but we've thought of an ideal application for this fantastic plastic invention: If you ever end up on Mars and need to attract some iron, it's just the thing.
16th Dec 2001
What's in a Name ?
Ever wondered what chemists did in their spare time? Well, Paul May, a research chemist from the University of Bristol, has been collecting unusual chemical names. Here are just some from his collection: traumatic acid (now wouldn't chemistry lessons at school been more interesting if we could have worked with that…but it's quite hard to get hold of as it is a plant injury hormone). Other exciting-sounding chemicals are angelic acid, methyl constipatate, diabolic acid and curious chloride. Unfortunately many of the names, though entirely innocent, are not broadcastable, but you can look them up on his website (www.briStol.ac.uk/Depts/Chemistry/MOTM/silly/sillymols.htm) His particular favourite is an arsenic compound called arsole, which spawned a fascinating paper called: Studies on the Chemistry of Arsoles. I kid you not.
16th Dec 2001
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